What to Do if Someone Doesn't Understand After an Hour

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the challenges faced by educators when a student does not grasp a concept after a lengthy explanation, specifically focusing on strategies for re-explaining material and the emotional responses involved. The scope includes teaching methods, communication strategies, and personal reflections on the teaching experience.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants suggest re-explaining the material, while others express frustration at the need to repeat explanations multiple times.
  • One participant mentions the importance of adapting teaching methods based on the student's understanding, indicating that different approaches may be necessary for different learners.
  • Another participant reflects on their experiences in one-to-one teaching situations, noting that issues typically arise sooner in those contexts compared to larger lecture settings.
  • There is a discussion about the emotional toll of teaching, with some expressing that they lack the patience required to explain concepts multiple times.
  • One participant emphasizes the need for teachers to be versatile in their explanations, suggesting that a good teacher should have a variety of methods to convey the same concept.
  • Another participant raises a question about gender assumptions in misunderstanding, which leads to a clarification that there is no observed difference in comprehension based on gender.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express a mix of agreement and disagreement regarding the best approach to take when a student does not understand after an initial explanation. While some advocate for patience and adaptability in teaching methods, others express a limit to their willingness to repeat explanations, indicating a lack of consensus on the best practices in such situations.

Contextual Notes

Some participants acknowledge that their experiences may vary based on the teaching context, such as one-on-one versus group settings, and that emotional responses to teaching challenges can influence their approach.

Who May Find This Useful

Educators, teaching assistants, and individuals interested in communication strategies within educational settings may find this discussion relevant.

What would you do in this situation?

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Lisa!
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What would you do if you spent a long time, say 1 hour, to explain sth to someone and s/he suddenly asked you a very silly question which meant that s/he didn't get anything of what you said?
 
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I've worked as a assistant teacher and teacher a lot.
I explain it again..:cry:
 
Really? So do you change your method for the second time or perhaps more than 2,3,4,.. times :cry: ?
 
I would give up and do something better.
 
EL said:
I would give up and do something better.
And if you'd have to explain it again? For example when you need money or you're a teacher and you need that person to understand you?
 
Lisa! said:
Really? So do you change your method for the second time?
That depends.
However, I've never experienced this in a one-to-one teaching situation, since then most of the teaching can also be a probing of the student's understanding. (Problems will appear a lot sooner).
Hence, the times I've experienced this, is basically at the end of lecture-like sessions with many students, when someone approaches me afterwards and reveals that she hasn't understood a thing. As best as I could, I would then try to home in a few lessons before departing, and then perhaps at the next session comment on the particular problems this student had (without mentioning name), in so far as I believe there will be others who are equally lacking in understanding, but didn't have the courage to ask me up front.
 
arildno said:
That depends.
However, I've never experienced this in a one-to-one teaching situation, since then most of the teaching can also be a probing of the student's understanding. (Problems will appear a lot sooner).
Hence, the times I've experienced this, is basically at the end of lecture-like sessions with many students, when someone approaches me afterwards and reveals that she hasn't understood a thing. As best as I could, I would then try to home in a few lessons before departing, and then perhaps at the next session comment on the particular problems this student had (without mentioning name), in so far as I believe there will be others who are equally lacking in understanding, but didn't have the courage to ask me up front.
Well I usualy had to teach some of my classmates or my cousin . Believe it or not they didn't understand the lesson till I changed my tone or words. For example I told them "If you're clever enough , you should learn it this time" or some words like that.
In fact I should look angry and raise my voice if I want others to understand me even in friendly conversations. :devil: :blushing:

By the way, why do you say "she hasn't understood" ?
 
I switch between using he or she as the 3 person pronoun.
There's nothing more to it than that.
 
I thought you wanted to say women misunderstand you more than men or perhaps all your students are female!:cry:
 
  • #10
Lisa! said:
I thought you wanted to say women misunderstand you more than men or perhaps all your students are female!:cry:
No; I've never experienced that women misunderstand me more often than men.
 
  • #11
arildno said:
No; I've never experienced that women misunderstand me more often than men.

Anyway I think a teacher really needs to be patient, and it means I can't be a teacher :cry: because I hate explaining everything more than 1 time.
 
  • #12
Lisa! said:
Anyway I think a teacher really needs to be patient, and it means I can't be a teacher :cry: because I hate explaining everything more than 1 time.

Even more important than just explaining it again is to come up with a different way of explaining it. Just being repetitive doesn't help if someone hasn't understood a thing. Sometimes the way you learned something isn't the way someone else needs to learn something, so a good teacher has to be able to think of many ways of looking at a problem and using those to teach to the students who didn't understand the first time. Experience helps there too, because the more students you have had who can relate their way of learning something to you, the more variety you have in your toolkit.

But, yeah, if you don't have the patience to explain something more than once, teaching probably isn't a career you should consider. There's no reason to cry over it. Knowing what you like and don't like is very helpful when making career choices and will keep you from wasting time on something you'll end up disliking or even hating.
 
  • #13
Lisa! said:
And if you'd have to explain it again? For example when you need money or you're a teacher and you need that person to understand you?

Probably continue with the explanation the next day or so.
 
  • #14
Lisa! said:
What would you do if you spent a long time, say 1 hour, to explain sth to someone and s/he suddenly asked you a very silly question which meant that s/he didn't get anything of what you said?

Explain it again, only snd time use the mechanical method, jeez 1hr how can
anyone be so patient
 
  • #15
Teaching is communication...
there is the idea that sits between the teacher and the student...
as a teacher, one is offering to help...
as a student, one is seeking help...
neither student nor teacher has success all alone...
if one fails, the other has failed

as the teacher, you can be like a mechanic to the machine and diagnose the issue...
ask them about what they understand and what they do not... then try to help them make adjustments toward understanding.
 

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