This weekend, I met with a few teacher friends.
And one sentence stayed with me.
“ONE OF THE HARDEST PARTS OF TEACHING RIGHT NOW… IS HOW DEPENDENT STUDENTS HAVE BECOME.”
They told me about lessons where, even after explaining a task several times,
students still ask:
“What are we supposed to do?”
Again.
And again.
And again.
Not because they are not listening.
But because they rely on the teacher to hold the next step.
They shared how they are trying to shift this:
◾asking students to read the instructions first
◾encouraging them to ask a classmate
◾reminding them to think before asking
But they also said something important:
“I CAN’T EVEN MOVE AROUND THE CLASSROOM TO SUPPORT STUDENTS PROPERLY… BECAUSE I’M CONSTANTLY ANSWERING THE SAME QUESTIONS.”
And this is where the issue becomes deeper.
It’s not just about independence.
It’s about where the responsibility for thinking sits in the lesson.
When students depend on the teacher for every step:
◾the teacher becomes the system
◾the classroom slows down
◾support becomes reactive instead of intentional
It’s solved by designing the lesson differently.
✔️Clear structures.
✔️Visible steps.
✔️Thinking routines.
✔️Shared responsibility.
Because independence is not something students decide.
It’s something we build, step by step, through how learning is organised.
And when that shift happens,
The classroom changes.
Not instantly.
But noticeably.
🍀 What have you tried to reduce the number of “What do we do?” questions in your lessons?
Yesssss. And I’d add one thing: a lot of “What do we do?” isn’t confusion. It’s a habit of waiting. Students have learned that if they pause long enough, the teacher will carry the next step.
The shift that’s helped me most is treating “What do we do?” as a ROUTINE problem, not a student problem.
A few small moves that work in real classrooms:
Put the first step where they can’t miss it (board, slide, paper) and point, don’t repeat
“Ask 2 then me”
Build a 30-second “start protocol” they do every lesson before questions are allowed
When they ask, bounce it back: “Where did you look?” “What did your partner say?” “What’s your best guess?”
It’s not about being harsh. It’s about shifting the cognitive load back to students so support becomes intentional again, not endless triage.