May 23, 2024 • 32 mins
🎙️Welcome to another enlightening episode of Lazy Learning Land Podcast, presented by Virtually I'm Possible. Hosted by the experienced and passionate educator, S.Dot, this episode dives deep into the transformative concept of a risk-free learning environment. Drawing from her extensive background teaching in inner-city schools, S.Dot shares invaluable strategies to boost student performance and alleviate teacher burnout.
🔥In this episode, we explore:
- The significance of fostering a risk-free learning environment for lower-performing students.
- The psychological barriers students face, such as fear of failure and lack of confidence, and how these affect classroom participation.
- Practical, actionable tips for creating a supportive classroom atmosphere, including effort-based grading, rewarding participation, and focusing on quality over quantity in assignments.
- Innovative approaches like making everything open notes (except tests) and using quizzes as formative assessments to guide personalized interventions.
🎧Join us as we uncover how to transform your classroom into a safe space where students feel encouraged to take risks and fully engage in learning. Don't miss this opportunity to enhance your teaching methods and create a more dynamic and supportive educational environment.
💡Ready to revolutionize your teaching approach? Tune in now to discover how to implement a risk-free learning environment and see immediate benefits in student engagement and performance. Visit Virtually I'mPossible's Teacher Pay Teacher Store for a range of secondary math activities and games that are no prep, no grading, and self-checking.
Full Transcript
https://virtuallyimpossible.net/no-risk-big-reward-the-risk-free-learning-environment/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:01):
You are now tuned into Virtually I'm Possible presents Lazy Learning Land podcast,
where we teach teachers how to be lazier, yet more effective to increase student performance,
but decrease teacher burnout and stress.
I'm S.Dot, your hostess that always gives you the mostest while doing the least.
(00:26):
Today's episode is sponsored by Virtually I'm Possible's Teacher Pay Teacher
Store, where you can get secondary math activities and games that are color
changing, self-checking, no prep and no grading.
Visit Virtually I'm Possible on Teachers Pay Teachers for all your lazy secondary
(00:47):
math teaching tool needs.
And now for today's episode.
Hey, hey, hey, everyone. Welcome to another episode of Lazy Learning Land Podcast.
This is your girl, S.Dot. I'm just so excited for you guys to be with me today.
(01:07):
I promise you, we have got an amazing show.
And I just want you to know, for those of you who this may be your first time,
I have over 15 years of experience working in the hood schools,
title one schools, inner city schools, whatever you wanna call it.
But I pretty much work where most people People don't even want to drive by.
So I have definitely developed a ton of great strategies that have helped me
(01:34):
to thrive. I've only taught in the hood schools.
I love teaching where I am. And I see myself retiring from working with this
demographic after 30 plus years.
So let's get right into it. So today we are going to harp on the topic of no
risk, big reward, and that's the risk-free learning environment.
(01:58):
Now for me, when it comes down to teaching, I know that working with the lower end students,
they really don't even like, I teach math and that is like 90% of the world's
least favorite subject just across the board.
And so you already have that going against you and then turn around and I'm
(02:19):
teaching the lower performing students.
And so it's like, man, I'm just losing on both ends, it seems like.
And I came up with this idea of a risk-free learning environment.
No, I'm not the person that copyrighted it, but I definitely have some really
great strategies and ideas on implementing it that when I share it with teachers
at my schoolhouse, It really just helps them to transform the culture of their classroom.
(02:45):
So this whole superpower, being able to read minds, shows up in countless books,
comic books, movies, television shows.
It's just like one of those things, right?
And where this superpower actually fails to show up in real life,
like how wonderful would it be if as a teacher, we were able to read our students' minds?
(03:10):
But we can't, you know? But it would be nice because we would know whatever
devious act they're thinking of doing before they actually do it.
And we could easily catch our students and lies.
I mean, come on, the list of possibilities is endless if teachers could actually read minds.
But most importantly, we would know what our students were thinking to get their answer.
(03:36):
Like whenever they're answering questions, like we would be able to know how
that hamster was running on the wheel and what that hamster helped their brain
to come up with as to why those words came out of their mouth or why that answer
is on their paper or on their computer.
Or like we would just have deeper insight into these kids' minds.
(03:57):
In order for us as educators to best help our students, they gotta show their
work or they have to be able to verbally or writtenly, I don't even know if writtenly is a word,
but have to be able to verbalize or write their explanations on how they arrive to their answers.
(04:18):
Because sometimes it's a thought process error, or not just necessarily your
answer's wrong. It's not clear, cut and dry or wrong.
It's there's something faulty in your thought process that contributed to you being wrong.
And we kind of need to know what that is so we can fix it.
But it is like really, really, really, really, really
frustrating to like every teacher ever that has ever taught or tutored a student
(04:47):
and they either don't show their work or they have this just so such an amazing
and elaborate explanation of, I just guessed,
or it just look right. Right.
Even worse is when we encounter those students who actually just refuse to even
try to answer the question because their go to response is, oh,
(05:10):
I mean, I ain't try because I mean, I know how to do it. I know how to start.
I don't know how to do this. Miss, you ain't never taught me this.
I don't know what I'm doing. I went here when you taught this.
I was sick. I stayed home that day. Like whatever.
But they just blurt, you know, wonderful excuses out like that about,
you know, why they didn't even try the question.
(05:30):
And whether it's because they didn't explain or show their work or explain their
answer or whether they just did not try at all, we still end up in the same spot,
which is we are unable to effectively do our job if we cannot pinpoint and determine
where the disconnect is happening for our students.
So now that we have identified this problem, what's the why behind this?
(05:56):
Like, why are our students so afraid to try?
And basically, I've narrowed it down to these two things.
And yes, there's probably more, but they all seem, our roads seem to lead back
to these two main pillars or main ideas as to why our students are afraid to try.
And to me, that first reason is just a pure fear of failure.
(06:19):
Like one of the most common reasons students avoid attempting questions is that
they are unsure about is the fear of failing,
the fear of being wrong, the fear of looking dumb to their peers or even to
their teachers, sometimes even to their parents.
Like from this fear of looking dumb or the fear of possibly being called dumb
(06:42):
or stupid stupid, grows the mindset that if I can just avoid answering altogether.
I am pretty much 100% guaranteed that I can never be called dumb or labeled
dumb or teased as being dumb or have to receive a bad grade because I tried and I got it wrong.
(07:05):
So therefore, a bad grade means I'm dumb.
So it alleviates all of that just by flat out refusing to answer.
Or then they can always hold on to wealth.
I mean, yeah, I failed, but that's because I didn't even try.
Like, I bet you I could have passed if I would have actually tried.
But I mean, I just didn't feel like it.
But they do this repeatedly and then that's why they got these D's and F's.
(07:29):
That's a whole nother ballgame. But the second reason why students are afraid
to try is they just lack confidence.
There is a sheer lack of confidence.
Man, y'all, confidence just plays a major role in life in general,
like not even just in the realm of the classroom.
But, you know, we're adults. We've seen people with low self-esteem and how
(07:54):
they function inside of society, outside of the classroom. We've seen them in the workplace.
We've seen them in social settings. Like you can spot the not like the person
that does not have confidence.
But a student who lacks confidence does not believe that they actually possess
the skill set to get the hard questions right. Right now, I got kids.
(08:17):
If I pull, you know, I teach right now, I'm teaching mostly juniors.
If I pull out a sixth grade math skill, oh, everybody's hands up because it's
something that they learned so long ago.
They've had so much time to practice on it. They just feel so good and confident.
I got everybody's hand raised.
But the moment I pull out something that's on grade level, it's like crickets. you can hear a pin drop.
(08:42):
But often the lack of confidence really can develop from past experiences of
them actually trying and being unsuccessful, aka failing, where usually where
there was some sort of negative feedback.
And there could have been some teasing, there could have been some name calling,
or there could be some put downs.
(09:02):
And I'm not just talking about out from peers, I have witnessed adults put down
students in classrooms because they did not get an answer correct.
So the teasing, the name calling, the being put down is not isolated to just
peer to peer interaction.
(09:22):
It's also student to teacher interactions where this negativity can stem from as well.
But I do believe that these two factors alone should be enough for most educators
to consider trying to implement a risk-free learning environment.
And we're getting ready to get into exactly how to get her done, pal.
(09:46):
So we are going to move into how I create my risk-free learning environment.
So I'm just going to open up my playbook to you guys. I'm going to let you in on my playbook.
The first thing that I do for my students, and keep in mind,
I do teach math, but all of these skills and concepts, all of these These ideas
(10:06):
can be tailored for any subject area.
So I may use more math examples, but again, it can be tailored to any subject
area and really to any grade level as well.
But the first thing I do to help create my risk-free learning environment is I give grades on effort.
(10:28):
Yeah. You know, the participation grades that they say that you can't give for real.
Well, I give them. I have, you know, a little checklist of criteria for being
able to earn up to the maximum amount of points, but it really is based on effort.
So this is what I tell my students.
I tell my kids at the beginning of the year, I'm talking the first day of school,
(10:50):
the first week of school,
and I tell them repeatedly almost every day to the last day of school that the
only time a wrong answer will count against them in my class is when they are
taking a quiz or they are taking a test.
All other problems, all other questions that they do, be it the bell ringers,
be it class work, homework,
(11:13):
et cetera, all that stuff are graded on effort and their willingness to fully
engage in the learning process.
So for me, for example, students can earn full credit on an assignment for trying,
showing their work or explaining in writing, making corrections to their paper
(11:37):
and then doing a one to two sentence reflection after they make the correction.
And I only give half credit if they try the problem, but they don't actually
take the time to make corrections and reflect. So.
That whole process of just rewarding them for being a willing learner,
(12:00):
for them being willing to engage fully in the learning process,
that means way more to me than an actual correct answer.
Because we know that through practice, we are able to pinpoint areas of growth
for our students and able to address those to be able to build them up to where they need to be.
(12:21):
But anyway, each student is responsible for their own reflection,
even if we go over the problem as a class or in a small group,
because not everybody makes the same mistakes.
So they need to be able to pinpoint, OK, well, this is where my thought process
went left when I and I should have went right.
And when they're able to correct and reflect on it, then they're,
(12:43):
you know, making new neural pathways in the right direction.
If they never correct and reflect, then their neural pathways are still stuck
in the wrong way, going the wrong way, in the wrong thought process.
And there's very little growth from that.
So that's why it goes from either 100% credit because you engage in the full
(13:04):
process all the way through correct and reflect, or you get that 50% and a literal
50%. Hey, thank you for trying. We're halfway there.
You can earn these other points on another day when you're ready to do the other
half of the learning process.
And that's just how I treat my kids. And I will admit, this is not something that is perfect.
(13:27):
It does take a few days for students to get used to the idea of a risk-free
concept and that making mistakes are okay as long as you can learn from them.
And once they catch on that I'm really only docking points if they did not try
or if they did not correct and reflect.
They tend to kind of dive in headfirst and be like, oh, that's easy.
(13:48):
And they jump on the bandwagon.
But going back a little bit to.
The reflection, sometimes the reflection part is not written.
If I'm doing one-on-one immediate, like real-time feedback with my students
where I'm walking around the classroom or they're bringing their papers to my
desk, then sometimes I'll say,
you know, okay, so tell me what mistake were you making? What error did you see?
(14:12):
All right, now how should you approach a similar problem the next time?
And sometimes the reflection piece will be one-on-one verbally with me versus
being written. But again, that's definitely teacher discretion.
But I don't want you to think that the reflection always has to be written.
It can be verbal. And other times, if you're busy, you can't get to every kid.
So you may have them turn to a neighbor or talk to somebody in their group and
(14:36):
they discuss, hey, my mistake was this.
And what I should have done instead was this. So what was your mistake?
Oh, you know what? I was making that same mistake yesterday.
But you know what? but I got a little bit better at it. Now today I'm making
this mistake, but hey, I'm not making the same mistake back to back.
Go me, go me. So you can have the
(14:56):
kids also reflect with one another in collaborative conversation as well.
So there's definitely different ways that you can implement it,
but try to consider giving grades on the students fully engaging in the learning process.
Moving right along, number two, number dos. Ghosts give credit for participating
(15:17):
in games and activities.
Now, this is different from number one. Number one is they're doing a worksheet.
They're doing an assignment. They're doing bell work. They're working on their
homework in class, whatever.
Like that's what number one is for. Number two is for actual activities,
whether it's a collaboration activity or it's an individual activity,
(15:38):
however it goes, but some sort of activity or game that they are participating
in, you're giving them participation points.
But again, almost checklist style.
Here we go. So definitely one of my favorite things to do in a risk-free learning
environment is to make learning fun.
Matter of fact, I pride myself on tricking my students into learning.
(16:01):
And as long as my students are on task, on topic and engaging in the growth
mindset of perseverance.
Hey, my rule of thumb is they get an A for the day.
So my kids know if it's game day, it's an activity day. all I got to do is try
the whole period and not give up. And I get an A.
Even if I get every question wrong, as long as I keep trying and keep making
(16:25):
these little corrections until I keep, so I can keep making progress, I get an A.
They be baffled by it at first, but they learn to appreciate it.
Now they get to have fun and they get an A. Win-win.
But keeping a positive mindset, set, not shutting down and remaining persistent
(16:45):
while they make multiple sets of corrections is definitely worth a grade in my opinion.
Like that is taxing. We have our periods are about 50 minutes where I am.
And if we start the activity within the first five to 10 minutes of class,
well, you've got at least 40 minutes of engagement with the content.
And it can be mentally and sometimes emotionally tedious to just keep persevering.
(17:11):
But I reward them with an A for the day when they do that.
Now, I do take off points if they are off task, off topic, playing around,
just sitting there, not using their time wisely.
So there's ways to lose that A, lose points from that A.
But if you're on it and you're giving me your best, you get an A for the day.
(17:32):
But for more tips on how to create highly engaging lessons or how to effortlessly
use small group games in your classroom flawlessly,
then you can check out some of my previous posts that I have already listed.
But again, don't touch that dial until you finish this episode.
Moving into the third way that I create a risk-free learning environment for
(17:57):
my classroom is quality over quantity.
I said at the beginning, I work in the hood. I also work with the lowest 25
percentile of math students.
So I'm talking about the bottom of the barrel. I'm talking about the social promotion kids.
I'm talking about they got D's and F's in middle school in math.
(18:22):
And they probably got two math classes right now because they failed the math class the year before.
I'm talking about those kiddos. Okay.
And the majority of my years has been with this demographic of kids on my campus.
But I really learned early on that getting students who struggle to successfully
complete two to three strategic problems is worth way more than trying to force
(18:47):
that same kid or those same kids to try to complete 10 questions.
Questions I get more out of them by giving them quality questions that hit on misconceptions.
That are scaffolded and kind of build up like I get more out of them in those
three questions than I ever would in trying to force them to do 10 questions
(19:11):
and it's kind of like a Jedi mind trick they're like oh all I gotta do is three
problems and you're like yep but you put 10 problems in in front of them and
they shut down because they're like, man,
I barely even know how to do the first question. How am I supposed to get through 10 of these?
So it also helps them to build up their willingness to try and help to build
up their confidence because I might not be able to get through 10 questions,
(19:33):
but I could do these three and they're more willing to engage.
But again, I ensure that those problems are definitely more enriching that they
hit on misconceptions from the get-go.
That way it allows the students to more practice with them because you know
on standardized tests, on unit tests, they're going to throw those misconceptions in anyway.
(19:57):
So why not allow your lower performing students to practice those misconceptions,
problems with those misconceptions in them and those quality problems so that
they get more practice and the
misconception to them really isn't a misconception, it's a normalception.
So my English people, please don't look that word up.
(20:17):
And I do apologize in advance if I offended you because normalception is not a word.
It is a Carterism, but I think I'm going to coin that.
But again, pro tip, pro tip, pro tip, pro tip.
Leave the higher volume for your honors and more advanced students.
Feel free to add on more questions for your lower performing students after
(20:39):
they master the essential ones.
So you know they may start off
not really getting it but once they hit the ground running then yeah give them
three more questions but again build them up to it and celebrate it if they
only get to two out of the three oh my gosh make a big deal out of it promise
you you'll get way more out of your kids if you're able to do that.
(21:02):
So this one right here, y'all, this one right here is my fourth one.
And I feel like some people gonna want to fight me on this one.
Like, I just feel like some people, somebody in the audience is gonna want to
leave a comment going toe to toe about why this one right here just don't make any sense.
And the fourth way that I create a risk-free learning environment is everything
(21:26):
is open notes except for tests.
I repeat, yeah, I said it, everything in my classroom, every assignment,
every practice problem,
everything, including a quiz is open notes except for test.
(21:47):
So let me just kind of break this down. What I mean is I make sure to quiz my
students like twice on the same content.
Content so the first time I give
my kids like a quiz or something I use it as data it is strictly informational
it is a formative I keep it short it's you know anywhere between one to three
(22:10):
questions just depending and I use that data to determine what medicine each of my students needs,
so bell work I use that as formative data
to see where you know what misconceptions they have homework same
deal you know I just that's that's
what I do if I give a quiz the first time I quiz them on that topic it's still
(22:31):
formative data I'm still trying to figure out how can I help you where do you
need help how can I meet you where you are and I figure out what interventions
the kids need based off of the mistakes that they're making based off the answers they're giving.
What medicine do they need in order to be more successful?
And I usually do what's called a medicine day using quotations because I tell them, I'm like, hey.
(22:59):
You know, you took a quiz and we saw some mistakes.
So your brain, you know, is a little sick. Your brain's got a little cough.
Your brain's got the hiccups. Your brain's sneezing. Your brain's got the flu.
Your brain's got something going on. We need to give your brain some medicine
so that you are able to be more successful on this content.
(23:22):
So what I'm giving you on medicine day is what you as an individual actually needs.
It's tailored to your actual areas, growth or areas of weakness,
however you like to, you know, whichever way your pendulum swings when you're
talking to your students.
But after the medicine day, I then re-quiz them and I use that second quiz as
(23:47):
a grade that goes into the grade book.
And what students like about this approach is that it takes the anxiety out of being wrong.
They know the quiz is only being
given to help them since deep down most
of our kiddos really just want to be successful when
I give them these open note quizzes these open note bell works open note class
(24:09):
works like they literally throw up on the paper because they know I'm just using
this to help them so it circles back to the only time a wrong answer will count
against you is on a quiz or a test for my kids.
No, not the first quiz, but after I've given you your medicine and you should
be stronger, now I'm gonna count that quiz as a great. It's still open note though.
(24:31):
And it just, it allows them to do whatever they think is best to answer the question.
And then it gives us as the teacher, the best type of feedback that we need
to be able to better help them and to give our kids the right medicine in and
the right dosage to help move them,
(24:53):
progress them in the content.
I want to cycle back a little bit in this point of everything is open notes except for tests.
And part of the rationale behind that is kids will be more engaged in your lecture
days when they know that their notes mean something, when they know that they
have the opportunity to use them again.
(25:14):
And it's not just busy work. Their notes actually have meaning.
You're going to have a lot more engagement when you are doing your lecture days.
And by allowing your students to go back and forth between their notes and the
activity, the notes and the quiz, the notes and the bell work,
they are doing that multiple exposures.
(25:37):
It is causing them to have to re-engage with your notes multiple times,
which is in a way a form of helping them to study and just be able to recognize certain things.
And a pro tip a pro tip when
it comes down to parents when you can
tell a parent that you let their kid use their
(25:58):
notes on everything except for a test do you understand how much more that parent
is on your side when their child is failing because they're like so what are
you doing how do you get to use your notes and everything and you still have
an f that means you're not trying or that means you're not taking good notes
it just really helps to just kind of smooth things out
with the parent when they find out that their child is being not so responsible
(26:24):
when they get the opportunity to actually use their notes on everything but test.
And I'm going to be fully open and transparent with you guys.
I totally, my ADD kicked in when I was recording and I was supposed to have five points.
And number four was everything is open notes except for test.
(26:46):
Test number five was supposed to be first quiz is the medicine.
Second quiz is the grade.
And when I was looking at my outline, my eyes jumped. I said everything is open notes except for tests.
But then my eyeballs jumped down to my outline about the first quiz being the medicine.
And so I ended up having to merge the two.
(27:06):
So technically, I'm supposed to be giving out five tips on how to create a risk-free
learning environment. Again, number four is everything is open notes except for test.
Number five is the first quiz is the medicine. Second quiz is the grade.
So I kind of merged the two. But, you know, that's what ADD will do for you
sometimes. And, you know, I'm human.
(27:28):
And the way my time is set up is I'm not going to re-record this.
But, you know, I'm hoping that you guys are able to decipher and split the two for yourself.
And I appreciate y'all's understanding and you allowing me to just be human.
Thank you for allowing me to be human. In conclusion, for creating a risk-free
(27:53):
learning environment, the moral of this entire story is to reward your students
for their willingness to engage in the learning process, y'all.
Reward them for being risk takers. Reward them for giving whatever you put in front of them a try.
Reward them for being persistent. reward them for making corrections until they
get the correct process or they get the correct answer.
(28:15):
I'm going to just keep it real. A risk-free learning environment allows students to just say, F it.
I'm going to give it my best shot. Good, bad, ugly, right, wrong.
When your students are in this mindset, it allows us as educators to collect
the necessary data we need to truly individualized, to differentiate,
and to meet our students where they are.
(28:38):
I get the most out of my students when they comprehend and understand that my
ultimate goal is to help them on whatever level they show me they are at.
And when they understand that, they are willing to show me they're at a level zero.
They're willing to show me they're at a level red. Because they say,
no matter where I am, my teacher is going to help me get better.
(29:02):
There is less shame for those babies.
Every kid gets some type of medicine. Even my higher performing students, they get medicine.
Sometimes it's more challenging questions.
Sometimes I move them on to a different topic.
Sometimes it's the same type of problems, but maybe it's work problems.
Like I find a way to give every kid their medicine to just take them up a notch or two notches.
(29:28):
It's great medicine. It's great for intervention.
And your students will appreciate you a whole lot more when they feel like you see them.
Simply because every kid is getting what they need, they have no shame in it.
But if you happen to be looking for risk-free secondary math activities,
(29:48):
again, check out Virtually Unpossible's Teacher Pay Teacher Store.
And this is going to wrap up our episode for today.
I want to thank you guys for tuning in to today's episode of Virtually Unpossible Presents sense.
Lazy Learning Land podcast.
(30:09):
Comment below your thoughts on creating a risk-free learning environment.
Which of my four five-ish tips resonated with you?
Which ones are you like, hey, I never really thought about that,
but I think I'm going to give that a try.
And which of these risk-free learning environment tips are you already a rock
(30:29):
star at? Hey, maybe you know more than I do.
Feel free to comment below on what you're doing that I might not have even mentioned.
And since there is strength in lazy, be sure to like, follow and subscribe to this podcast,
my blog on virtuallyimpossible.net and our social media platforms,
(30:55):
Pinterest and Instagram.
You can find us on Instagram at virtually underscore I'm underscore possible, no apostrophe.
So you can feel more at home among other lazy learners.
This is your girl S.Dot signing off. And until next episode,
remember to live long and lazy and never, ever work too hard.
You are now tuned into Virtually I'm Possible presents Lazy Learning Land podcast,
where we teach teachers how to be lazier, yet more effective to increase student performance,
but decrease teacher burnout and stress.
I'm S.Dot, your hostess that always gives you the mostest while doing the least.
(00:26):
Today's episode is sponsored by Virtually I'm Possible's Teacher Pay Teacher
Store, where you can get secondary math activities and games that are color
changing, self-checking, no prep and no grading.
Visit Virtually I'm Possible on Teachers Pay Teachers for all your lazy secondary
(00:47):
math teaching tool needs.
And now for today's episode.
Hey, hey, hey, everyone. Welcome to another episode of Lazy Learning Land Podcast.
This is your girl, S.Dot. I'm just so excited for you guys to be with me today.
(01:07):
I promise you, we have got an amazing show.
And I just want you to know, for those of you who this may be your first time,
I have over 15 years of experience working in the hood schools,
title one schools, inner city schools, whatever you wanna call it.
But I pretty much work where most people People don't even want to drive by.
So I have definitely developed a ton of great strategies that have helped me
(01:34):
to thrive. I've only taught in the hood schools.
I love teaching where I am. And I see myself retiring from working with this
demographic after 30 plus years.
So let's get right into it. So today we are going to harp on the topic of no
risk, big reward, and that's the risk-free learning environment.
(01:58):
Now for me, when it comes down to teaching, I know that working with the lower end students,
they really don't even like, I teach math and that is like 90% of the world's
least favorite subject just across the board.
And so you already have that going against you and then turn around and I'm
(02:19):
teaching the lower performing students.
And so it's like, man, I'm just losing on both ends, it seems like.
And I came up with this idea of a risk-free learning environment.
No, I'm not the person that copyrighted it, but I definitely have some really
great strategies and ideas on implementing it that when I share it with teachers
at my schoolhouse, It really just helps them to transform the culture of their classroom.
(02:45):
So this whole superpower, being able to read minds, shows up in countless books,
comic books, movies, television shows.
It's just like one of those things, right?
And where this superpower actually fails to show up in real life,
like how wonderful would it be if as a teacher, we were able to read our students' minds?
(03:10):
But we can't, you know? But it would be nice because we would know whatever
devious act they're thinking of doing before they actually do it.
And we could easily catch our students and lies.
I mean, come on, the list of possibilities is endless if teachers could actually read minds.
But most importantly, we would know what our students were thinking to get their answer.
(03:36):
Like whenever they're answering questions, like we would be able to know how
that hamster was running on the wheel and what that hamster helped their brain
to come up with as to why those words came out of their mouth or why that answer
is on their paper or on their computer.
Or like we would just have deeper insight into these kids' minds.
(03:57):
In order for us as educators to best help our students, they gotta show their
work or they have to be able to verbally or writtenly, I don't even know if writtenly is a word,
but have to be able to verbalize or write their explanations on how they arrive to their answers.
(04:18):
Because sometimes it's a thought process error, or not just necessarily your
answer's wrong. It's not clear, cut and dry or wrong.
It's there's something faulty in your thought process that contributed to you being wrong.
And we kind of need to know what that is so we can fix it.
But it is like really, really, really, really, really
frustrating to like every teacher ever that has ever taught or tutored a student
(04:47):
and they either don't show their work or they have this just so such an amazing
and elaborate explanation of, I just guessed,
or it just look right. Right.
Even worse is when we encounter those students who actually just refuse to even
try to answer the question because their go to response is, oh,
(05:10):
I mean, I ain't try because I mean, I know how to do it. I know how to start.
I don't know how to do this. Miss, you ain't never taught me this.
I don't know what I'm doing. I went here when you taught this.
I was sick. I stayed home that day. Like whatever.
But they just blurt, you know, wonderful excuses out like that about,
you know, why they didn't even try the question.
(05:30):
And whether it's because they didn't explain or show their work or explain their
answer or whether they just did not try at all, we still end up in the same spot,
which is we are unable to effectively do our job if we cannot pinpoint and determine
where the disconnect is happening for our students.
So now that we have identified this problem, what's the why behind this?
(05:56):
Like, why are our students so afraid to try?
And basically, I've narrowed it down to these two things.
And yes, there's probably more, but they all seem, our roads seem to lead back
to these two main pillars or main ideas as to why our students are afraid to try.
And to me, that first reason is just a pure fear of failure.
(06:19):
Like one of the most common reasons students avoid attempting questions is that
they are unsure about is the fear of failing,
the fear of being wrong, the fear of looking dumb to their peers or even to
their teachers, sometimes even to their parents.
Like from this fear of looking dumb or the fear of possibly being called dumb
(06:42):
or stupid stupid, grows the mindset that if I can just avoid answering altogether.
I am pretty much 100% guaranteed that I can never be called dumb or labeled
dumb or teased as being dumb or have to receive a bad grade because I tried and I got it wrong.
(07:05):
So therefore, a bad grade means I'm dumb.
So it alleviates all of that just by flat out refusing to answer.
Or then they can always hold on to wealth.
I mean, yeah, I failed, but that's because I didn't even try.
Like, I bet you I could have passed if I would have actually tried.
But I mean, I just didn't feel like it.
But they do this repeatedly and then that's why they got these D's and F's.
(07:29):
That's a whole nother ballgame. But the second reason why students are afraid
to try is they just lack confidence.
There is a sheer lack of confidence.
Man, y'all, confidence just plays a major role in life in general,
like not even just in the realm of the classroom.
But, you know, we're adults. We've seen people with low self-esteem and how
(07:54):
they function inside of society, outside of the classroom. We've seen them in the workplace.
We've seen them in social settings. Like you can spot the not like the person
that does not have confidence.
But a student who lacks confidence does not believe that they actually possess
the skill set to get the hard questions right. Right now, I got kids.
(08:17):
If I pull, you know, I teach right now, I'm teaching mostly juniors.
If I pull out a sixth grade math skill, oh, everybody's hands up because it's
something that they learned so long ago.
They've had so much time to practice on it. They just feel so good and confident.
I got everybody's hand raised.
But the moment I pull out something that's on grade level, it's like crickets. you can hear a pin drop.
(08:42):
But often the lack of confidence really can develop from past experiences of
them actually trying and being unsuccessful, aka failing, where usually where
there was some sort of negative feedback.
And there could have been some teasing, there could have been some name calling,
or there could be some put downs.
(09:02):
And I'm not just talking about out from peers, I have witnessed adults put down
students in classrooms because they did not get an answer correct.
So the teasing, the name calling, the being put down is not isolated to just
peer to peer interaction.
(09:22):
It's also student to teacher interactions where this negativity can stem from as well.
But I do believe that these two factors alone should be enough for most educators
to consider trying to implement a risk-free learning environment.
And we're getting ready to get into exactly how to get her done, pal.
(09:46):
So we are going to move into how I create my risk-free learning environment.
So I'm just going to open up my playbook to you guys. I'm going to let you in on my playbook.
The first thing that I do for my students, and keep in mind,
I do teach math, but all of these skills and concepts, all of these These ideas
(10:06):
can be tailored for any subject area.
So I may use more math examples, but again, it can be tailored to any subject
area and really to any grade level as well.
But the first thing I do to help create my risk-free learning environment is I give grades on effort.
(10:28):
Yeah. You know, the participation grades that they say that you can't give for real.
Well, I give them. I have, you know, a little checklist of criteria for being
able to earn up to the maximum amount of points, but it really is based on effort.
So this is what I tell my students.
I tell my kids at the beginning of the year, I'm talking the first day of school,
(10:50):
the first week of school,
and I tell them repeatedly almost every day to the last day of school that the
only time a wrong answer will count against them in my class is when they are
taking a quiz or they are taking a test.
All other problems, all other questions that they do, be it the bell ringers,
be it class work, homework,
(11:13):
et cetera, all that stuff are graded on effort and their willingness to fully
engage in the learning process.
So for me, for example, students can earn full credit on an assignment for trying,
showing their work or explaining in writing, making corrections to their paper
(11:37):
and then doing a one to two sentence reflection after they make the correction.
And I only give half credit if they try the problem, but they don't actually
take the time to make corrections and reflect. So.
That whole process of just rewarding them for being a willing learner,
(12:00):
for them being willing to engage fully in the learning process,
that means way more to me than an actual correct answer.
Because we know that through practice, we are able to pinpoint areas of growth
for our students and able to address those to be able to build them up to where they need to be.
(12:21):
But anyway, each student is responsible for their own reflection,
even if we go over the problem as a class or in a small group,
because not everybody makes the same mistakes.
So they need to be able to pinpoint, OK, well, this is where my thought process
went left when I and I should have went right.
And when they're able to correct and reflect on it, then they're,
(12:43):
you know, making new neural pathways in the right direction.
If they never correct and reflect, then their neural pathways are still stuck
in the wrong way, going the wrong way, in the wrong thought process.
And there's very little growth from that.
So that's why it goes from either 100% credit because you engage in the full
(13:04):
process all the way through correct and reflect, or you get that 50% and a literal
50%. Hey, thank you for trying. We're halfway there.
You can earn these other points on another day when you're ready to do the other
half of the learning process.
And that's just how I treat my kids. And I will admit, this is not something that is perfect.
(13:27):
It does take a few days for students to get used to the idea of a risk-free
concept and that making mistakes are okay as long as you can learn from them.
And once they catch on that I'm really only docking points if they did not try
or if they did not correct and reflect.
They tend to kind of dive in headfirst and be like, oh, that's easy.
(13:48):
And they jump on the bandwagon.
But going back a little bit to.
The reflection, sometimes the reflection part is not written.
If I'm doing one-on-one immediate, like real-time feedback with my students
where I'm walking around the classroom or they're bringing their papers to my
desk, then sometimes I'll say,
you know, okay, so tell me what mistake were you making? What error did you see?
(14:12):
All right, now how should you approach a similar problem the next time?
And sometimes the reflection piece will be one-on-one verbally with me versus
being written. But again, that's definitely teacher discretion.
But I don't want you to think that the reflection always has to be written.
It can be verbal. And other times, if you're busy, you can't get to every kid.
So you may have them turn to a neighbor or talk to somebody in their group and
(14:36):
they discuss, hey, my mistake was this.
And what I should have done instead was this. So what was your mistake?
Oh, you know what? I was making that same mistake yesterday.
But you know what? but I got a little bit better at it. Now today I'm making
this mistake, but hey, I'm not making the same mistake back to back.
Go me, go me. So you can have the
(14:56):
kids also reflect with one another in collaborative conversation as well.
So there's definitely different ways that you can implement it,
but try to consider giving grades on the students fully engaging in the learning process.
Moving right along, number two, number dos. Ghosts give credit for participating
(15:17):
in games and activities.
Now, this is different from number one. Number one is they're doing a worksheet.
They're doing an assignment. They're doing bell work. They're working on their
homework in class, whatever.
Like that's what number one is for. Number two is for actual activities,
whether it's a collaboration activity or it's an individual activity,
(15:38):
however it goes, but some sort of activity or game that they are participating
in, you're giving them participation points.
But again, almost checklist style.
Here we go. So definitely one of my favorite things to do in a risk-free learning
environment is to make learning fun.
Matter of fact, I pride myself on tricking my students into learning.
(16:01):
And as long as my students are on task, on topic and engaging in the growth
mindset of perseverance.
Hey, my rule of thumb is they get an A for the day.
So my kids know if it's game day, it's an activity day. all I got to do is try
the whole period and not give up. And I get an A.
Even if I get every question wrong, as long as I keep trying and keep making
(16:25):
these little corrections until I keep, so I can keep making progress, I get an A.
They be baffled by it at first, but they learn to appreciate it.
Now they get to have fun and they get an A. Win-win.
But keeping a positive mindset, set, not shutting down and remaining persistent
(16:45):
while they make multiple sets of corrections is definitely worth a grade in my opinion.
Like that is taxing. We have our periods are about 50 minutes where I am.
And if we start the activity within the first five to 10 minutes of class,
well, you've got at least 40 minutes of engagement with the content.
And it can be mentally and sometimes emotionally tedious to just keep persevering.
(17:11):
But I reward them with an A for the day when they do that.
Now, I do take off points if they are off task, off topic, playing around,
just sitting there, not using their time wisely.
So there's ways to lose that A, lose points from that A.
But if you're on it and you're giving me your best, you get an A for the day.
(17:32):
But for more tips on how to create highly engaging lessons or how to effortlessly
use small group games in your classroom flawlessly,
then you can check out some of my previous posts that I have already listed.
But again, don't touch that dial until you finish this episode.
Moving into the third way that I create a risk-free learning environment for
(17:57):
my classroom is quality over quantity.
I said at the beginning, I work in the hood. I also work with the lowest 25
percentile of math students.
So I'm talking about the bottom of the barrel. I'm talking about the social promotion kids.
I'm talking about they got D's and F's in middle school in math.
(18:22):
And they probably got two math classes right now because they failed the math class the year before.
I'm talking about those kiddos. Okay.
And the majority of my years has been with this demographic of kids on my campus.
But I really learned early on that getting students who struggle to successfully
complete two to three strategic problems is worth way more than trying to force
(18:47):
that same kid or those same kids to try to complete 10 questions.
Questions I get more out of them by giving them quality questions that hit on misconceptions.
That are scaffolded and kind of build up like I get more out of them in those
three questions than I ever would in trying to force them to do 10 questions
(19:11):
and it's kind of like a Jedi mind trick they're like oh all I gotta do is three
problems and you're like yep but you put 10 problems in in front of them and
they shut down because they're like, man,
I barely even know how to do the first question. How am I supposed to get through 10 of these?
So it also helps them to build up their willingness to try and help to build
up their confidence because I might not be able to get through 10 questions,
(19:33):
but I could do these three and they're more willing to engage.
But again, I ensure that those problems are definitely more enriching that they
hit on misconceptions from the get-go.
That way it allows the students to more practice with them because you know
on standardized tests, on unit tests, they're going to throw those misconceptions in anyway.
(19:57):
So why not allow your lower performing students to practice those misconceptions,
problems with those misconceptions in them and those quality problems so that
they get more practice and the
misconception to them really isn't a misconception, it's a normalception.
So my English people, please don't look that word up.
(20:17):
And I do apologize in advance if I offended you because normalception is not a word.
It is a Carterism, but I think I'm going to coin that.
But again, pro tip, pro tip, pro tip, pro tip.
Leave the higher volume for your honors and more advanced students.
Feel free to add on more questions for your lower performing students after
(20:39):
they master the essential ones.
So you know they may start off
not really getting it but once they hit the ground running then yeah give them
three more questions but again build them up to it and celebrate it if they
only get to two out of the three oh my gosh make a big deal out of it promise
you you'll get way more out of your kids if you're able to do that.
(21:02):
So this one right here, y'all, this one right here is my fourth one.
And I feel like some people gonna want to fight me on this one.
Like, I just feel like some people, somebody in the audience is gonna want to
leave a comment going toe to toe about why this one right here just don't make any sense.
And the fourth way that I create a risk-free learning environment is everything
(21:26):
is open notes except for tests.
I repeat, yeah, I said it, everything in my classroom, every assignment,
every practice problem,
everything, including a quiz is open notes except for test.
(21:47):
So let me just kind of break this down. What I mean is I make sure to quiz my
students like twice on the same content.
Content so the first time I give
my kids like a quiz or something I use it as data it is strictly informational
it is a formative I keep it short it's you know anywhere between one to three
(22:10):
questions just depending and I use that data to determine what medicine each of my students needs,
so bell work I use that as formative data
to see where you know what misconceptions they have homework same
deal you know I just that's that's
what I do if I give a quiz the first time I quiz them on that topic it's still
(22:31):
formative data I'm still trying to figure out how can I help you where do you
need help how can I meet you where you are and I figure out what interventions
the kids need based off of the mistakes that they're making based off the answers they're giving.
What medicine do they need in order to be more successful?
And I usually do what's called a medicine day using quotations because I tell them, I'm like, hey.
(22:59):
You know, you took a quiz and we saw some mistakes.
So your brain, you know, is a little sick. Your brain's got a little cough.
Your brain's got the hiccups. Your brain's sneezing. Your brain's got the flu.
Your brain's got something going on. We need to give your brain some medicine
so that you are able to be more successful on this content.
(23:22):
So what I'm giving you on medicine day is what you as an individual actually needs.
It's tailored to your actual areas, growth or areas of weakness,
however you like to, you know, whichever way your pendulum swings when you're
talking to your students.
But after the medicine day, I then re-quiz them and I use that second quiz as
(23:47):
a grade that goes into the grade book.
And what students like about this approach is that it takes the anxiety out of being wrong.
They know the quiz is only being
given to help them since deep down most
of our kiddos really just want to be successful when
I give them these open note quizzes these open note bell works open note class
(24:09):
works like they literally throw up on the paper because they know I'm just using
this to help them so it circles back to the only time a wrong answer will count
against you is on a quiz or a test for my kids.
No, not the first quiz, but after I've given you your medicine and you should
be stronger, now I'm gonna count that quiz as a great. It's still open note though.
(24:31):
And it just, it allows them to do whatever they think is best to answer the question.
And then it gives us as the teacher, the best type of feedback that we need
to be able to better help them and to give our kids the right medicine in and
the right dosage to help move them,
(24:53):
progress them in the content.
I want to cycle back a little bit in this point of everything is open notes except for tests.
And part of the rationale behind that is kids will be more engaged in your lecture
days when they know that their notes mean something, when they know that they
have the opportunity to use them again.
(25:14):
And it's not just busy work. Their notes actually have meaning.
You're going to have a lot more engagement when you are doing your lecture days.
And by allowing your students to go back and forth between their notes and the
activity, the notes and the quiz, the notes and the bell work,
they are doing that multiple exposures.
(25:37):
It is causing them to have to re-engage with your notes multiple times,
which is in a way a form of helping them to study and just be able to recognize certain things.
And a pro tip a pro tip when
it comes down to parents when you can
tell a parent that you let their kid use their
(25:58):
notes on everything except for a test do you understand how much more that parent
is on your side when their child is failing because they're like so what are
you doing how do you get to use your notes and everything and you still have
an f that means you're not trying or that means you're not taking good notes
it just really helps to just kind of smooth things out
with the parent when they find out that their child is being not so responsible
(26:24):
when they get the opportunity to actually use their notes on everything but test.
And I'm going to be fully open and transparent with you guys.
I totally, my ADD kicked in when I was recording and I was supposed to have five points.
And number four was everything is open notes except for test.
(26:46):
Test number five was supposed to be first quiz is the medicine.
Second quiz is the grade.
And when I was looking at my outline, my eyes jumped. I said everything is open notes except for tests.
But then my eyeballs jumped down to my outline about the first quiz being the medicine.
And so I ended up having to merge the two.
(27:06):
So technically, I'm supposed to be giving out five tips on how to create a risk-free
learning environment. Again, number four is everything is open notes except for test.
Number five is the first quiz is the medicine. Second quiz is the grade.
So I kind of merged the two. But, you know, that's what ADD will do for you
sometimes. And, you know, I'm human.
(27:28):
And the way my time is set up is I'm not going to re-record this.
But, you know, I'm hoping that you guys are able to decipher and split the two for yourself.
And I appreciate y'all's understanding and you allowing me to just be human.
Thank you for allowing me to be human. In conclusion, for creating a risk-free
(27:53):
learning environment, the moral of this entire story is to reward your students
for their willingness to engage in the learning process, y'all.
Reward them for being risk takers. Reward them for giving whatever you put in front of them a try.
Reward them for being persistent. reward them for making corrections until they
get the correct process or they get the correct answer.
(28:15):
I'm going to just keep it real. A risk-free learning environment allows students to just say, F it.
I'm going to give it my best shot. Good, bad, ugly, right, wrong.
When your students are in this mindset, it allows us as educators to collect
the necessary data we need to truly individualized, to differentiate,
and to meet our students where they are.
(28:38):
I get the most out of my students when they comprehend and understand that my
ultimate goal is to help them on whatever level they show me they are at.
And when they understand that, they are willing to show me they're at a level zero.
They're willing to show me they're at a level red. Because they say,
no matter where I am, my teacher is going to help me get better.
(29:02):
There is less shame for those babies.
Every kid gets some type of medicine. Even my higher performing students, they get medicine.
Sometimes it's more challenging questions.
Sometimes I move them on to a different topic.
Sometimes it's the same type of problems, but maybe it's work problems.
Like I find a way to give every kid their medicine to just take them up a notch or two notches.
(29:28):
It's great medicine. It's great for intervention.
And your students will appreciate you a whole lot more when they feel like you see them.
Simply because every kid is getting what they need, they have no shame in it.
But if you happen to be looking for risk-free secondary math activities,
(29:48):
again, check out Virtually Unpossible's Teacher Pay Teacher Store.
And this is going to wrap up our episode for today.
I want to thank you guys for tuning in to today's episode of Virtually Unpossible Presents sense.
Lazy Learning Land podcast.
(30:09):
Comment below your thoughts on creating a risk-free learning environment.
Which of my four five-ish tips resonated with you?
Which ones are you like, hey, I never really thought about that,
but I think I'm going to give that a try.
And which of these risk-free learning environment tips are you already a rock
(30:29):
star at? Hey, maybe you know more than I do.
Feel free to comment below on what you're doing that I might not have even mentioned.
And since there is strength in lazy, be sure to like, follow and subscribe to this podcast,
my blog on virtuallyimpossible.net and our social media platforms,
(30:55):
Pinterest and Instagram.
You can find us on Instagram at virtually underscore I'm underscore possible, no apostrophe.
So you can feel more at home among other lazy learners.
This is your girl S.Dot signing off. And until next episode,
remember to live long and lazy and never, ever work too hard.
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