Teachers Are Covering Their Faces With Stickers To Get Kids To Participate

As if it wasn't difficult enough for teachers to hold their students' attention in pre-COVID days, now that so many are teaching remotely it must feel like a constant losing battle. Which is exactly why teachers are covering their faces with stickers during remote learning. It's actually an ingenious way to encourage kids to participate and engage during class time, not to mention further proof that teachers deserve every ounce of praise heaped on them. Particularly in 2020.

Diana Moon, a middle-school teacher from Prospect Heights, Illinois who has been instructing her students remotely during the coronavirus pandemic, recently told Good Morning America that getting students to participate during class has been a real challenge. "It’s been really difficult. Sometimes I feel like I’m just talking to myself or teaching to a blank screen and it’s just slower because I have to wait for students to respond," she told the outlet.

Moon found inspiration in a viral TikTok video featuring a teacher putting a sticker on her face each time her students participated in class discussion. As Moon explained in a tweet from November, it was a hit with her students. "A colleague shared a video of a teacher putting stickers on her face every time a new student participated," she wrote on Twitter. "I tried out the idea, and my classes were determined to get as many stickers on my face in an hour! Needless to say, I looked crazy by the end of it! #WhateverItTakes."

Other teachers have picked up on the idea and have started to share photos of their faces covered with stickers on social media, like Krista Coletti from Mishawaka, Indiana who shared on Twitter that she found success using the stickers during a math review, as did fellow teacher Amanda Turner. A second grade teacher and social media user Mrs. Cook shared her own success story about math results, writing on Twitter, "'I will put a sticker on my face for every one that gets a 3 on their math test today.' This had them working SO hard and for those that didn’t earn a 3 today, they sure were close!"

As coronavirus numbers continue to go up across the country, remote learning seems like it could continue for the foreseeable future. While it's not ideal, it's incredible to see teachers continue to go above and beyond to make learning accessible and fun for their students. Showing up, staying positive, and even covering their faces with stickers if it will get kids excited about learning.