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How to Help Students Get Themselves “Unstuck”

Your student (or child) is trying to solve a math problem. They’ve been staring at the paper for a while now. You can almost feel their struggle. You can see the wheels turning, but no progress is being made. Finally in frustration they blurt out, “I’m stuck!”

We’ve all been there – in life we are often faced with problems that we cannot find an immediate solution to. We experience a kind of paralysis of decision-making because we simply don’t know how to proceed.

So, seeing your student or child in this position, what do you do?

Beware of learned helplessness

We need to avoid the temptation to immediately provide solutions. If students are always given a way out whenever they get stuck, it could lead to “learned helplessness”. 

Learned helplessness is a condition whereby they believe they cannot do anything without help (especially when they expect help to always come). So whenever they are faced with a problem, they immediately give up rather than try to solve it.

Importance of teaching problem solving

Real life is full of problems that are complex, without well-defined and straightforward solutions. Children will have to be able to identify and apply various strategies to solve these problems.

Children will not always have their parents and teachers to help them. They need to learn to become problem solvers – that is the deeper purpose of their education. But problem solving skills don’t come naturally; they need to be built through instruction and practice.

To this end, we need to be helping students to be able to think about achieving a particular goal and how to manage their mental processes in doing so. This is called “metacognition”, and will help students become better problem solvers.

This post covers how to approach teaching problem solving to the end of helping students get themselves unstuck.

There are a couple of things we need to understand before we proceed:

• You must be patient. We’ve all learned something new at some point or another, and we know how difficult it can be. Everyone progresses at a different pace. Don’t give in easily and give them the solution, that will negatively influence them to give up early.
• Students must be allowed to struggle! They must even be allowed to feel the frustration and pain of it. It’s all part of the learning process. It’s not just about teaching them problem-solving skills, they also need to learn to deal with the emotions that come with getting unstuck.

Alright then, without further ado let’s get into it!

How to help students get themselves “unstuck”

Make “being stuck” positive.

Instil the attitude that getting stuck is a positive sign, and call it what it is: an indication that we are growing. Getting stuck means we have an opportunity to learn something.

Normalize the idea of “getting stuck”. Use positive language when helping them get unstuck. Teach your kids to recognize the quality of being stuck and to approach it with a positive mindset. This is something they can carry with them for the rest of their life.

Get students talking

Instead of just giving them the answer, get them to verbalize their difficulties. The more they talk about the problem, the more it helps them get unstuck.

If no one is around, encourage them to set up their own internal dialogue. They can ask themselves, “What do I know?”, “What do I need to know?”, and “What methods do I have at my disposal?” The simple act of talking the problem out will help them organize their thoughts and get specific about where they are stuck.

Find out what they know

This will help hone in on the real area of “stuck-ness”.

Being stuck can tend to feel like this vague blanket of emotion that students don’t know how to navigate.

By determining what they do know, they can begin to plot a map out of the situation.

Find the root of their stuck-ness

Once they know what they know, ask them what exactly is making them feel stuck?

Is it the academic language? Is it the context they aren't familiar with? Do they have too many variables? Do they not see a pattern? This will require them to think more about the problem itself and what they need to overcome it. So when they are faced with a similar problem later, they will be able to think back to what helped them before.

Questions that you can teach your student to ask that force them to  look more carefully at the problem they face:

• What do you know?
• Is this like any other question you’ve done?
• How is this different from the last question you did?
• Is there anything in the question you haven't used?
• What do you understand by this word/symbol?

Teach them to be wary of prior assumption

We all sometimes make assumptions about a situation that we may not even realize we are making. In teaching about problem solving, we need to also make sure students are aware of this tendency.

Help students think in terms of the information provided and not to make unwarranted assumptions.

Give them the language to solve problems

For instance, if a student writes the information from a math problem down in a chart, you can simply say: “Very good, you organized the important information into a chart.” This will give him or her the language to match what they did, so they now have a strategy they can use in other problems.

Encourage experimentation

When answers to a problem aren’t readily apparent, and you don’t know what will work, then sometimes the only option is to experiment and figure things out.

Build this habit in students who get stuck. See if they can approach a math problem with easier numbers, and build a method to follow up again. Or they can approach it with a trial-and-error methodology, trying out different things to see what works.

Also Read - How to Help Your Child Develop a “Growth Mindset”

Just start writing

Encourage your student to start writing instead of staring at a blank piece of paper. The mere act of writing something is enough to get into the flow of solving the problem.

Get them to write anything. They can start with jotting down the given information from the problem if nothing else, and maybe possible methods to solve the problem – anything that gets their mental juices flowing.

Draw something

Some problems lend themselves better to diagrams. Ask your student to “draw out” the problem if that helps them picture it better. This can be especially useful for word problems and geometry problems (which often require a diagram anyway).

Besides, drawing can be quite fun. It can inject a little creativity into solving math.

Check in with them

This doesn’t mean come to their rescue all the time!

By following the previous tips, you’ll be able to set your student on the path to solving a problem. Then check back in with them to see how far they were able to get after the previous intervention, and if they are still stuck then you can strategize the next plan of approach with them.

As far as possible, encourage them to self-remediate. They have all the information with them in the form of textbooks or online help. Let them look for what they need to solve their problem themselves (a skill that will be invaluable to them throughout life).

Remember, we don’t just want to teach our kids how to solve problems on the blackboard, we want them to grow up with the ability to be problem-solvers! Teaching them to get unstuck will not only help them in their schoolwork , but it will prepare them for life.

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How to Get Students Unstuck & On Target: An Executive Function Q&A

In this interview, Monica talks about the importance of flexibility, introduces the steps of the Unstuck approach, and talks about how busy teachers can make Unstuck a part of their day to day classroom routine.

Q1. Unstuck & On Target! is a curriculum focused on helping students who have executive function challenges. For teachers who might have limited experience recognizing executive function issues—what might they look like in a classroom? What kinds of behaviors and struggles might you see in a student who could benefit from your curriculum?

Some students are often called inattentive, inconsiderate, disorganized, and unmotivated. They are the students who are “really smart” but just “seem like they won’t do anything they don’t like.” We hear a lot of “won’t’s” and “should be able to’s” about the students Unstuck targets. We also hear a lot about students who are really rigid or “stuck.” Once they get an idea, they won’t flex, and they will persist down their path heedless of the consequences.

Students may be having meltdowns, disrupting class, refusing to do work, or rushing through the work. Others may be quietly withdrawn and doing the bare minimum. They are often highly verbal and intellectually engaged, and can tell you all the right things to do. But when they have to do those same things, they don’t. That’s a hallmark of executive function difficulties, what H.L. Teuber once called the “curious disassociation between knowing and doing.”

Teachers are often very frustrated because they have tried countless approaches, taught and retaught, put in point systems, called parents, and yet there is still no progress. And that’s how Unstuck started, with teachers and psychologists working together to try a different approach, one that was brain based, student centered, and teacher friendly. That’s why teachers like Unstuck so much; it works and is doable!

Q2. Boosting cognitive flexibility is one of the central goals of your curriculum. Why is flexibility so important to success in school, and can you give teachers some practical tips on how to encourage flexibility in their students?

Flexibility is so important to be a good problem solver and find success. If we are rigid, we live in the black-and-white binary world. Everything becomes a high-stakes endeavor, with success or failure as absolutes. But with flexibility comes the ability to appreciate and live in the grey area, to learn from mistakes and solve problems and move ahead.

Teachers and parents see this all the time. A child becomes stuck and then loses everything. They have a meltdown because they’re disappointed (what they expected to happen didn’t happen) and then they feel terrible not just about what didn’t happen the way they expected but about the fuss and dislocation they caused to others. This kind of vicious cycle is so terrible for everyone. So we teach children that in fact they are more flexible than they realize and how to be flexible. We catch the child in the act of being flexible and notice how they made a Plan B: that’s Unstuck ! Now you’ve given the child a starting point for success, they’ve experienced the power of the Plan B, and everyone is celebrating.

How does that look in school? Say the child comes into class and forgets their homework folder. The teacher smiles at them when they come back in with the folder, even after they were reminded, and says, “you were so flexible! We made a Plan B to go back to your locker. What a great way to start the day!”

Q3. You have an overarching strategy called Goal-Why-Plan-Do-Check that you use as a framework for the lessons in your curriculum. Can you explain the five steps of this process and why it’s an effective way to support students?

Goal, Why, Plan, Do, Check (GWPDC) is central to the Unstuck intervention and is the system, or formula, that we can all use to solve problems. The starting point is to get real clarity on the goal . Often students say they have one goal—e.g., “play with Timmy at recess”—when in fact there is a larger goal they have at recess, e.g. “have fun and play at recess.” Playing with Timmy can be a Plan A to achieve that fun and play goal, but there are usually many other plans that will help them reach that goal.

Most students won’t struggle with the “ why ” in the recess scenario, but they do often struggle with this step when it comes to nonpreferred work in school or at home. A student who constantly balks at math and refuses to do the worksheets can really benefit from the teacher and student using GWPDC to figure out how to get the student engaged in their math learning. The “why” is often very abstract for students or too remote or even dictatorial (“because that’s the way it is!”). So working with a child to help them find a “why” that is meaningful to them is really important. And that “why” may end up being pretty simple: so that I can finish and get to a more preferred activity. Teachers and parents should share their why’s, too, but remember: we do things for our own reasons, not other peoples’.

The idea of making a plan in advance is the third part of the Unstuck approach. Students often have a plan that is not working for them, but don’t recognize it as a plan. By first looking at the fact that they already made a plan (even without knowing) and then encouraging them to do and check the plan. we are encouraging self-reflection and course correcting. So after a plan has been executed, students reflect on whether the plan worked; if not, there’s always a Plan B. It’s important that students recognize that the problem is not them, it’s the plan. It helps students understand that success comes from systematically trying and when something doesn’t work, looking at where the problem was in the plan and making a new one. That’s how we really help students learn to problem solve and persist in the face of obstacles.

Q4. A big part of ensuring the success of interventions is keeping the home-school connection strong. How can teachers get parents more involved in strengthening their child’s executive function skills?

Unstuck makes the home/school connection easy. Every lesson has a “home extension” that summarizes what the student learned and gives ideas for how the parents can use the ideas at home. Parents love these handouts as they give parents concrete ideas for how to use the strategies that their children are learning, which leads to more positive interactions with their children.

Q5. As you mention in Unstuck , it’s important for teachers themselves to be flexible, organized, and supportive if they want to encourage those qualities in their students. What are some specific steps a teacher could take to improve in those areas?

Teachers have so much on their minds these days. But we always start by reminding teachers that the students who most need Unstuck are usually already taking a lot of time and energy. What Unstuck does is allows teachers to be more effective in their work with their students—the whole reason we went into education in the first place!

Teachers can use the Unstuck strategies to think about their own flexibility and plans. Using the GWPDC approach on ourselves as educators can help us reflect on what’s going wrong in our interactions: Do we have different goals from the child? Do we have Plan As (that while beautiful) are not working for the child? A teacher can help just by narrating their confusion: “I think I have the wrong plan here, but feel a little stuck. I’m going to take a break to think of a Plan B.”

Teachers already have so many of the tools that Unstuck recommends, but often forget to use them. To that end, we remind them of some basic strategies: create routines, write things down—we love small whiteboards for communicating with students—and be a good coach by breaking things down, practicing and then practicing some more.

Specifically, teachers should try to the following:

• Have clear, checklist-format lists for repeated routines, especially transitions, arrival, and dismissal.
• Have small whiteboards easily available. When a student is overloaded, write a short note, maybe even with a yes/no box. For example, “Please do 3 problems and then check in with me. If they are too hard, see me sooner.”
• Make it a collaborative process. Think about where a student struggles the most and find a quiet time to do a GWPDC with them.
• Make the implicit explicit. Don’t assume the student knows the why or even the how just because they have done it before or you have told them before.
• Focus on success. Praise students five times for every time you make a correction or demand. That is going to change teacher behavior a lot: it forces us to really decide what is important.
• Use the scripts whenever possible and narrate your experience. You might say, “I had a great plan to make marshmallow sculptures today, but my daughter got sick and I ran out of time to buy marshmallows. We will have to make a Plan B!”

Q6. What would you say to a busy teacher who knows her students need executive function support but is worried about the time it might take to incorporate a new curriculum? How does Unstuck fit in with what the teacher is already doing?

Unstuck is a reallocation of time: Teachers are substituting the time they spend in frustrating, nonproductive crisis management with teaching and scaffolding for success. The idea is to not add too much in, but rather become aware of how you can incorporate Unstuck in your day to day practice. So “students will be able to (SWBAT) or Objective” becomes “goal” on the board. “Plan” is what the work will be. “Check” comes in at the end of class when the teacher quickly reviews how he lesson went or does an exit ticket. Some teachers just put GWPDC on their whiteboards and fill it in for each class!

The real power of Unstuck comes from the incorporation of the strategies in day to day life. You know you’re there when you ask the customer service representative on the phone if they can help you make a Plan B. Then you’ve truly embraced the Unstuck scripts and approach!

Q7. Can you tell us a little about one of your favorite Unstuck & On Target! lessons—maybe one that teachers tell you they especially love?

I think my favorite lesson is the story of Silly Putty. It’s such a compelling story of invention and failure—-and how looking at an unintended consequence flexibly can lead to wonderful things. My other favorite is the obstacle course. Students run an obstacle course first with their bodies completely rigid, and then they run the course being allowed to be normally flexible. We compare the two experiences, both in terms of time and experience. This kind of kinesthetic learning is so powerful and salient—and fun!

Thanks so much to Monica for taking the time to answer these questions! To learn more about the multicomponent Unstuck & On Target! kit, just follow the link below—you’ll find reviews, the TOC, an excerpt and sample activity, and more.

A School-Based Curriculum to Support Executive Functioning Skills, Second Edition

By Lynn Cannon, M.Ed.; Lauren Kenworthy, Ph.D.; Katie C. Alexander, M.S., OTR/L; Monica Adler Werner, M.A.; and Laura Gutermuth Anthony, Ph.D.

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Center for Teaching

Teaching problem solving.

Print Version

Tips and Techniques

Expert vs. novice problem solvers, communicate.

• Have students  identify specific problems, difficulties, or confusions . Don’t waste time working through problems that students already understand.
• If students are unable to articulate their concerns, determine where they are having trouble by  asking them to identify the specific concepts or principles associated with the problem.
• In a one-on-one tutoring session, ask the student to  work his/her problem out loud . This slows down the thinking process, making it more accurate and allowing you to access understanding.
• When working with larger groups you can ask students to provide a written “two-column solution.” Have students write up their solution to a problem by putting all their calculations in one column and all of their reasoning (in complete sentences) in the other column. This helps them to think critically about their own problem solving and helps you to more easily identify where they may be having problems. Two-Column Solution (Math) Two-Column Solution (Physics)

Encourage Independence

• Model the problem solving process rather than just giving students the answer. As you work through the problem, consider how a novice might struggle with the concepts and make your thinking clear
• Have students work through problems on their own. Ask directing questions or give helpful suggestions, but  provide only minimal assistance and only when needed to overcome obstacles.
• Don’t fear  group work ! Students can frequently help each other, and talking about a problem helps them think more critically about the steps needed to solve the problem. Additionally, group work helps students realize that problems often have multiple solution strategies, some that might be more effective than others

Be sensitive

• Frequently, when working problems, students are unsure of themselves. This lack of confidence may hamper their learning. It is important to recognize this when students come to us for help, and to give each student some feeling of mastery. Do this by providing  positive reinforcement to let students know when they have mastered a new concept or skill.

Encourage Thoroughness and Patience

• Try to communicate that  the process is more important than the answer so that the student learns that it is OK to not have an instant solution. This is learned through your acceptance of his/her pace of doing things, through your refusal to let anxiety pressure you into giving the right answer, and through your example of problem solving through a step-by step process.

Experts (teachers) in a particular field are often so fluent in solving problems from that field that they can find it difficult to articulate the problem solving principles and strategies they use to novices (students) in their field because these principles and strategies are second nature to the expert. To teach students problem solving skills,  a teacher should be aware of principles and strategies of good problem solving in his or her discipline .

The mathematician George Polya captured the problem solving principles and strategies he used in his discipline in the book  How to Solve It: A New Aspect of Mathematical Method (Princeton University Press, 1957). The book includes  a summary of Polya’s problem solving heuristic as well as advice on the teaching of problem solving.

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Helping Students Get “Unstuck”

Students are exposed to new information, new skills, and new concepts all the time. Their brain is constantly processing what they learn. However, it takes practice to make this information stick and be able to recall and apply it. Sometimes students encounter a question or problem that stops them in their tracks and makes them feel stuck. They may get frustrated when they are not immediately able to reach an answer and keep moving forward.

Teaching students how to work through these challenges and get themselves unstuck is not only rewarding for them, but it can boost their confidence and equip them with skills they can use in a variety of situations.

It can be tempting to jump in and give your child a hint or help them find the answer when you see they’re getting frustrated. But be patient and encourage them to work through things on their own as best they can. Let them take a quick break so they can calm down, refocus, and get back to work. Solving their problems for them doesn’t help them in the long run.

Break Things Down

Have your child re-read the question or problem slowly so they can think about what it is asking them to do. If there are multiple steps, pick out what comes first. Talk through what they’ve been learning in class and what they know how to do. Work through the problem step by step, referring back to their notes, the text, or other problems in the assignment they’ve already solved.

Talk about what is tripping them up. What are they getting stuck on? What are they having trouble understanding? Being able to verbalize their frustrations can give them a new perspective and help them approach problems from a different angle.

Focus On What They Know

Pick apart the problem to highlight important information, cross out irrelevant information, and look for key words or terms. Make sure they understand the terminology being used and can pick out what they need to solve the problem. Have them think back to similar problems they have worked on or concepts that might be related.

Ask for Help

See if they can ask a friend or classmate for help. Perhaps they can work together and help one another out. Consider comparing notes as maybe there was something that your child missed or wrote down incorrectly. Having a peer explain things in their own words can be beneficial, and your child may be more open to listening to them.

It can also be advantageous to work with a tutor. A tutor can dig deeper to uncover where there may be gaps in knowledge or understanding. They can present information in a different way and work with your child’s strengths and learning style. Developing a variety of problem solving strategies can empower your child to try different approaches when they get stuck in order to get themselves unstuck and minimize their frustration.

In addition, they can learn how to take notes more effectively, organize their thoughts, and apply what they have learned. Partner with Crafting Scholars to get your child the individualized support they need to be more successful in school. We create customized learning plans to fit their needs and goals. Contact us today to get started!

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SEL Toolkit: Decision Making

Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) fosters the ability to make positive choices about how we behave. On this page of the SEL Toolkit, we link to tools and resources for professionals who seek to strengthen young people's decision-making skills.

Promote Problem-Solving Thinking

There are many simple ways to infuse problem-solving thinking and reflection into program activities:

• Articulate differences and connections
• Identify emotions behind actions
• Brainstorm different approaches or solutions to a task
• Explore possible consequences
• Model and articulate decision-making process
• Reflect on past experiences
• Evaluate actions - did they meet the goal?
• Simulate or role play a task

Teaching Problem Solving

Vanderbilt University's Center for Teaching provides tips and techniques for teaching problem solving.

Teaching Problem Solving: Let students get "stuck" and "unstuck"

This Brookings article describes methods for creating a "culture of problem solvers."

Teach Critical Thinking and Decision-Making Skills

Games for Building Decision-Making Skills

Here, Common Sense Education reviews classroom-friendly games for improving students' decision-making and problem-solving skills.

Decision-making and Problem-solving: Class Activity

This activity from Climate Schools in Australia includes a useful worksheet to help a young person think through a decision.

Edutopia: The Benefits of Teaching Ethical Dilemmas

Introducing ethical dilemmas in the classroom can open up opportunities not only for debate and critical thinking, but also for personal growth, empathy for other viewpoints, and self-reflection.

Reflective Group Conversation

This worksheet can be used to guide critical thinking within a group.

SWOT Analysis

This worksheet can be used in a discussion of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

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Optimizing Assessment for All

In today’s world, students must be able to think critically, communicate effectively, collaborate, and solve problems. While many countries are committed to addressing the changing needs of their learners, there is a lack of knowledge about how these skills are developed in classroom settings and how education systems can support the process.

Optimizing Assessment for All (OAA) is an initiative of the Brookings Institution that seeks to address these challenges by strengthening education systems’ capacity to integrate 21st century skills (21CS) into their teaching and learning, using assessment as one important means of building that capacity. A central project objective is the need to shift minds toward the constructive use of assessment to support learning for all. OAA is based on the premise that many countries are confronted with similar issues when it comes to teaching, learning, and assessing 21CS, and that the best approach is to work together to find solutions. This means countries collaborating to build their capacity in pedagogical and assessment approaches that target 21CS.

Since its inception in 2017, OAA has focused on developing expertise in countries in Asia and Africa through two studies to improve the assessment, teaching, and learning of 21CS. Supported by the Network on Education Quality Monitoring in the Asia-Pacific at UNESCO Bangkok and the Teaching and Learning Educators’ Network for Transformation at UNESCO Dakar, the first study obtained baseline information on assessments of 21CS that are currently used in these two regions. The study included participants from eight countries and jurisdictions in the Asia-Pacific and nine in sub-Saharan Africa. The research provided an alternative perspective on how to approach the teaching and assessing of 21CS in the classroom and set the foundation for the second study. See the Asia-Pacific region report for more on the first study; the report for Africa is forthcoming.

For the second study, which is ongoing, Brookings is working intensively with three countries in Asia and three countries in Africa to design, develop, administer, and pilot classroom-based assessments of 21CS, as well as to disseminate this work. This study aims to increase assessment literacy among regional and national education stakeholders and develop capacity among teachers on the use of classroom-level assessment of 21CS to support learning. Over the course of the study, the six countries are convening around a collaborative learning approach, building upon existing assessment expertise and strengths, and sharing progress and learnings with countries in the region. Learn more about OAA project description and our OAA Partners , including the National Technical Team members for each country.

For more information on the regional workshops in Asia, please see here and here; for more information on the workshops in Africa, see here .

Assessing 21st century skills

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The optimus blog, the blog that inspires leaders in the uk education sector, how to help children who say they are 'stuck'.

Teachers are sometimes far too quick to respond to requests for help. How do children benefit from being 'stuck' and how can we encourage them to find a solution independently? 

When some children encounter a problem, difficulty, or challenge, they stop.

Sometimes stopping and pausing for a moment lets them gather their thoughts, but invariably they just stop and wait for help. They are either:

• reluctant to make mistakes
• they don’t fully understand what to do
• they feel the work is too difficult.

When children say they are ‘stuck’ then the best thing to do is leave them to it. 

Being intellectually and cognitively challenged to the point where we think we can't make progress can be frustrating and in some cases paralysing. But being 'stuck' has its merits and immediate teacher input isn’t necessary.

Joy of being stuck

In his book The Art of Standing Out , Andrew Morrish calls this joy of being stuck (JOBS). He says:

‘When a child is stuck, they should embrace and celebrate this, for they are about to learn something new.’

Of course, we have to catch children being stuck.

They are never normally shy coming forward to tell us they are stuck (although many 'silent' learners do) but there will always be occasions that they will leave the classroom or vacate a lesson in a state of confusion because they haven't got out of what James Nottingham calls the 'learning pit '.

He's developed a whole philosophy around it which he explains in this animated video .

Useful strategies

Sometimes children can be overwhelmed by a problem or task when all they really need to do is work through small chunks independently before raising their hand for the teacher to check their work or help them.

However, spending too long being stuck is not a good state for a child to be in, as they can soon get frustrated and disillusioned. Giving them a useable strategy is therefore important.

• Lots of teachers promote the ‘ask three before me’ technique. This simply involves telling children to ask three other people (teammates, group members or other children nearby) before coming to you if they have any questions or if something is stumping them.
• A variation of this is ‘brain, book, board, buddy or boss’ where children consult three sources such as a book, the board or the web before consulting their friends with the teacher left until all options have been exhausted.  

This supports children to take ownership of their learning, interactions, and problems and teaches them how to collaborate and use each other for support, information and instruction. It shows them how to lean into their discomfort rather than avoid it. 

Normalising struggle

When children have tried, and we see that they are still flummoxed, then we can step in with a spade and try to dig them out, or at least lend them a learning spade so they can do it themselves.

Some teachers make sure that their class 'get stuck' all the time. They deliberately plan for children to 'get stuck' and intentionally select activities that will create cognitive conflict so they become great problem-solvers.

They do what Peter Johnston calls ‘normalising struggle’, where the goal is for children to accept and embrace both challenge and failure as opportunities to self-monitor, learn, develop and do better.

Sometimes we become unstuck when we walk away from the challenge as our brain needs the time and space to breathe

Being stuck is good because it accepts and acknowledges that there are no quick fixes and that learning is a struggle and that's quite normal.

However, being stuck isn't always what children like, accept or are used to, as they can be ‘ accustomed to automaticity '.

The power of yet

Mathematical legend Andrew Wiles expresses this in this video . Skip along to around 57 seconds and hear his views. He says:

‘When you start doing mathematics as an older child or as an adult you need to accept this state of being stuck. Even people who are very good at mathematics sometimes find this hard to get used to and they feel that's where they're failing.

But it isn't: it's part of the process and you have to accept [and] learn to enjoy that process. Yes, you don't understand [something at the moment] but you have faith that over time you will understand — you have to go through this.’

This illustrates that being stuck isn’t necessarily something you have to immediately get out of because learning takes time. It’s important for children to recognise the power of saying ‘I don’t get it… yet .'

Yeti learners

A ‘yeti’ learner is someone who tries and tries, doesn’t give up and knows that it’s going to take some effort. They also understand that understanding comes from doing something else.

Sometimes we become unstuck when we walk away from the challenge as our brain needs the time and space to breathe. Andrew Wiles says:

‘Somehow your subconscious is making connections and you start again, maybe the next afternoon, the next day, the next week even and sometimes it just comes back.

I can't explain why. But you have to have the faith that that will come back.

The way some people handle this is they work on several things at once and then they switch from one to another as they get stuck. I can't do that.

Once I'm stuck on a problem I just can't think about anything else. So I just take a little time off and then come back to it.’

Learning requires plenty of courage and children won't ever develop if we are always helping smooth the way

This perhaps makes us think about whether we expect too much from children — being stuck in a lesson is fine and actually being stuck when the lesson has finished is also fine.

If our brains function more effectively after a break then perhaps we shouldn't try to solve everything in 45-60 minutes. Let children stay stuck overnight and let them sleep on their challenges in order to make new connections.

Having a break lets children see things from different perspectives and fresh angles. 

Teachers can't be everywhere at once and even if you are in a position to help, should you? Isn't it better to allow children the time and space to think about what to do themselves?

We aren't talking about abandoning them but helping them by not rushing over like some sort of rapid response unit.

All children 'get stuck' — that's a normal part of learning. What’s important is how they react and what strategies they have to help solve a problem.

Further reading

• Peter Johnston, Choice Words: How Our Language Affects Children's Learning , Stenhouse Publishers (2004)

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