A question for all teachers out there: What would you do if you had a class of students who have been placed in a level way above their proficiency level? (Let's just say owing to a flawed school policy, Beginner-level students have been placed in an Advanced class.)
They have been struggling in class for the past few months, and some have clearly given up hope of ever understanding anything that goes on in class.
How would you deal with the syllabus vs the students' best interest? (Ignoring the syllabus is not an option.)
How would you motivate these demotivated students?
If some students are clearly uninterested in class (sleeping, chatting, etc), would you segregate them from the ones who do want to forge on?
I would greatly appreciate any thoughts on this.
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(Don't forget, they did not chose to be in the advanced class). If they have some fun, learn something and see they are making progress they will become motivated and interested. Competative games are always excellent for motivation; you could vary the difficulty of the questions depending on each student's ability, to make them fair to all.
First of all, let me make it very clear, that academic performance, is in no way an indicator of your intellect. No student can be categorized as average, weak, good or intelligent. As you have mentioned, you cannot change or take any kind of deviation from the syllabus.
Tell the students that they are all capable of coming out trumps and nothing is difficult. It is your job to create a very high degree of self belief and confidence in your students. Set a goal for the whole class and tell your students that come what may, we will achieve the goal and also mention that you have unshakeable faith in their abilities. If you do this with strong conviction and self belief, believe me, the students will trust you and take it as a challenge. It has to come from your heart.
Work out a plan for the whole class. Make each session lively and interesting and gradually work on raising their level. Do not get disheartened if you find some students not there with you. They will join you very soon.
All the best.
It's can be really tough trying to motivate demotivated students, but at the end of the day it largely comes down to finding out what will motivate them. We all get motivated by different things and there really is no one way to suit everyone.
Finding out what matters to people in their lives and then bringing it into the subject is always key. I think the film 'Dead Poet's Society' is a classic example of generating curiousity and motivation in students - it's about thinking outside of what is normally done.
Another great example of getting kids motivated to learn is in the work of Marva Collins
Hope this helps
Tom
I agree it is sort of the most challenging job for teachers. Just some quick ideas and see if these work in your class
1) Set achievable goals with students: You may set some appropriate goals with your students and tell them your expectation. In my weaker class, I set goals like "memorizing at least 10 new words/ phrases a week". I actualy teach them more than 10 new words a week (20-30 maybe, according to the tight syllabus). But then if the students can write down 10 at the end of the week, I will show my great appreciation and tell them I am satisfied with their performance and progress. I will conduct the "test" in different ways like dictation, blackboard dictation, pictionary or group test.
2) Stress on their learning progress: If they are already weak, I think they already know this truth by test scores. What we can do is to turn their eyes to look at their own learning progress. Help them to set goals for themselves and ask them to work out action plans.
3) Teach them something they are interested in. If they like ball games, for example, can we make it part of our curriculum? Teach them some vocabulary or expression they will need when describing a game maybe?
I usually have extra activities for early finishers, in order to get to bond with the weak student. Bonding has proved to be very useful and since you pay more attention to them they get hooked without even asking for that...
Hi,
I just started teaching English, Maths, Science and Social Studies to the 4th grade. The language of intruction at this school is English. Everything that he students are taught is supposed to be in ENGLISH. Sadly, the vocabulary and comprehension of these students is below average. Its not the students' fault. I know that this is what the students have been taught, and most of the things that their teachers taught them in the past are wrong. How do I make them unlearn and the relearn ley concepts?!
It is frustrating speaking to these children in English. They do not understand what their books are saying and they don't know what the questions are asking. I want to help the children, and the school I speak of is a school system. A private school system.. anyone has any tips on the first steps I could take to improve their English?
the situation is so familiar that it's really dangerous. And what to do? It seems to me that we have to be honest and brave and if the students don't know something we must teach them. Syllabus is important, but students' needs are much more important. And there are very many very useful tips in this discussion! Thank you, dear colleagues!