The Hardest Students to Teach

the hardest students to teach
Some students are more challenging to teach than others. They require pedagogical skills of a different and higher order. Sometimes it’s easier to sigh and just turn away. And that’s legitimate in the sense that students (indeed, people of all sorts) have to figure things out for themselves. But many of us were such “works in progress” when we were in college, and a teacher (or several of them) ended up being instrumental in moving us in more productive directions. It’s for that reason I’d like us to consider some of these challenging students, each one a unique individual, but many displaying the same counterproductive attitudes and actions. Descriptions of these students come much more easily than solutions to what’s holding them back. Said more directly, my goal here is to start this conversation and ask for your wisdom, insights, and experiences with students who are tough to teach.

To continue reading, you must be a Teaching Professor Subscriber. Please log in or sign up for full access.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Related Articles

I have two loves: teaching and learning. Although I love them for different reasons, I’ve been passionate about...
A team icebreaker activity for which there is no obvious solution can help scaffold student behavior in group...
Traditional slide decks for hosting content in live videoconferences have the major drawback that the content is static...
Academic integrity is one of the most critical aspects of education. Despite this, students' ability to cheat is...
In 1936, psychologist Muzafer Sherif reported a landmark study on the creation of social norms. Sherif made use...
Large language models (LLMs), such as ChatGPT and Google Bard, are in our classrooms whether we are aware...
The rolling TV cart: a beloved icon of the educational system in the 1980s and ’90s. As students,...

Are you signed up for free weekly Teaching Professor updates?

You'll get notified of the newest articles.

The Teaching Professor Conference 2024

June 7-9, 2024 • New Orleans

Connect with Fellow Educators at The Teaching Professor Conference!