Teachers as ... Salesmen?

Commercials, those never ending sales pitches that interrupt your show of choice. Sometimes they are neat to watch, and sometimes they just seem to annoy the daylights out of you. Each and every one has one thing in common, they are trying to convince you that you need something their company has to offer. These commercials want you to “buy-in”. Isn’t that what we want for our students as well? We want them to buy into the education we are offering them. The question becomes, how do we as teachers generate buy -in without feeling as if we are a never ending commercial all day long? Let’s explore how to generate buy -in without feeling like a salesman every day.

One of the first things you must do to create buy-in is build a relationship with your students. The old adage of, “They don't care how much you know til they know how much you care” holds true in the classroom. If you want your students to listen to what you have to say, you need to listen to them and get to know them. They need to feel valued as a person before they can really and truly care about learning what you need to teach. I have discussed some strategies in previous blogs about helping your students feel valued and safe in your classroom. Feel free to check those out.

Next, play to their interests. I realize not every lesson can be one that will generate excitement in your students, but when you can, find ways to incorporate the things your students are excited about in your lessons. For example, right now my students are working on narrative writing. I have them writing the plot for a new video game. They are using the skills they need in narrative writing to create a video game storyline. The skills that I am looking to teach have not changed, but the method in which the students can demonstrate mastery allows for them to enjoy the process.

When trying to generate buy-in, it is also a good idea to give your students a why. Why do they need to learn this? You should have answered this question when you chose to teach the lesson, so give them an answer to the why. If students understand the why of a lesson, they are more likely to be willing to complete the tasks associated with it, even if it is not a task of choice. This is not always a given, but it does help. Then, when you can, help them see your heart. This is part of the why. If you are super excited about a lesson, it will generate excitement in your students. Give your students a reason to be excited about the lessons you teach, and you will be amazed at the results.