Student overwhelm is at an all-time high. Try to remember your first chemistry class. What is awful? Did you struggle? Since you are most likely a chemistry or science teacher, chances are that it wasn’t awful for you. You didn’t struggle. Your brain was made for science. Now try to remember your classmates. How did they do? Were they regularly overwhelmed like my classmates were?
I have some news for you. Most of your students are like your former classmates, not you. Content that you found riveting was a struggle for many of your peers. I think, deep down, we get that. But I’ve found that many teachers prep their lessons for who they were as students, not for the students that are actually in front of them.
STEM Has a Communication Issue
Now I want you to think back to college. For some of you, that’s not so long ago. We’ve all had professors that we said couldn’t teach. Yes, they knew their content, but they had no real skill in communicating concepts effectively. They were not trained as educators, they were trained as scientists. They fundamentally did not understand how to design their curriculum for maximum benefit to their students.
This is a huge problem in STEM. The awkward scientist is a trope for a reason. Many super intelligent and well-meaning individuals think they are helping inspire the next generation of science learning when really they are overwhelming the very people they are trying to reach. Many of my students have said, “I like you Mrs. M, but chemistry is not for me.” I totally get it, but I also feel frustrated when I hear this. Chemistry, and science, is for everyone. We have to stop unknowingly gatekeeping.
I have a Master’s Degree in Curriculum and Instruction. It sounds fancy, and people who aren’t involved in education tend to think it sounds super impressive. As teachers, though, we know this is just the next step in teacher education. As you grow as an educator, you become a curriculum designer. The years go by, and you learn your own preferences and what works best for you and your students. My Master’s Degree gave me a fast track to some of that knowledge, but nothing can replace the ten years I’ve spent honing my craft as an educator.
What is curriculum design?
Curriculum design is exactly what it sounds like. It’s a systematic approach to developing your curriculum. You take a step back from the day-to-day grind and look at the whole picture. This whole picture can be an entire year, a semester, a unit, or even a week. You set goals for your classroom and plan everything around those goals. If you have control over the books you use, you select them based on your goals. Ideally, you create your assessments first, aligned with your objectives, and then seek out or create activities based on that assessment.
It is not as rigid as it sounds. This process is cyclical, and you should constantly reflect on and evaluate your plan. If the plan isn’t working to get your students to the goal, you adjust. As you get to know your students better, you continue adjusting. The better you get, the less student overwhelm will continue to be problem.
“Begin with the end in mind” is a trap for new teachers
As a first-year chemistry teacher, I can almost guarantee your goals are too high for your students. You don’t know what you don’t know. I don’t say this to sound superior, but you don’t know what your students are capable of yet. If you select an “end” that you think they should be able to reach, with no relevant data to support that goal, you may be setting yourself and your students up for an extremely overwhelming year.
I know my content expectations for my students in my first year of teaching were too high. We are told in education classes to set high expectations – but chemistry is a different beast. I’m not telling you to “dumb down your curriculum.” I’m simply stating that chemistry is tough and that you may sometimes forget how difficult a concept can be for new learners with your advanced chemistry knowledge.
Chemistry seems logical to us. But to our students? It’s basically a new language. This content is extremely overwhelming. Students have to integrate math, science, and English skills into one class period – many for the first time. It’s a lot to ask of our students.
Our students CAN do chemistry. They can. Even if they think they can’t. It’s on us, as educators, to design our curriculum to best support our students.
Ways I Combat Overwhelm in my Classroom
There are three things I try to remember when creating my curriculum – and most of it isn’t content. I start by building a positive classroom culture.
Build a Positive Classroom Culture
What is my number one recommendation for reducing student overwhelm? Build a positive classroom culture. Even when they are struggling, if you have a positive culture, they will be less overwhelmed because they will feel supported.
I build a positive classroom culture by:
- Getting to know my students. I learn their names quickly and have conversations with them about things other than school. My goal is to get to know them as humans. And bonus, if I know them then they know me. The more they know me, the more comfortable they become with me, and the more likely they will be to ask for help when they need it.
- I trust my students to do the right thing. Here’s an example: I do not give bathroom passes. When my students ask to go to the restroom, I do not assume that they are going to go mess around. My students can go as many times as they need. If an issue arises- like spending too much time in the restroom- I address it with them individually.
- I encourage collaboration. My students are allowed to work together on everything except for assessments. They are graded as individuals though, so this ends up making them accountable to each other. But they also learn about giving grace. If a student is having personal issues, they support them. So many good things happen when you encourage collaboration.
Classroom Logistics
Establish Routines
Routine helps prevent overwhelm for everyone, not just students. I’m sure you’ve set up your own sort of routine. If you haven’t, please do. It will help reduce student overwhelm and anxiety when they know what to expect. They can better prepare for being in your classroom.
This routine doesn’t have to be intense. Here’s my daily routine:
- Bell Work
- Activity
- Wrap Up
See? Not intense at all. But my students know that every day when they enter my classroom, there will be a question on the board that I need them to answer. I take attendance while they are working, and then we briefly discuss the bell work. This helps them transition from the chaos of the hallway and ensures I have enough time to submit attendance to the office.
We then move on to our daily tasks – maybe we’re working on an inquiry activity. Maybe it’s notes and practice. Maybe it’s a full-blown lab. Whatever it is, they know my behavior expectations for each because we discussed it at the beginning of the year, and I remind them regularly.
Lastly, we wrap up in the last few minutes of class. I have a student volunteer to summarize what we’ve learned for the day. Sometimes they restate the learning objective, and sometimes they use their own words. I don’t mind either way- I just want them linking what they’ve done to what they were supposed to get out of it.
Assume They Know Nothing
Remember, this is probably your student’s first exposure to chemical concepts. And it is definitely their first exposure to Algebra in science. Do not assume that your students have the required background knowledge in scientific and mathematical concepts. Yes, algebra may be a prerequisite for chemistry, but many schools decide that it should be a co-requisite or, like my school, just a friendly suggestion.
My students with varying mathematical skills. I have to remind myself not to skip steps when solving mathematical equations because some of my students have no idea how I can solve for moles with the Ideal Gas equation without writing out intermediate steps.
At the beginning of the year, I assess their math skills so I can develop more thoughtful plans throughout the year. I try to design activities around their skill levels, but I still have instances where I assumed too much. Modifying in the middle of a lesson is never a bad thing; in fact, it’s considered best practice. But doing it all the time? That’s overwhelming for you and can cause some confusion in your students.
And jargon. Woof. There is so much scientific jargon and that can be a real problem for many students. Take the time to teach and apply your students’ vocabulary to better handle word problems on your assessments. Spend time deciphering news articles to prove to them that scientific literacy is important.
Check out my article about Science Vocabulary for more ideas on how to incorporate more vocab into your curriculum.
Include Practice time
I cannot stress this enough, build in time for practice in the classroom. Do not rely on homework. Homework can and will be copied. Practice time with you in the room will be more helpful for your students. They have you, right there, to help them if they get stuck. They also have classmates to bounce ideas off of. And best of all, you, as the educator, will have a better understanding of what your students can do.
No Formal Homework
I’m going to touch again on homework. I do not give formal homework to my students. There is little proof that homework improves student outcomes. Instead of formal homework, I give them options for studying, and that’s it. They are always welcome to take practice home and complete it, but it is not required.
These kiddos have a lot to deal with. Chemistry is typically a sophomore-level class. Many of my students are getting jobs for the first time, going through the driver’s licensing process, and learning to juggle all the things. That alone is overwhelming. Why would I add to that by requiring students to complete a worksheet or questions from the end of the chapter?
I have a colleague who assigns almost one hour of history homework a night. Every night! Are you kidding me? If we all did that, students would have seven hours of homework on top of the seven hours they spent in class. No ma’am. No, thank you.
I value my students’ time after school just as much as I value mine. Homework is not assigned specifically because I value their time and expect them to work hard for me in class. I have additional resources linked in our Learning Management System if they need additional practice. This goes a long way to developing a positive classroom culture. My students work hard for me, and they know that they can come to me anytime for help.
Formatting – Whitespace is Critical
You need to let your documents breathe. Have decent margins and spacing. Too much on the page (or slide) can be distracting to the eye. Your eye needs somewhere to rest. Handing a student a page that is dense with text is extremely overwhelming.
I know you are trying to be environmentally conscious and save paper. Believe me. I get it. But I have a certificate in technical writing. Because I know the basic tenets of proper formatting, I get aggravated when I see people disregard them. Isn’t that always the way? You learn more about something, and then you want to help others understand how to correct their own errors. We are teachers, after all.
Formatting Documents
As I said, whitespace is critical. Decreasing your margins and text size to fit more information on a page may seem efficient- but it’s actually extremely overwhelming. “But Ali,” you say. “My students freak out if I give them a packet.” I hear you. It’s a balance. You are a professional. Use your best judgment.
My tips for better page design:
- WHITESPACE
- Simplify definitions
- Use bullet points whenever possible
- Add diagrams whenever possible
So you might be rolling your eyes at me. That’s ok. I just strongly believe that quality page design is important. #asthetics I could go more in-depth into page design later. Let me know if that’s something you’re interested in.
Formatting Slides
Apply everything I said about formatting documents. But here, whitespace is more important. I know you’ve seen slides that are crammed with small text from top to bottom. No. Just, no.
Each slide should only be up for about one minute. That alone should help you reduce the content on each slide.
My tips for better slide design:
- Use more bullet points
- Utilize speaker notes to reduce text on the screen
- Highlight important vocabulary
- Diagrams and images should be in color
- WHITESPACE
- Use simple fonts (I suggest the Lexend series)
We are all overwhelmed right now. So why not do what you can to reduce that feeling in your students? You may think this is a little too much ‘hocus pocus,’ but the little things matter. Little things lead to big things. Don’t you want your little things to lead to your students being comfortable with you? I know I want my students to feel like they can, in the wise words of Ms. Frizzle, “Take chances, make mistakes, and get messy!” That’s how we learn. But we can’t do those things if we’re feeling totally overwhelmed.
I hope you found my ideas helpful. I trust that you can combat student overwhelm in your own classroom. If you want to know more about anything I’ve discussed here, check out these links:
The Cult of Homework – Article
The Non-Designer’s Design Book – Book
The way U.S. teens spend their time is changing – Article
COVID-19 mental health consequences on medical students worldwide – Academic Research
If you’d like to know more about my process, drop me a line. I’d love to share more with you!
