Sitting in class, utterly confused, is one of the worst feelings. So what do you do? Raise your hand and ask a question. But the reaction isn’t always fantastic and helpful. Sometimes, the response is belittling.
Asking for clarification doesn’t mean students aren’t paying attention, but, some teachers think so. All of us have had the moment when you ask a teacher to clarify something and they look at you like you are crazy.
“There are times when it is OK to ask for clarification,” chemistry teacher Melissa McCarty said. “I would rather the students ask than miss it.”
What teachers don’t always realize is that sometimes all it takes is one or two more examples to understand a concept. When a majority of the students aren’t understanding something, then it is the teacher’s job to help.
“They say if you would pay attention you wouldn’t have to ask,” junior Travis Holt said. “I lose respect for the teacher when they say these things.”
There seems to be no specific class in which students get this reaction. But the majority of the time, kids react the same. They will drift away from the class and lose interest.
“I end up sitting farther back in class because the teacher makes me feel dumb,” junior Michelle Cowles said.
Having a teacher get upset with you for asking a question is very off-putting. When this happens to me, I tend to stop asking questions and lose interest in learning. To some people it feels like the teacher doesn’t care about those of us who have difficulties in their class.
What can a teacher do to help with this problem? Teachers who are willing to help during class makes all the difference. Students can be afraid to come in and ask for help outside of class.
“The best thing to do is to come in outside of class, such as during HUBS,” McCarty said.
If you are faced with this situation there are a few things you can do. One is addressing the problem with the teacher. Tell or show him or her you are paying attention but you just do not understand what you are learning.
Another way is to go in after school or before to get help from a different teacher. This is very helpful if you don’t get along with your assigned teacher.
One way to look at this is the old standby “respect your elders”. Teachers try very hard everyday to teach us new things. We need to put in effort ourselves to learn. Everyone has bad days, so maybe your teacher snapped at you last week because something happened. Maybe the next time this happens, suck it up and try to hold it all in.
