Helping Students When They're "Stuck"

In this article, you'll learn what it means when you're notified that a student is "stuck" during a NoRedInk Practice assignment. We'll also share some tips for how you can help when students are feeling stuck.

What does the "stuck" notification mean?

Sometimes, students will experience topics or questions in NoRedInk Practice that they find particularly challenging, but they may not always reach out to you for help right away. This is where the "stuck" notifications come in handy to help you identify when students could be struggling so that you can provide them with more direct support!

During a Practice assignment, a student is considered "stuck" if they have answered 7 questions incorrectly while in frozen mode. At this point, the student will see a message letting them know that you've been notified to give them support. 

💡A student can continue working even after they see the “stuck” message. Once the student answers the next question correctly without using a hint, they’ll no longer be considered “stuck."

In your teacher account, a "stuck" notification will appear in multiple places to let you know when a student might need extra support during an assignment:

• On your dashboard, under the Class Activity feed

• On the Assignments page

• On the Results page of the Practice assignment

Tips for supporting students when they're stuck

Identify the topic and question where your student is stuck on

1. First, reach out to the student to see if they still need help.
2. Identify where the student is getting stuck.
   
   • The notification will let you know on which assignment the student is stuck, but you can ask them for specific details about questions and topics they're struggling with.
3. Ask the student to share a screenshot of the question(s), or if you're in the classroom together, have your student log in to their account and review the question history with them.
   • Check out this article to learn how students can find the questions they saw during practice!

Model similar questions

• View the Assignment Library under Browse & Assign in your account with students who need more help. You can review interactive tutorials, lessons, and preview similar questions.

• If you're working with multiple students, consider projecting the Assignment Library in class or screen-sharing if you're doing online instruction.
• You can learn more about showing students lessons and sample questions in this article!

Share interactive tutorials

• Share direct URL links to NoRedInk interactive tutorials. You can learn how to share these direct links with your students in this article!
• Each mini-lesson walks students through the most important points they need to know about a topic, then gives them one or two practice questions to check their understanding.
• Check out our library of interactive tutorials here!

Modify Assignments

• While you can't control the number of questions students will see during practice assignments, consider chunking assignments into fewer topics.
  • This will allow you to identify specific topics that students need more help with so that you can provide a strong foundation for those who need it, without overwhelming them in lengthy practice!
• You can create assignments for specific students instead of assigning them to the entire class. Follow the step-by-step instructions in this article!
• Learn more tips for differentiation in NoRedInk here.

Promote strategies for students to use when they are feeling stuck

You can share the following example strategies with your students to help them if they're feeling stuck during a Practice assignment or writing. 

• Student Strategies for Practice Assignments
• Student Strategies for Writer's Block

💡 You can also check out our article about student self-directed learning with NoRedInk here!

Tips for distance learning

We know that distance learning poses new challenges for communicating and helping students 1:1 when they’re not in the classroom with you. Here are some additional tips for supporting students during distance learning:

• If you’re able to host virtual meetings online with your students, consider scheduling a meeting with struggling students 1:1 or hosting small group meetings to help multiple students at once.
• Model questions by screen-sharing with students or have students screen-share with you so you can see where they need help.
• If students are emailing you for help, ask for screenshots of where they are getting stuck. 
• Check out the rest of our distance learning resources to find more resources and tips for using NoRedInk remotely.