Being human means that we have to struggle to make ends meet, at least once in a lifetime. This is the case for not only adults but also school kids. Sometimes the life of a learner can get too complicated and hard that unless someone helps them to push through, the learner’s academic future is seriously jeopardized.
Whether you are a teacher or a parent, it is your responsibility to help the kid get better academic records. Here is how:
1. Don’t spoon-feed them
The idea is not to do everything for the kid. The idea is to give them the tools needed to get through the academic journey. Don’t give the student all the answers- help them to reason until they find the right answers. Help them recognize what hard work is all about, not help them find shortcuts. Teach them the need for persistence and perseverance.
2. multisensory learning
Multisensory learning means involving the senses of sight, sound, and touch when teaching new information. This combination of activities uses multiple pathways to the brain. Your students will start grasping concepts better when you allow them to touch and experiment on the tools or substances you taught earlier in the class. Explain stuff to them in a language they will hear and understand without needing to struggle too much. Excite their sense of sight by giving relatable examples- talking about the things they see and interact with all the time. When children can see a concept as it is explained, say through remote interpreting on a video, it becomes very easy for them to comprehend the new lesson and retain most of the newly-learned information. If you are teaching a lesson on earth’s rotation, for example, there are many educational videos for that.
3. Communication and reassurance
Communicate ideas to your students and make them aware of the expectations you have for them. Make genuine efforts to understand whatever problems they could be struggling with outside of the classroom. If a kid is, for example, overwhelmed by work or family commitments, intervene in the best way you can and involve the parent where necessary. If they need counseling, find them professional help. If a kid is struggling with time management, help him come up with a workable timetable. And if they are just too lazy to put sufficient effort into studying, express your dissatisfaction with that behavior. If you have a multicultural classroom, make sure everyone feels comfortable and included, ask your school to provide resources for translation services if necessary.
Bottom line: If it is a problem that you can be able to help, make sure that you help. Note that reassuring a struggling student that all shall be well with time (and actually being there to help them out) aids their ability to set realistic expectations and eventually improve their academic performance.
4. Teach time-management skills
We have to put emphasis on teaching students time management skills because it is very critical to a learner’s academic growth. Most students fail because they cannot manage their time properly. Help them come up with a daily schedule that is not overwhelming, but that challenges them to work hard. You can, for example, ask a student to estimate the amount of time they need to complete a given task, and then you come together to create a schedule that allows them enough time to complete each of the important daily tasks.
5. Try scaffolding teaching method
This means breaking down lessons into small, easy to chew, and logically-arranged chunks. By logically-arranged, we mean that one chunk lays the base for the subsequent chunk so that at the end of the day, the chunks will combine to form a complete lesson. This method derives its name from the field of architecture, mainly because it involves the teacher forming a bridge that students use to cross over from one scaffold that contains the information they already know to another scaffold that contains information that’s alien to the student. A good example of a scaffold is a chart or a picture. When a student understands everything presented on one chart, he is allowed to move on to the next chart. Just like in architecture, scaffolds should be removed after the student is able to process on his own all the information contained in each scaffold.
Conclusion
Improving your students’ academic records can be difficult, but it is doable with a little more effort and patience. In the current situation of Covid-19, it is also important that you don’t overpressure them to do better. They might be experiencing feelings of anxiety, and fearing for their safety. Thus, it is important that you actively alleviate their feelings of uncertainty through credible information and safety guidelines on Covid-19. Addressing possible misinformation is crucial in creating a secure and relaxed environment in the classroom, which precedes the rate of success of the tips above intended to make the academic improvement process a lot easier, one day at a time.