Teaching Is Really Hard, Until You Do This
Digitizing direct instruction may take time, but it saves much more.
Later today (or tomorrow or Monday), millions of teachers in millions of classrooms will stand in front of millions of students and try to explain millions of things. These teachers will try as hard as they can to help every student learn.
Unfortunately, most of them—and, worse, their learners—will fall short.
How do I know this? I used to be a teacher myself. Today I work with teachers around the world. And I’ve seen the statistics: in the United States today, and for the past thirty years, the vast majority of American students have scored “below proficient” on gold-standard assessments in reading and math.1
Our students are languishing.
I also know this is not our teachers’ fault. Those teachers care deeply about the young people they serve (they wouldn’t pass up easier, higher-paying jobs if they didn’t), and they work long hours to do what they believe is best. And this is not their students’ faults either. Their students, like all young people, have infinite potential.
The reason these teachers will fall short is because the traditional task of a teacher—to deliver the same content to the same students, every day—is really, really hard!
In fact, I’d call it impossible.
But there is a better way.
The fundamental challenge of teaching
Standing in front of your students and explaining something you know might not sound all that challenging. After all, teachers become teachers because they like explaining things to young people, right?
That may be true. But consider that, if you ever try to explain something to a group of diverse young people at the same time:
Some students will already understand your content. They’ll be bored. They might daydream, or put their heads on their desk, or distract their classmates. These students need more challenge.
Some students won’t be prepared to understand. If they lack grade-level skills, they won’t be able to follow grade-level content. So they’ll feel lost. They also might daydream, or put their heads on their desk, or distract their classmates. These students need more support.
Some students won’t be there at all. If they arrive late, they’ll interrupt your explanation. If they don’t arrive, they’ll miss out completely. These students need help catching up.
This is what I consider the fundamental challenge of teaching: every student in a class needs different things. And if you try to teach them all the same thing at the same time, it’s basically inevitable that:
Your explanations will drag on. You’ll spend precious time and energy managing disengaged students’ behavior. Every time you redirect behavior, you must interrupt your lesson.
You’ll need to repeat yourself. Even if you don’t have to repeat yourself during the lesson itself—which is unlikely—you’ll need to repeat yourself when absent students return to class, or students who weren’t initially prepared to understand have questions later on.
You’ll get frustrated. No matter what you do, there will be some students your explanation won’t reach. If this doesn’t frustrate you, it should!
The problem isn’t you. The problem isn’t your students. The problem is that your explanation—your direct instruction—isn’t meeting your students’ needs.
Giving all your students the same lesson at the same time, in other words, simply doesn’t work.
An easier way to teach
Want to stop policing behavior, repeating yourself, and getting frustrated?
Try recording your explanations on video! That way:
Students who already understand can fast-forward. They won’t get bored, because they can learn as much and as fast as they want.
Students with learning gaps can pause, rewatch, and ask questions. They won’t feel lost, because they can get help from you.
Students who aren’t there can catch up at home—or start fresh when they return to class. Your instruction is now accessible anytime, anywhere.
And those are just the benefits for students! Think how easy teaching will become for you:
You can explain things clearly and concisely. Your videos won’t be interrupted anymore—except when students pause because they need to rewatch, take notes, or ask questions.
You can spend time in class working closely with students. If you aren’t lecturing, you can sit down with your students, and get to know them, and provide the one-on-one support and encouragement each really needs.
You never have to repeat yourself again! Once you have a video, you can just direct your students there.
Your videos, by the way, don’t have to be long—students can watch them efficiently (no interruptions), then spend most of class working together, face to face. They should still discuss ideas and solve problems with one another, off-screen. Your videos just replace the time you’d spend in class explaining new content live.
And once you digitize these explanations, you don’t need to feel frustrated anymore: your explanations become accessible to every learner, both in school and at home.
You just show up to class and help your students learn.
This isn’t hard
When I share this approach with teachers, they generally say things like:
“This seems so hard.”
“This must be a ton of work.”
“I have no idea how to record a video.”
I get it. This is different from lecturing! But actually, recording videos isn’t hard. All you actually need is:
A videoconferencing platform (Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, etc.). If you can join a video call, you can make a video. Just start a call with yourself, explain something, and hit record.
A learning management system (Canvas, Google Classroom, Schoology, etc.). Once you’ve recorded a video, you just need to post it in a place where your students can find it.
That’s it. You can start a video call with yourself, record it, and post it for students to watch in just a few minutes longer than it takes to explain your content in the first place.
In fact, because you can make this recording without interruptions, it should actually take you less time than it does to explain something live!
Does it take time and effort to record videos? Of course. But it usually takes more time, and more effort, to explain those things live—and you still need to repeat yourself! Whole-class instruction may be the status quo, but compared to digital direct instruction, live explanations require more effort, with less effect.
And think about it. If you were a student, would you want a teacher who lectures from the front of the room? Or would you like videos you could watch, at your own pace, with the teacher available for one-on-one support whenever you need it?2
Why not try?
If you think your students can benefit from digital direct instruction, you’re probably right. And there’s only one way to find out!
So here’s what I recommend you do, the next time you feel like making your life easier:
Start an online video call with yourself.
Hit the record button.
Explain something new.
Stop recording.
Save the video.
Share it with your students.
Come back and let me know how it went!
There is, of course, much more to effective teaching than just videos. In fact, I’ve written a book about all that! But digitizing your direct instruction by recording videos is the first step.
And once you’ve done it, I’m confident it will make teaching much easier.
If you’re tempted to answer that you’d actually prefer a lecture, consider a recent study from Harvard University. In this study, students were randomly assigned to one of two classes. One that engaged students in active learning, and another in which students received a lecture. Students reported more positive perceptions of learning from the lectures, but test scores showed that they had actually learned more through active engagement.
Awesome! I'll do it now.