Teaching Students Who Refuses To Do Any Work

We’ve all been there. Slumped bodies, rolled eyes, defiant words, and off-task behaviours announce (not-so-subtly) that direction isn’t “working.” So what can teachers do to encourage participation and task completion when students are reluctant to participate or complete tasks?

While there are no assurance or magic bullets, certain rules and strategies can help support the intrinsic motivation that lies at the heart of each person.

• Don’t just punish.?Too often if a child or young adult is struggling with some social or emotional challenges at the moment, punishment is only going to push them away further. Your punishment will look as harsh, mean, and uncaring. I know that educators do not intend for punishments to feel that way, but for many students, they do, including those with trauma in their past. But most of this isn’t to say you should “let the student get away” with any behaviour. Instead, you can use logical consequences
• Why you shouldn’t send the student out of the room??I can’t stress this enough! As an educator, I know this is sometimes a desirable option because it deals with the situation swiftly. If it does not fix the problem it will most likely make it worse in the long term. Normally, the student might feel anger and bitterness towards you. The message you are sending is that you can’t deal with the state of affairs and that you need to send the student out to another teacher or the principal. Sometimes if a student is just seated at their desk and refusing to work, it should not be a ground to send them out of class. Kids and young adults are getting much more education being in your room and hearing the discussions than being in the principal’s office.
• Avoiding Power Struggles with Students.?No one ever wins in a power struggle! Well, so much force and energy is wasted and even if the student eventually complies, it will be filled with bitterness.
• Don’t just presume the child is lazy.?I am sure so many times, it is often actually effortless for the child to comply and do their work and refuse. So, it’s clear that there is something else in play. Keep in mind that you should reframe your thinking to recall that the child is struggling and needs your assistance.
• When you are angry with a student.?When you start to feel disappointed because of a child’s behaviour, remember this phrase: “He’s not giving me a hard time, he’s having a hard time.” So slow down since there is no shame in taking a deep breath and walking away from a state. staying?calm?in the classroom is?one?of the most?essential?skills?a teacher can have in each condition.?It’s okay to feel frustrated with a situation, just don’t act on that frustration.
• Why threats and punishment don’t work.?Whether it's an everyday issue you might be tempted to say things like, “If you don’t do your work, I’m going to call your parents,” or “Finish this or you can’t go to the gym.” Sometimes, these warnings can only make a student dig their heels in deeper and you might repent what you’ve said later on. Instead, be mindful about what you say and make sure your consequences fit the crime.
• Avoid student humiliation.?The teacher?publicly?reprimands the?student?for misbehaving. Instead, consider ways to private support the student to help both of you get what you need.

• Continue teaching.?A common thing seen is that just because a student doesn’t lift their pencil, doesn’t mean they’re not listening and learning. Research suggests that we continue teaching, talking, and even involving that student if they want to participate. Remember that the eventual goal is to educate the student, not force them to work. If they are in the classroom, keep teaching them!
• Importance of wait time.?Sometimes when a pupil refuses work at first, all they need is a little wait time. It’s okay to let them have their head down or keep their arms crossed. Every time give some time and wait to realize if they come around within 5 minutes or so.
• Give space to the small behaviours.?Now if the student crumples up the paper, breaks their pencil, or scribbles all over it, confront the impulse to tell the student they shouldn’t do that or give any further instructions. Generally, when things like this happen, the student is either aroused and agitated or attention-seeking. One intervention that will help in this case is just giving space.
• Be reflective.?Acknowledge what you could be doing that might be triggering the pupil to refuse to occupy himself with the work. For example, are you using a harsh tone? Did you embarrass the student by calling them out for something right before? Sometimes, there isn’t anything apparent, but it’s always worth considering first!
• Building better student relationships.?There are too many kids, relationship is everything. Well, put the work aside for a bit. Speaking of lunch spend time with your student during lunch, talk with them after class, and just get to know them. Teach them about you as a person, too! Positive?student relationships are?central?to attaining?success and once a relationship is built, many times your students will have a much easier time working for you because they know you care. This isn’t a quick process, but it’s always essential and worth it. Read up on more ways to build relationships with kids and young adults.
• Consider learning demands.?Children might refuse to work due to social and emotional situational challenges, but other times it might be because they think the work is just too difficult for them. Consider if the student needs interventions with reading, writing, or math. Sometimes students might even need direct instruction with executive functioning skills to assist them to get first started and work through challenges. If you are a regular educator, consider discussing the pupil with the special education teacher or interventionist to get some ideas and strategies.
• Use logical consequences (and consider them before time).?Natural and Logical consequences are outcomes from behaviour that make sense. For example, if a student is refusing to complete their morning work, a logical consequence would be using some break time late in the day to finish at least 5 questions or sending it away home as homework to be done later.
• The consequences shouldn’t be a surprise.?It is said that consequences shouldn’t be a surprise to your pupil. Let them know ahead of time affirmatively and positively. For example, you might say to the whole class, “Everyone needs to finish their work so we can finish watching the rest of the movie.”
• Use de-escalation strategies to help quiet the situation.?At the moment, it can rapidly become a power struggle when a pupil externally tells you they are not doing the work. It is critical to know how to de-escalate a situation. My favourite strategy has always been saying, “Let’s talk about this later.” It gives you the perfect way out of a heated-up situation with a student while letting other students around know you’re not ignoring the behaviour, you’re just dealing with it later.
• Give choices to the student.?A suggestion for students who attempt to struggle with work completion, consider giving constricted limited choices for assigning assignments. Support from the teacher would be confining the number to two is usually foremost so that it’s not overwhelming, but it still gives control and choice. You might say, “Would you rather write about this prompt in your journal or draw a scene from the text and write a sentence about it?”
• Consider reduction of work.?Another one of my favourite ways to give choice is to let the pupil select which 10 problems they will finish. Likewise, you might inquire the pupil to complete only 1 of the 3 essay questions. Sometimes educators have reasoned that this is making it too easy on the student. Of course, the eventual goal is to get the student back to finishing all the work, without doubtfulness. However, when a student is outright refusing to do work, finishing just one item over none is a success. We all have to start somewhere.
• Use learner interests.?First, find out the subject the student utilizes and enjoys doing and learning about. That might be anything: soccer, dirt bikes, drawing, animals, dance, or even a certain television show. It happens that the subject and sentiments and ideas are endless. Then, use bits of those subjects in your teaching to hook the individual and help them feel more interested.
• Giving big-hearted accommodations.?Giving accommodations doesn’t necessarily make an assignment easier, it just gives more options for how the student approaches the task. Allow a student struggling with reading to listen to audiobooks. If a student isn’t writing, allow them access to a laptop. Give out a calculator to a student who gets fatigued with math problems (provided the math skill isn’t calculations themselves). Give a word bank, provide multiple choices, let the student use manipulatives, and so on.
• Take turns writing.?In line with accommodations, one easy strategy to try (when you can) is to take turns writing and completing problems with the pupil. For instance, you can complete the first question and write it down on the student’s paper. It helps to think aloud while you’re solving the problem, as this models the behaviours you want to see. Then, have the student finish the second question. Next, you would finish the third and so on. This is a more cooperative approach that at times eases kids and teens into working and finishing their work.
• Think about trends.?Is the work refusal only happening during math? Or maybe during partner work? Maybe it’s only in the morning or in the afternoon? Think about these courses of trends and truly delving into the information data can help inform your judgements about what’s truly going on.
• Research tested breaks.?All youngsters and teens need a break now and then. Think about adding a preferable activity right after the assigned assignment you want your student to finish. Another option is to schedule meaningful brain breaks.
• Provide different writing utensils.?This thought looks crazy, but sometimes it works! Give alternative options for writing such as gel pens or coloured pencils instead of just plain old pencils.?At?times, the newness of a new tool can help youngsters get over that roadblock of beginning. It’s worth a try.
• Consider interventions for task induction.?Our ability for task initiation is like the motor that starts us up. When kids and young adults lack these skills to get started, it can be extremely frustrating for everyone involved. Sometimes, kids don’t know HOW to start a challenging task or assignment. It’s important to consider if these skills are lacking when a child or young adult isn’t completing work because they can be taught. Read up more on this blog post focused on interventions for task skills.
• How to make an incentive plan, if needed.?One problem is that sometimes educators are opposed to incentive plans, and I agree they shouldn’t always be the first strategy. However, there is a time when there can be a struggling student working towards his/her goal. A teaching tip that you might develop, is a contract that outlines what the student is responsible for and what incentives the student will get by completing work. A contract sets the tone that you will stick to your word so you expect that the student makes an effort to do the same. Find out what the student would like to work for, remembering that all individual students are motivated by different things (I’ve had some students who want silent drawing time and others who want to help the custodian, for example). My favourite way to find this out is by using a reward inventory.
• Get together with families.?It’s easy to note that the first time you call the family shouldn’t be to mention that the student isn’t working. I’m a huge believer in always calling to share something positive first. With that said, it is essential to share concerns about students who are struggling to work in class. A great tip is to be mindful of how you communicate this with families, too. Rather than saying the child is “refusing to work,” share that they are “struggling with getting started even on assignments that are at their level.” Collaborate to discuss if anything is going on outside of the home of the child and if there are any other strategies you as the educator can seek. You will probably find that often, parents are more than willing to talk with their child and sometimes (not always) this even fixes the issue from the start.
• Way?to focus on your self-care.?This is decidedly not stressed adequately enough in the world of education. Working with students who are primarily refusing to work can be emotionally emptying. Take an instance focusing on yourself when you can. As you can’t pour from an empty cup.