Help! What to Do When Students Don't Understand

Let’s face it. At some point, you’re going to be standing at the front of the classroom speaking, and you’re going to look out and see blank faces. Hopefully this won’t happen too often, but when it does, here are few quick things you can do to get your class back on track and your students back on the same page.

Repeat yourself exactly, emphasizing the key words

            If students don’t understand when you say, “Open your textbook to page 50,” repeat the phrase exactly. Don’t make the mistake of changing the phrase and throwing new vocabulary at them. Odds are, they probably just missed a word you said or weren’t paying close enough attention to catch the beginning of your phrase. Repeat the sentence again, emphasizing the key words. Speak a little more slowly this time and enunciate a little more. 

 Make it simpler

            After you’ve repeated yourself, if students are still confused, now’s the time to change what you said a little bit. But keep it simple. Don’t launch into five-sentence explanation of what you’re trying to say. Simplify your vocabulary. Instead of saying “textbook,” say “book.” Instead of giving two pieces of information 1) “Open your book” and 2) “To page 50,” just give the first piece of information. “Open your book.” Once they’ve completed this action, then add the page number. 

Put it in writing

            If students are still struggling, write the information on the board. You could write it out completely, or you could keep it simple. Instead of writing, “Open your books to page 50,” which surprisingly, takes a lot longer to write than you would think, you could just write “Page 50” on the board. For simple instructions, they should be able to fill in the blanks. For more complex information, go ahead and write it all out if you need to.

            Pro Tip: To avoid all these step as much as you can, always make sure your key information is written on the board or in your PPT. Then, if students don’t understand when you speak, they can immediately look at the words already ready to go. 

Body language is king

            You’d be surprised how much of our understanding comes from body language and facial cues. Don’t be afraid to use these in the classroom, even if students aren’t having problems understanding you! Being more active and expressive in class makes what you’re communicating not only clearer, but also more interesting. 

All of these are simple, I know. But hopefully, they’ll stop you from feelings of awkwardness, panic, or over-explanation when you’re faced with all of those blank faces!