The school environment is like a sheet of paper. It has two pages; teachers and students. It also has instruction on one page and learning on the other page. Teachers teach and students learn. Teachers must teach the content as well as teach students how to learn. Students must also prepare physically, psychologically and emotionally to learn how to learn. Any student who cannot show this preparedness is doomed to failure.
These tips are not the only ways teachers can teach students how to learn because the individual is unique and must be treated as a unique entity. However, they are collections of experiences put together to favour the majority. These are discussed below.
1. Know yourself.
Teachers have a great burden of helping individual students to identify themselves. A teacher, who can do this, makes his/her work very easy. This is because students who are aware of themselves turn to be responsible students. Teachers must help students to reflect and identify their personalities. Students should also write down in clear terms what they feel about education and how they think education will affect their lives. Students must note that teachers are humans and will in most cases, work with students who avail themselves and are willing to accept help.
2. Set your goals.
A student who has not set goals is like a man who is taking a walk to nowhere. Most of the high achieving students are goal setters. They plan ahead of time. Teachers should help their students to set individual goals based on their differences. Every minute in school counts towards high achievement. Therefore, students must be assisted to write down a “SMART” goal. For example, an educational program that takes 3 years to complete, must have a goal that is “Specific”. Thus a goal that is specially tailored towards that program. It must have specific actions that are geared towards achieving that goal. “Measurable” goals must have indicators that can be observed to know that at a point in time, the student has achieved a certain degree of his/her goal. For instance, end of semester examination results. An “Achievable” goal is a goal that does not put unwarranted pressure on students. Teachers must help students to craft their goals to suit their uniqueness. For example, an average student should be helped to set a goal that will see him make a grade A with a score of 80% and not necessarily scoring 100%. A “Relevant” goal contains actions that are important to the individual student’s imaginative personality and the progress to achieving academic excellence. Time is important to students’ achievement. Therefore, teachers ought to help students to set time-bounded goals. A three-year program should have action plans that will last for three years. Students should be taken through time management programs. A student who set a SMART goal is more likely to avoid re-sit.
3. Start early
It is said that the early bird catches the worm. Therefore, teachers have to motivate their students to start executing their action plans early to achieve their goals. They should stick to their study timetable without procrastination.
4. Be bold to take actions
Teachers are to be the mirror that will reflect the actions of students to them. Help students to do away with unnecessary companies. Students are to form study groups but they should join groups that meet their goals. My experience as a student made me believe that study groups that have the ultimate goal to perform academically, will likely have members who are responsible.
In the nutshell, teachers and students must come together to create a school climate that is conducive enough for teaching and learning. If students fail to cope with the guidance of teachers, they will spend the whole school year without a good academic accomplishment.
By:
Bright Damankah
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