Hearing a story from my mom the other day, I thought back to Educational Psych and how it applies to situations in everyday life and education. A little girl that I babysit (currently in kindergarten) is struggling with her numbers. As a requirement in her school, she must be able to count and write all numbers up to 100 before moving on to first grade. At this point in the school year, she cannot master the task. She is a completely competent and intelligent child, but clearly isn't "clicking" with the material. When the girl's mother talked to the teacher about possibly holding her back, the teacher replied, "she'll go to first grade." My point of concern lies here with the teacher. Whether or not her student understands how to count and write to 100, she' passing her onto first grade. The kindergarten class' size is 6 students total. How can that teacher NOT devote a little more 1:1 time with the student? When I heard this story, I couldn't help but think of the different issues we've gone over in psych that relate.
The first problem I considered was that fact that the student's not at the same level with her peers. Not being up to par will continue to give her problems. She will have to play "catch-up" if she moves on without understanding. This will be an extremely challenging task, since she is already not understanding certain subjects.
Another concern is for the student's self-esteem. She realizes that she is below average and told the teacher, "I'll never be able to do this." She's struggling in school which is affecting her perception of herself. Even if a student is having complications, the teacher is there to boost her self-esteem and keep her confident. Without the feeling that she can succeed, school will become more necessity rather than a fun, exciting learning environment.
My final thought on this issue concerns the methods of her instructor. If 3/4 of the way through the school year a student is still not understanding, why haven't adjustments been made? She should be able to recognize the problem and adjust her teaching strategy to help with her student's comprehension. Being that the class consists of 5 other students, she should have the capability to devote more attention to this area of concern.
The first problem I considered was that fact that the student's not at the same level with her peers. Not being up to par will continue to give her problems. She will have to play "catch-up" if she moves on without understanding. This will be an extremely challenging task, since she is already not understanding certain subjects.
Another concern is for the student's self-esteem. She realizes that she is below average and told the teacher, "I'll never be able to do this." She's struggling in school which is affecting her perception of herself. Even if a student is having complications, the teacher is there to boost her self-esteem and keep her confident. Without the feeling that she can succeed, school will become more necessity rather than a fun, exciting learning environment.
My final thought on this issue concerns the methods of her instructor. If 3/4 of the way through the school year a student is still not understanding, why haven't adjustments been made? She should be able to recognize the problem and adjust her teaching strategy to help with her student's comprehension. Being that the class consists of 5 other students, she should have the capability to devote more attention to this area of concern.
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