6 Strategies to Ease Student Fears in Your Classroom

If you’ve ever taught at any level, you’ve probably seen the look. You know, the one when you announce that a project or a test is worth a significant part of the class grade. Students get stiff in their seats and stop moving around. Their eyes widen slightly and their jaw might drop a little. You can see the panic in their eyes as they immediately start trying to figure out what to do before the assignment to boost their grade enough to allow wiggle room, or worse, failure. 

The look is especially obvious if you then say the assignment has a “final” grade: no revisions, no redos, no other opportunities to fix it, should they mess up. Can you picture the look? Not just on a student you’ve taught, but in general. Sometimes the group dynamic even shifts as everyone gets tense. 

I see that look every semester, without fail. English, along with math and the sciences, get a bad reputation for being “scary” subjects. They’re subjects that people, even those who aren’t in school, are very quick to say “Oh, I’m bad at that” or “I’m really good at that.” 

They get pitted against each other, as if someone who is good at English can’t be good at math or science. Or, someone who excels at math can’t be good at English. The worst part is the assumption that if someone is good at math or science, they don’t like English or that someone who has always loved English can’t also like the black and white nature of math. I teach English Composition at the college level, but as a student, I saw the look of fear in my peers in other classes, too. 

So what the heck is happening that our students are so scared when they come to class?

Student worries:

They’ve never been to this kind of class (or any type of class). 

They don’t know anyone in class, and they’ve never met the teacher. 

They’ve had bad experiences in other classes. 

They’ve been told what they were doing for class wasn’t good enough. 

They’ve gotten feedback they don’t understand.

They learn more slowly or differently than their peers and might fall or get left behind. 

They haven’t figured out how to learn & study effectively.

They feel like they should already know what to do even when they don’t. 

They’re taking classes in a non-native language. 

They’re afraid the teacher will think less of them because of the work they submit. 

They don’t know where or how to get help besides asking the teacher they just met and don’t know very well. 

They think the teacher wants them to be exactly like the teacher.

These are just some of the thoughts I have encountered during my teaching career, but the list goes on and on. Typically, students have more than one of these fears, too. It’s not just that they don’t know how to study for tests & papers or that they got feedback in their other English class they don’t understand.

It’s both of these, plus the fact that they didn’t feel comfortable with the instructor. Or, it’s both of these, plus the fact that this is only their second class in college and they’re still trying to figure out what to do and how to behave.

It’s no wonder they’re afraid!

Think back to when you first went to college. What were you afraid of? Chances are, your students have those same fears - maybe even some you didn’t have because expectations and technology have changed since then. 

Not all students are afraid. In fact, sometimes it’s quite the opposite. There are always students who have had great experiences before and are very confident in themselves. (Sometimes too confident for the work they produce.)

I tend to worry less about these students because they will keep producing work. I give them a healthy number of comments, and constructive criticism (very kindly, of course) where they need it; but, I find most often that these students don’t need extra attention and a lot of times don’t want it. At least not in the same way a fearful student needs attention. 

What can we do to help the students who are afraid? 

Be transparent.

Have you ever been in a situation where you were expected to complete a task but didn’t know why or what the goal was? But you certainly had to complete it in a timely manner, and to the best of your ability. That’s how students feel when teachers aren’t transparent. 

Laying out the goals and expectations up front, as well as how you are going to help them meet those, is extremely important. If students know what they point is, they can at least figure it out in their own minds or ask for clarification. They can’t possibly do their best work if they don’t know what they are expected to be doing. 

Be a vulnerable human.

Think back to your favorite and most memorable instructors. Were they people who had all the answers but were as dry as toast in class? Or were they people who you recognized as someone who knew stuff, but was still a person with a normal life? Maybe they had the best (worst?) “dad jokes” or a pet that always made an appearance in class conversation. 

More than likely, the people you remember are more people-y than toast-y, right? This is because when we share pieces of ourselves with our students, we become more of a real person than a “teacher” label. I’m definitely not advocating for a tell-all gossip session with your students, but if your student is terrified to ask a question, who do you think they will go to first? A toast teacher or a person who happens to be their teacher? 

If you aren’t really a “sharer”, this could be a little more difficult to work on. When I first started teaching, this was a lot harder because I felt I had to spend more time establishing myself as an authority rather than working on building human connections. Turns out, most of the time being a human is more important than being an authority figure.

Be empathetic.

When a student comes to you with a problem, sometimes completely unrelated to class, how do you react? What’s your instinct? Is your first reaction to think about your student’s performance in your class? I would guess not, although that might occur to you not too long after the initial thoughts. 

I had a student lose her home during the semester one time. I can’t imagine, and I hope I’m never in a position where I fully understand that kind of fear. The best I could do was to be empathetic and point her toward resources who could help. I also worked with her on being flexible for my class. Nonetheless, I am glad that she was comfortable enough to share so I could at least try to help. 

Even in less extreme instances, it’s important to be empathetic toward our students. We only know what they share with us, if they share at all. Even then it’s only part of the story.

Encourage students verbally & in writing.

When was the last time someone gave you a compliment? Or told you they believe in you? I hope you can remember! If not, it’s been too long. The good news is that I believe in you. No hesitations. Whatever you’re struggling with right now will pass, and you are doing great. 

It took me about 10 seconds to type that out to a largely unknown group of readers. Again, no hesitations. So why would I skip that with my students? It helps so much - more than you realize. This week I told my students I would never comment that their paper is bad or even insinuate it. I repeated it a couple of times, just to make sure they heard it. The relief I saw throughout the classroom was unbelievable. It was physical. I could see it.

Taking the time in class and in written feedback to tell your students you believe in them can be life-changing. You might be the first or only teacher who has stopped to do so. Even when the paper isn’t the best work a student can produce, it’s still worth finding something to compliment on. I’ve never found a paper where I couldn’t find one nice thing to say, even when almost every other comment focuses on areas the student needs to improve. 

Consider how you build your assignments & classwork.

Do you work through a process or focus on getting a task done in one sitting? What do you expect from your students as they go through your classes?

As teachers, we have enjoyed learning enough to get through school and share our ideas with our students. I’m not sure I’ve met a teacher who doesn’t like to learn. But this isn’t always the case for our students. Sometimes learning in class can be really hard for them. So, when we write assignments and make a plan for the semester, we should consider students who don’t learn, or like learning, the same way we do. 

There will almost always be requirements and expectations above the level you are able to change. How you express and prepare your students for these expectations, though, is largely at your discretion, at least in college. Building time and space for practice and “messing up” is extremely beneficial, and will certainly help students who are afraid to find their footing before the bigger projects or assignments. 

Put yourself in their shoes before you respond to questions & assignments.

If you’re teaching students at the college level, you went to college and successfully graduated. And then did grad school. Maybe you also got licensed to teach younger students, or maybe, like me, you stuck with teaching adults. Either way, you have completed a significant amount of formal learning. For some of us, it hasn’t been so long since we were students. For others, college was a little farther in our past. 

Either way, you started where your students are right now. You might have had very similar experiences, or maybe they were quite different. Before you give students feedback, consider their circumstances right now. Do they have non-cognitive distractions? Are they trying and not understanding? Take a moment before you write that off handed comment to think how it will land with your student. This isn’t to say you can’t give students constructive criticism, on the contrary, they need it! But we should always be aware of what we’re saying.

I have met a lot of teachers and been in a lot of classes. And I have taught more than a handful of my own classes, now. It’s important to think about the scared students because there are a lot of them. Not just that, but most of the fears they have are things you can adapt and change for your class. It’s just a matter of being aware and making adjustments. 

Most of the fears students have are things you can adapt and change for your class.

There are undoubtedly those who have other priorities. Some who believe a little tough love is just the thing scared students need. Or that scared students should “just snap out of it.” I know because I’ve had that conversation before. 

Having started college as a scared student, I can attest to the fact that this often makes students crawl further into doubt and compounds their fear of failure. The people who made the biggest difference on my learning journey were people who were encouraging and allowed me to “mess up” so I could get better. They understood that being human is hard, and it showed in the classroom. 

What kinds of fears have you seen in your classes? What have you tried to do to help ease student fear in your classes? I’d love to hear from you! Drop me an email at rachel@capturingyourconfidence.com or comment below!