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Teaching others gives one perspective. You get to see others misunderstandings and students under various levels of motivation.
It was surprising to me at first how similar students in “gifted” classes are to students who are labeled learning disadvantaged. I find that students who are termed, “learning disadvantaged,” are often just as capable as their “gifted” peers.
So what are the differences?
- Often I find that students who are called, learning disadvantaged, may have achieved this status based off a combination of one or more of the following factors:
A student may have not learned an essential concept necessary for them to progress with the rest of the class. Unfortunately teachers have to address the needs of all the students in their classrooms and may not have time to spend one on one with each student that is struggling.
- One of the worst case scenarios is a student who is bright enough to come up with the correct answer enough times to escape teacher attention, yet does not actually learn the material leading to a problem that cannot be solved without intervention. This often happens when students engage in some form of what is known as “academic bulimia,” merely memorizing what is essential to pass the lesson, then forgetting or worse mixing up concepts learned with other concepts.This incomplete learning merged with later confusion can easily create a problem requiring intervention.Unfortunately this intervention is sometimes an inappropriate labeling of as, “learning disadvantaged.”My solution to this is to get the student caught up, and drill the student in a way such as to make sure that the student has understood the concepts. Students that have become good at guessing answers must be subjected to a battery of related problems to make sure that they have internalized the concepts, vs. just going through the motions.
- A student may not understand a teacher’s teaching style, or submission requirements. This incompatibility can lead to frustration on the part of both the student and teacher. I try to make sure that the students in these cases can work efficiently on their own and understand how to present their knowledge in a way that the teacher would like.
- A student may be a poor test taker and may have gained the label of learning disadvantaged even though the student may have good mastery of the concepts. This is rare, but possible.
I find it heartbreaking when a student self identifies as learning disabled when the student demonstrates an ability that can understand and excel in the subjects they are taught. Students, I feel, should be taught to expect more of themselves… not less.
Another thing that I’ve learned from students is perseverance. Being older and more mature than my students means that I am able to stick with tasks for longer periods of time. Often I see students that are just on the verge of figuring out the information.
Usually all they need to do is either go back to the basics and complete the parts of the problem that they were too scared to figure out due to the “hard parts of the problem,” or sometimes they just needed to think of the problem in a different manner. For instance it can seem overwhelming when students try to add percentages and fractions, but once you can get a student to understand that percentages are really just fractions, then it can smooth out a lot of the anxiety and feelings of bewilderment.
For myself as I study to become a medical doctor sometimes I am faced with hard problems that make me feel lost. So I just apply the same idea to my own problems as I apply with my students, and invariably I find that even the most difficult problems are surmountable.
Keep Studying!
