You can get help from teachers, but you are going to have to learn a lot by yourself, sitting alone in a room.” - Dr. Seuss
With at least 1/3 of the population being introverts, it is important for future teachers and parents to understand more about what their children may be feeling. In researching this topic for the past few weeks, I have come across a lot of suggestions. These are what I find to be helpful ideas from my own schooling that may help with caring for you introvert:
1. Respect their need for privacy and alone time.
Quit it with the group work! There are undoubtedly times in education where there is a need for students to understand how to work together in groups to accomplish a task. There are also times though, where students, especially introverts, need to be given time to think by themselves and to be given the opportunity to accomplish a task without the input of others. This will allow students their moments of solitude as well as times when they can socialize with others.
2. Give them time to think.
Introverts are very careful about what they say and may require a lot of time before they can think through a response to give you. Give them appropriate response time and do not interrupt them when they are speaking.
3. Give them time to observe before forcing them to participate.
Introverts will often feel more comfortable if they are given an opportunity to see what they will be doing before they have to try it. These students often prefer to have the activity modeled for them several times before trying it themselves, and even then may prefer to do so in private. They often shy away with the attention that may come from participating in new activities.
4. Enable them to find one best friend with similar interests instead of forcing them to create a large group of friends.
Introverts are often overwhelmed by large groups and choose their friends based on similar characteristics and interests. Students may be exhausted by extroverted friends and will work best and feel most comfortable with someone that they have a close relationship with.
5. Respect their introversion.
Introversion is something that can not and should not be changed. We should not feel a need to recreate all of our children into a world full of extroverts. In trying to change people, we simply turn them into a world of pseudo-extroverts. People who are drained, uncomfortable and need to be themselves.
Quit it with the group work! There are undoubtedly times in education where there is a need for students to understand how to work together in groups to accomplish a task. There are also times though, where students, especially introverts, need to be given time to think by themselves and to be given the opportunity to accomplish a task without the input of others. This will allow students their moments of solitude as well as times when they can socialize with others.
2. Give them time to think.
Introverts are very careful about what they say and may require a lot of time before they can think through a response to give you. Give them appropriate response time and do not interrupt them when they are speaking.
3. Give them time to observe before forcing them to participate.
Introverts will often feel more comfortable if they are given an opportunity to see what they will be doing before they have to try it. These students often prefer to have the activity modeled for them several times before trying it themselves, and even then may prefer to do so in private. They often shy away with the attention that may come from participating in new activities.
4. Enable them to find one best friend with similar interests instead of forcing them to create a large group of friends.
Introverts are often overwhelmed by large groups and choose their friends based on similar characteristics and interests. Students may be exhausted by extroverted friends and will work best and feel most comfortable with someone that they have a close relationship with.
5. Respect their introversion.
Introversion is something that can not and should not be changed. We should not feel a need to recreate all of our children into a world full of extroverts. In trying to change people, we simply turn them into a world of pseudo-extroverts. People who are drained, uncomfortable and need to be themselves.