Helping students when they're "stuck"

Overview

In this article, you'll learn about 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 come across 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 Practice, a student is considered "stuck" if they have answered 7 questions incorrectly while in frozen mode (see: What happens when students get a question wrong?). At this point, the student will see the following notification:

💡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."

How do I know when students are "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. Below are the three places in your account where you'll be notified.

(Click here to expand)

1. On your Dashboard under the Class Activity Feed
2. On the Assignments page
3. On the Results page of the Practice assignment

Tips for supporting students when they're stuck

1. Identify the topic and question your student is stuck on

• First, reach out to the student to see if they still need help.
• Identify where the student is getting stuck. The notification will let you know which assignment the student is stuck in, but you can ask them for specific details about questions and topics they're struggling with.
• Ask 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. Here's how students can find the questions they saw during practice.

2. Model similar questions

• View the Assignment Library under "Browse & Assign" in your teacher account with students that 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-share if you're doing online instruction.
• Read more about showing sample questions here.

3. Share interactive tutorials

• Share direct URL links to NoRedInk interactive tutorials.
• 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.
• Find our library of interactive tutorials here.

4. 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 in so that you can provide a strong foundation for the those who need it, without overwhelming them in lengthy practice.
• Click here to learn how to create assignments for specific students.
• Learn more tips for differentiation in NoRedInk here.

5. Promote strategies for students to use when they're feeling stuck

Below are a few examples of strategies you can share with students if they're feeling stuck during practice or writing. See the full article about student self-directed learning with NoRedInk here.

Strategies for practice (share this with students)

If you’ve gotten a question wrong and you’re feeling frustrated, try one of these strategies:

1. Click “Show hint” to see the lesson for the topic. Read the lesson, then look at the question again. Compare the sentence in the question with the examples in the lesson. Ask yourself, ”How does what I read in the lesson apply to this question?” If the topic has an interactive tutorial, you can see it by clicking the question mark icon next to the directions. Going through the steps of the tutorial will refresh your memory of the key points that will help you with the topic.

2. If you have an adult or a friend nearby, you can ask them to look at the lesson or tutorial with you and see if they can help you figure it out.

3. It’s also okay to take a break and do something else for a little while! Come back to the topic later and try the questions again.

Strategies for writer’s block (share this with students)

• Read the prompt again to see if it sparks any new ideas.
• Read through what you’ve written to see if it prompts any ideas.
• Look for thoughts you can expand on or ideas you haven’t discussed yet.
• As you read what you’ve written, try asking yourself the following questions, and use your answers to keep writing!
  • Why?
  • How?
  • So what?
  • Now what?
  • What does this look like, sound like, or feel like?

🖥 More 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 host 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. Here's how to take a screenshot on Windows and here's how to take one on a Mac.
• Check out the rest of our distance learning resources to find more resources and tips for using NoRedInk remotely.