People who stammer tend to struggle with phone calls, and for many, video calls are even worse. So, how do you think your students are feeling when being taught remotely? I will now share with you what you can do to make life easier for students who stammer.
- Speak to your student who stammers about what they find comfortable. You will learn a lot and will realise that the adjustments they require are most likely going to be reasonable. Speak to your SENCO too.
- Find out how they would like to respond when you’re doing the register. Phrases like “yes sir/miss” can be difficult. You may find that they would prefer to use another phrase like “present” or “here”. Even better, give them the option to just write their name on the chat function or use the raise hand feature. It could really help to reduce the anxious wait for their name to be called out to mark them in first.
- Cold calling is a great technique in teaching. Find out from your student who stammers if they are okay with it. If they are, then perfect! If you find they are struggling to speak when being cold called, be patient and let them say what they have to say. If you feel they’re genuinely struggling because they don’t know the answer, then say things like “I’ll come back to you in 30 seconds time, have a think”. If they are not comfortable with cold calling, consider using mini whiteboards when teaching physically. Mini whiteboards ensure that everyone has the chance to contribute, and not just those who are confident. When teaching remotely, use diagnostic questions with multiple choice answers so students can type in their answers on the group chat. Use online polls to receive answers from your students. Alternatively, you can use Google/Microsoft Forms to receive answers too.
- Measuring success by responding quickly is very common. If someone doesn’t respond quickly, we assume that they don’t know the answer. Many people who stammer deliberately say things like “erm” as a tic to help them to speak fluently. Please do not assume that they don’t know the answer. As maths teachers, we’ve been trained to think that if a child doesn’t know the answer to their timetables within a few seconds, then they’re not really good at it. Nonsense. Give your students plenty of time, or even better, give them some thinking time before you cold call or ask for responses via the group chat, or mini whiteboards. Asking questions like “would you like me to come back to you later?” is a great reasonable adjustment you can make.
- When a person who stammers is tired, they’re likely to stammer more. Imagine being in online lessons all day, they’re likely to really struggle with their speech by lesson 3. If you’re teaching a child near the end of the day, be mindful that they may not wish to take part at all with questions/activities that require verbal answers – and that is okay. This is where you make use of the chat function/polls/mini whiteboards. Also, they may struggle in period 1 if they’ve not had enough sleep which also leads to fatigue.
- Ice breakers – do not ask everyone one by one to introduce themselves. No one likes this – FACT. Let everyone just type their names onto the group chat, even better, it’s already on their profile!
- Individual/group presentations – Do not penalise students for not keeping to the time limit. Allow 25% extra time for those who stammer, this is encouraged by Ofqual. Do not make it compulsory to introduce yourself with your name. Having your name on the first slide is good enough, or if it’s a group presentation, get the first speaker to introduce everyone.
- If working in groups – ensure roles are defined and that everyone has an equal part to play. No one should be talking considerably more than another student.
- People who stammer may struggle to ask for help. It would be good if you regularly check on them to see if they need anything.
- Do not make it obvious that you are treating them differently. No one likes to be treated differently, especially in front of others.
Ask yourself, do you take your ability to speak fluently for granted? Hopefully these insights prove useful.
If you would like to contact Abed directly for support or advice, please do so on [email protected]
For more information about stammering, please visit www.stamma.org
