Teachers are essential to your education, and your relationship with them can significantly impact your studies. Sometimes, you may feel like your teacher is paying more attention to you than usual, and you notice their eyes on you constantly. Why does this happen, and what should you do about it?
Your teacher might be staring at you because they are trying to keep you focused and concentrating on the lesson. Additionally, teachers may simply want to keep an eye on you if they feel you’re likely to disrupt the class. They might also stare if they are concerned about you. If their staring makes you uncomfortable, speak to the teacher or a counselor about it privately.
In the rest of this article, I will dive into the reasons mentioned above and answer related questions you might have about the way you interact with your teacher in class.
Why Teachers Stare at Their Students
Teachers have the difficult job of dealing with many students with different needs at the same time. Even though they might try to pay the same amount of attention to every student, they sometimes seem to concentrate on specific students.
If you feel like your teacher is staring at you constantly, you should consider these possible explanations:
Making Sure You’re Following
It’s challenging for teachers to hold every student’s attention on them while speaking. Understandably, not all students are equally interested in a particular subject, so their attention starts to dwindle while the teacher is talking about said subject.
If your attention slips and your teacher keeps staring at you, it might signal that you should try to concentrate a bit more. Your teacher is trying to ensure you won’t miss any important details during the lesson, which could set you back later.
Creating a Connection
Teachers need to create a connection with each student to be able to communicate with them and discover the best way to teach them. While with some students it’s easy to find common ground or create a connection, it may be more of a challenge with others.
Sometimes teachers try to create a connection by keeping eye contact while speaking. Your teacher may keep looking at you to show that they are giving you their attention in an effort to bond and get to know you better.
Of course, there are other ways for teachers to build positive relationships with their students, conversating with them being the most obvious. But the power of interaction through eye contact should not be underestimated.
Silently Telling You To Get Back on Task
Every class has certain students who like to talk during class or find ways of entertaining themselves when they are disinterested in the lesson. Students who talk out of turn during class can be disruptive, which is detrimental to their progress and the learning of others.
If your teacher sees you talking to another student, they will keep staring at you to get you to stop talking until you notice their gaze.
Of course, they might resort to other methods, such as calling out your name and verbally warning you about the consequences of disruptive behavior. However, staring is a less confrontational way for teachers to get students back on task; the earlier you notice and stop, the less the teacher will have to stare.
Keeping an Eye on the “Usual Suspects”
If you have some sort of reputation for being disruptive in class – fairly or unfairly – your teacher will be keeping an eye on you more often than not to ensure you’re on task.
Even when you’re not being disruptive, your teacher might keep staring at you to make you aware of their vigilance in maintaining a quiet working environment.
Students who disturb the lesson flow often suffer from attention or learning disorders, meaning that, in most cases, they cannot help themselves from being disruptive. Therefore, teachers need to keep a closer eye on these pupils throughout the lesson so they can intervene swiftly and subtly.
If you fall into this group, it may make you feel uncomfortable, but your teacher staring at you means they care and want to help you without being indiscreet.
Concern About a Particular Student
Teachers are great observers; they learn to read into every gesture and word of their students to ensure they feel safe and are not experiencing serious issues. Whenever a teacher suspects something adverse is happening in a student’s life, they must pay more attention.
Your teacher might be staring at you because they suspect you’re struggling academically, emotionally, or physically. And to avoid any uncomfortable interactions from sharing their suspicions with anyone, your teacher may resort to observing you more often than usual to make sure everything is all right.
Their staring can also be intended as a non-verbal signal or an invitation for you to approach and tell them if anything is bothering you.
What Should I Do When My Teacher Is Staring at Me?
Being stared at is usually quite uncomfortable for anyone. It might be even more so for students when a figure of authority like a teacher stares at them.
There are several ways you can respond in a situation like this, depending on why your teacher might be staring at you.
If you think your teacher is just trying to get your attention or encourage you to get back on task, the best response is to concentrate on the lesson. You can make eye contact with your teacher to make sure you received the message and then focus on the board or the activity at hand; there’s no need to take it further.
The same response applies when your teacher stares at you because you’re disrupting the class by talking. The best way to respond is to acknowledge your teacher, stop talking and concentrate on their instructions. Your teacher will most likely stop staring at you and move on.
If your teacher is staring at you out of concern because they think or suspect you’re struggling, they will most likely approach you to discuss this issue. In this case, it’s best to clear the air if the suspicion is unfounded.
On the other hand, if your teacher’s observation is correct and you’re dealing with problems, you may choose to share your struggles with your teacher. This may give them an idea of how to help you and make the situation more manageable.
Check out this video where a teacher explains how they notice anxiety issues and how you can open up to them:
Whatever the reason, if you’re feeling increasingly uncomfortable because of your teacher’s stare, you should let them know. It doesn’t matter if the teacher is concerned or simply trying to get your attention; you should ask them to stop if it keeps you from concentrating or makes you uneasy.
In most cases, your teacher will be open to the feedback and genuinely apologetic for making you feel uncomfortable. If the teacher was unaware of their actions (which is probably the case), they would thank you for bringing this to their attention so that they can be more mindful of how they observe students in the future.
Alternatively, if you don’t want to have this conversation with the teacher, you can talk to a school counselor instead.
Why Eye Contact Is Important for Teachers
There is a reason why teachers want to make eye contact with you throughout the day. Communication is key to teaching and imparting knowledge, and eye contact is incredibly important in this process.
As explained above, teachers need to master communication with several different students simultaneously. This is an incredibly challenging feat for all teachers, even the most experienced ones. Maintaining the attention of so many other people with various needs and attention spans requires hard work and talent.
As a result, teachers resort to even the subtlest methods to make sure they keep the attention of everyone and that nobody is ignored or inconvenienced.
When you make eye contact with your teacher, you signal to them that you’re following what they are saying and showing effort to understand the lesson; this is essential to teaching and learning.
Why Does My Teacher Ignore Me?
For some students, the problem is the opposite; their teacher is seemingly not paying enough attention, rather than paying too much. Sometimes it might feel like your teacher looks at and listens to everyone but you.
Unfortunately, this issue occurs more often than students complaining about a teacher over-staring, especially in classrooms with many students.
While your teacher may try to interact with as many students as possible, they may not be able to give everyone the attention they deserve. This is especially true for students who are more withdrawn or shy.
In most cases, your teacher is not ignoring you on purpose; they are simply swamped with the endless list of responsibilities (both academic and non-academic) that requires their attention.
How To Get Your Teacher’s Attention
Every student deserves time and consideration from their teacher. Even students deemed more able and independent in the classroom should receive the attention that will challenge and stimulate them to reach their full potential.
If you believe that your teacher is not showing enough concern for your progress, here are some recommendations that may help to draw their attention to you:
- Try to focus and concentrate more during class
- Participate more in group work and classroom discussions
- Try to answer more questions
- Don’t hesitate to ask relevant questions
- Try hard to submit your assignments and homework on time
- Maintain eye contact while your teacher is giving instructions
- Ask your teacher how they are and try to get to know them better
The suggestions above will be extremely gratifying for your teacher, who in turn should happily dedicate more of their time and attention to you.
Nonetheless, keep in mind that teachers are human too – they also harbor personal issues, resentments, or prejudices, meaning that as hard as you may try to gain their consideration, things might still get in the way.
If you are concerned with the lack of attention you are receiving from a teacher, talk to the teacher privately to express your views or find another adult you trust, like a school counselor, to confide in.
Conclusion
Most teachers try to constantly make eye contact with all students to ensure that everyone is listening and trying to follow the topic of the lesson. However, teachers sometimes stare or keep looking at certain students for different reasons.
A teacher may stare to encourage students to concentrate more or stop disrupting the class. Alternatively, your teacher might stare at you because they are concerned about you. In any case, if it makes you uncomfortable, you should talk in private to your teacher or someone else who can offer some advice and help.
Sources
- EdNews Daily: The Teacher’s Stare
- Quora: Why do teachers stare at you?
- Reddit: Why do teachers ignore students?
- College of Education and Human Development – University of Missouri: Positive teacher-student relationships lead to better teaching
- Tes Magazine: Shy students need more attention than you think
- MSU Extension: Eye contact: An introduction to its role in communication
- Chron-Work: Why Is It Important for Teachers to Have Good Communication Skills?
- Attitude: Disruptive Behavior: Solutions for the Classroom and at Home
- Knowing Knowledge: Balancing The Different Learning Needs Of Students
- YouTube: School Depression and Student Anxiety: Does My Teacher Notice?
