Teaching Weak Learners
Tips and Strategies for How,What and When to Teach Weak Students
Weak students come in all sizes and shapes. Sometimes kids come from borderline Special Education, other children have learning disabilities or behavior problems and some just hate the subject because of negative learning experiences.
Succeeding with weak learners is all about timing. If a teacher is able to catch them and give them all that she or he can when they are still young, they will be able to close their gaps. By the time these learners reach High School however, they are already so demotivated to learn, they have little or no faith in their ability to succeed or in the teacher’s ability to teach them.
If you do however teach weak students in whatever grade, here are some tips and strategies on how to build up a successful learning program.
First, get as much information as you can about each pupil. It makes the beginning of the year much easier. At least you can approach each according to his or her needs.
Ground Rules for the Teacher:
- Bring with you a great deal of humor
- Bring a lot of love and care
- Make sure you have a serious program.
- Look for a positive point in each student. Make them feel good and tell them!
- Contact the parents as soon as possible.
- Be very consistent in checking homework.
- Give a mark for most of the work they produce
It is important to use successful methodological techniques in order to fill the gap between what weaker students know and what you teach them.
What and How to Teach
- Every class should have a course book.
- Start the lesson with the book.
- Give homework
- Choose those chapters that interest them.
The question still lies: How to motivate such students to learn?
Weaker kids need lots of success oriented activities. The trick is to teach the material subconsciously without them realizing they are being taught. Otherwise, there will be too much theory. The lesson should seem spontaneous to them even if it was well prepared by the teacher. Variety is a key word with them. Try not to repeat your work in methods even if you teach the same strategy.
By success oriented activities I mean:
Brainstorming. The beauty of brainstorming is that a teacher writes everything on the board that the students say. For the weaker student, this is especially important. He or she sees his contribution on the board, and it makes him/her feel good. Even those students who do not participate directly or are passive are still involved as they continue to listen to those who do.
Final Words
The key ingredients for a teacher is sensitivity and flexibility. Consistency will show its result.
