Sometime ago when I was teaching in a school in my area, there was a woman that had a kid in my class, she said, “teacher i knew that there is no dollard in education” just to concur with what she was saying, i said ‘yes’. She said, ‘This my daughter can not read three letter words nor can spell very well, I want you to help and teach her very well. I know she needs extra lessons and I want you to start taking her extra lessons after closing in the school. I would pay monthly, please help me!”.
I doveted two hours to this kid and I used to take her three times a week. I took two weeks with my effort, I understand a lot of things that hinder this kid to progress academically. I understand that the kid's parents died and she was devastated. Her father and her mother died just a few months ago and she was staying with her aunts.
I was trying to know the reasons why the kid is so dull, always afraid and never wants to learn anything. One day I asked her ‘why you are not happy' and she told me that, “since my father and my mother died I am no longer happy in this world and I stayed in the lucky place crying. I did not believe that there is no dullard in education because i have met so many students that are slow to learn. In fact, where I am teaching right now, we have many of them.
Before going to the main points, i will like talk about some many issue that hinder a kid from learning, they are one:-
Background of the students: this is very important to the teacher. A teacher must know the background of his/her learners. Background is one of the major factors that affect the performance of the learners. This kid is very good in logic and numbers, but her mind was not settled and she couldn’t pay attention to what the teacher is teaching the class rather thinking of her demised parents. Like what she said, “i always think of my father and mother every time both in the class and outside the class”. This is where I realized the kid did not learn anything in the class due to the trauma she was into. I told her my father died so many years ago when I was your age, and it really pained me then but later forgot because there was nothing I could do to bring him back to life. Therefore, I and you are one, you don’t need to feel sober for so long because it would affect mentally, socially and physically. After I spoke to her that my father died a long time ago and I am alone now, she was relieved and that was how I captured her attention. At the end of the term, she was among my best students, and I realized that she was not a dull student but circumstances made her like that.
Getting close to students and loving them is therapeutic. She started coming to me whenever she didn't understand certain words. To make it easy for me, I built friendships around all her classmates and whatever things she didn't understand, she asked anyone in the class. That was how Deborah became one of the best students.
Multi-task the students: I had a student in my class that his parents came to complain about him. His parents said, “david plays too much, the moment he comes back from school, after eating his lunch, we don’t see him again till when he is feeling hungry again”. I told his parents that you need to help me too. I would be given an assignment to him on a daily basis, but you need to guide him and tell him to do his assignment. Though, I knew that David was one of the dull students in my class before his parents came to me. I was just looking for the perfect time to meet his parents but they came to me at the perfect time. I was multitasking David for three months to the extent of David in mathematics because I am the mathematics teacher and sometimes in literacy. David did not have time to play but always studied in the room. When the time came to choose students to represent my school in a mathematics competition: David was the only student I recommended for the competition. David took second in the whole region, and his parents came to me and gave me gifts. The competition changed the whole life of David and since then, his hunting for more competition and said he wants to become a doctor. David is not only the best student in mathematics but also one of the best science students.
Arouse the interest of the learners: one of the things i used to arouse the interest of the learners is the ‘career’. I always told them the story of great physicians, doctors, accountants, lawyers, engineers, and many more. Most of my stories were always fascinating and they always wanted to be like them. Since i told them the story of a medical doctor, some of the students that were not serious went home and told their parents they want to become medical doctors. Because of that story, they are very serious and always want to be the best in the class. This idea that I brought made my school one of the best competitive schools in my area. Therefore, if you have a kid that is not interested in education, give such a child a career talk that interests him/her most. Know what he loves most by asking him, then channel your talk toward that direction.
In my locality, the children do not want to go to school again, they prefer to get a job that will give them money right now. All they want is money, some of them may not come to school for a week; they prefer to look for labour work that will solve their immediate problems.
Introduction of seminar to the students: we do this every month in my school. This way we help them to be focusing on their career and help them in future.
the pictures here is gotten from our lagos state teach for nigeria fellows whatsaap and credid goes to them. though, i am among the fellows that anchored the program.
