Working in groups, alternating the leadership roles is a must. It's unfair if one student leads the group all the time. You know it's interesting how students discover their potential and open themselves during discussions and collaborative works. There's too much of a possibility for the weak, shy students slide by in a language learning class or become overwhelmed by overzealous leaders.
In most classes we can trace the rejection of the weaker learners, though it is hidden and shows itself indirectly. A teacher usually doesn't look at the weaker Ss; they are almost denied teacher's supportive intervention. That's a big mistake when the weaker Ss have a high affective filter, they need some special attention! I watched how weak and unresponsive students find inner strengths inside and achieve unexpected results. They feel so appreciated and accomplished when they achieve success.
Aristotle said "Teaching is the highest from of understanding."
How do you understand and support your weaker students?
- Victoria Kamchatka's blog
- Login or register to post comments
Log in or register
Follow TeachingEnglish
 |
 |
 |
 |
Comments
I work in a private school, and it's very difficult to organize a little class working in a group, i.e. together as a team; it is all because they are very individualistic. Of course, there's a leader in each class but this leader would better have an individual task. If I ask the leader to work in a pair with the weaker student, the first refuses. You write "It's unfair if one student leads the group all the time. " Yes, it is, but the leader doesn't allow anyone in group to replace her/him. The leader is completely sure that s/he is perfect and more talented than the others.
I gave some group tasks for my younger learners (Grade 2) but they didn't manage to do it. But now it is my aim (as they are 7-8 years old) to teach them collaboration and understanding of each other.
Dear Victoria, last year I had one who was very weak student..:( I support him a lot but he was very unsuccessful..
Dear Victoria,
In our school (it's a private one), we have after school hours in which students can stay at school to study more. Weak students usually have extra hours in that way.
Actually I think good students and weak students have enough attention from teachers. What I really think is about average students. I was an average student at high school and if one of my teachers didn't believe in me, I don't think I could be a teacher. You can read my last year blog here about it. http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/blogs/crystalheart/two-teachers-who-inspired-me
Hi Mary,
It's great that you have such talented leaders in the classroom. You may give him/her a more challenging task. It also depends on his learner style.
Grade 2 are still have to be taught self-management skills. You are right, the earlier we teach them collaborative skills and the skill of understanding each other, the faster they build up their interlanguage.
Dear Miss Leman, that's nice you support him, sooner or later he'll get there! It's just the matter of time.
Dear crystalheart, I was an average student too and nobody believed in me, except for my Mom. I saw my teachers' attitude and decided to self-educate. It worked for me. You can learn from your teachers' mistakes and never make them with your Ss.
I think we should ask ourselves as teachers: Do the activities allow for learners of varying proficiency levels to receive extra attention they might need? Are all students involved?
yeah,,Good!thanks..
Dear Colleague, thanks for your sharing.
I work in a private school. For some grades, with the ones who need to study more, we have some courses after school and these students stay at school and study with their teachers. However, for the other grades, we do our extra studies in the lunch break. Or, we can even go to their home and study with the ones who really need that.
I wish we had such support for the weaker Ss in public school. Thanks for sharing!
Such an interesting topic! Too little attention is paid to weaker students unfortunately. I have a problem myself, I wrote about it and would like to hear your opinions, if you have time to read it would be a great help for me. Thank you! :)
http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/blogs/singerina/avoiding-english-class...