Tips To Deal with Academically Poor Students

 Very often than not, we encounter students who find it difficult to cope with the academic systems in our various schools. Every professional teacher will be concerned with finding ways to help these "bad" students.

The following are my suggestions to deal with such a situation:

1. Be quick to identify such students.

A teacher must use his psychological and professional skills to identify students with academic difficulties through the application of individual differences ideology.

2. Device strategies to address the problem.

Teachers are trained to employ different approaches to teaching to help solve the challenges of individual differences in their classrooms. Therefore, we must surgically diagnose the needs of every student and be able to meet their needs individually.

3. Be a motivator.

Motivation is a powerful tool to build and uplift the confidence level of students including academically "bad" ones. We must encourage them in all aspects. Teachers must help students to build intrinsic motivation by helping them to unravel their purpose of education. Aside from that, A teacher must use extrinsic motivation but sparingly to boost the confidence level of students.

4. Develop a "school sibling". 

School sibling is a situation where the teacher uses his/her professional understanding to pair Intelligent students with poor students and makes them develop relationships to help one another in terms of academic achievement. Monitor their progress and help if the need arises.

5. Do not compare them with other students.

In most cases, when teachers feel that they exhaust their strategies but got no positive result, they turn to compare academically poor students with other students who are known to be intelligent. The secret is that the more you compare them, the more fed up you become and the more likely you are to sideline them in your class. Find their strength and capitalise on it to help them.

6. Never insult a student you classify as an academically poor student. 

It is an unprofessional behaviour of a teacher to insult students for poor academic achievement. It makes students feel timid and inferior to the " sharks" in the classroom. They lose the sense of belongingness which adds to the existing frustration that they might be going through. 

In conclusion, we must note that every student has his/her weaknesses and strengths. We should reflect on the quote "no child is a tabula rasa".

Let's help the students that we teach to make the world a better place to live.

By: 

Damankah Bright