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A common mistake many of us new tutors might make is overwhelming our students during lessons. When we overwhelm our students – either by pressuring them or overloading them with information, it affects their learning experience.
They don’t learn anything else during the lesson and might also develop a negative learning experience, which affects their relationship with learning in the future.
Here are some ways you are overwhelming your students during lessons and how to overcome them.
Too Much Factual Information
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One of the most common ways we overwhelm students is by teaching too much factual information that requires memory and understanding. It causes mental fatigue amongst our students, making it hard for them to retain what we teach.
Instead, try to cover key points in the chapter first. If your student can still learn more afterwards, you can cover additional information or you can create notes to summarise chapter points for your student to refer to after the lesson.
This gives them the space and time to digest and absorb the information taught which will greatly reduce stress and let them feel less overwhelmed.
Covering Too Many Topics
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Another way we overwhelm our students is by covering too many topics. This is especially so when we do Multiple Choice Question (MCQ) practices or practice papers. The constant hopping from topic to topic may confuse your student, especially if the topics are unrelated.
Here’s what you can do: in one lesson, let your student do all the questions from the same topic and once they’re done, do a recap. This way, you won’t need to cover many topics and your student also gets a short revision!
But if you want them to practise completing an MCQ paper for exam practice, then make sure that they revise their topics first before trying out the paper. Then after you mark the paper, go through the questions that are wrong topic by topic.
When There is No Recap
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Sometimes, we have lessons that relate to what was taught in the previous one. But our students might forget or may not be as familiar with the content and once we jump into the lesson, they are left lost and confused.
Having a recap before your lesson helps them remember information. Just do a quick run through of the key points from the previous lesson! It is also an excellent opportunity to revise with them and clear any doubts that they might have.
Not Having Enough Breaks During the Lesson
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Breaks are essential during lessons because it allows your student to kick back and relax for a short while. It also gives them time to digest what was just taught, allowing them to better retain the information.
But when we don’t give our students enough breaks during the lesson, they cannot absorb information. It also makes them less attentive and lowers learning productivity because their brains don’t get a break and are constantly working hard to process information.
So incorporate student breaks in your lesson plan. A break after every 20 to 30 minutes is good enough.
Conclusion
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Sometimes, it is crucial to not overwhelm our students because it makes our teachings ineffective and makes the learning experience stressful and unpleasant.
I hope this article shows you how you might be overwhelming your student and how you can overcome it, to make the lessons enjoyable and fruitful.
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