DIFFICULT STUDENTS
INTRODUCTION
In this
document, I narrated diverse challenges that I had to face in the “Escuela Primaria Enrique Martinez Marques”,
located in “Huejotzingo”, with the
6th-grade students, such as their English level, behavior, lack of
participation, and rejection. Also, I described the different strategies that I
used to address these difficulties, considering articles and experiences by
teachers from the USA and England. Finally, I mentioned the efforts that I had
to make to transform and improve the dynamic in the classroom with the
sixth-grade students.
JUSTIFICATION
The execution
of these strategies originated from the necessity to face the challenges that
affect the dynamic and the school's performance. The decisions were taken
during the second jornada based on investigations and experiences from other
teachers who faced similar problems. Such decisions were implemented to improve
the relationship between teacher and student, engage active participation, and
create an effective and pleasing environment.
OBJECTIVE
To create an
interactive, motivating effective environment, improving their participation in
connection with the English language. Based on playful strategies.
PROBLEM
On the first
day with the sixth-grade students from elementary school, I faced a lot of
challenges, such as their English level, their behavior in class, the slowness
in completing assigned tasks, and the lack of participation of the
students.
Through
observations, I was able to detect some problems due to the organization of
teams and the students´ dispersion. These situations caused me confusion to
identify and ask constantly the color of the team. Besides, the students sat in
a dispersed way, which affected the students a lot, because during my
explanations the students started to talk with their classmates, and there was
a lack of participation, I noticed that the students didn´t write anything in
their notebooks, the worksheets that I gave them were found in the floor or
even they were found in the trash. At the same time, I could notice the
rejection of the majority of the students. Some of the students ignored me when
I talked to them, they didn't listen to me, they showed me negative gestures
and frequently they used to ask a lot for their English teacher.
So, in the
first jornada to was able to solve that “problem” I designed strategies such as
the use of a timer to control the time of each activity, assigned points to the
most participative team, and removed points to the team that didn´t abide by
assigned tasks in the class, in the same way, I tried to approach to each
student, sadly, it wasn´t enough to solve the rejection problem.
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
Articles such
as ” Tips to Work with Difficult Students
to Improve Classroom Management”, “Five Ways to Deal with challenging
students”, “Classroom Management Strategies for Difficult Students”, “How to
Handle Difficult Students in Your Classroom” and “Dealing with Difficult Students and Students with Problems”
written by American and English teachers from elementary school and junior high
school, addressed and narrated the various difficulties that have faced to deal
with difficult students during their professional careers as teachers, such as
their feelings to notice that their students were out of the control, they
didn´t pay attention, they say and do inappropriate things.
In the
documents, previously mentioned, it indicates the importance of establishing a
good relationship between teachers and students.
In such a way,
teachers gain the trust and respect of their students, and at the same time,
they understand the individual perspectives. The personalized interaction, that
is, teacher-student, could contribute to reducing the behavioral problems in
the classroom and develop the academic performance of the students,
establishing learning objectives and modeling assertive, fair, and positive
behaviors.
Articles such
as “Classroom Management Strategies for
Difficult Students” by Mary Ellen Beaty-O'Ferrall, Alan Green, Fred Hanna
pointed out that the teachers' actions in the classroom have a meaningful
impact on academic performance. This impact is significant during
pre-adolescence and adolescence, stages in which the students experience low
self-esteem and a lack of motivation, for that reason, the teacher´s empathy
and sensitivity are the most important keys to achieving that the students feel
understood and valued. When the students are in a positive environment,
probably they could integrate into a community, where they can express, ask,
share opinions without feeling frustrated, and share their fears and desires
without being judged.
Showing
admiration for students inspires respect and loyalty. Communicating it
genuinely and honestly increases their level of empathy. In addition,
disruptive behaviors can transform into meaningful abilities, which are
possible to turn into creative abilities adapted to the student´s personality,
that allow us to encourage their development in an effective as teachers.
As teachers, it
is important to commend the efforts and achievements of the students, such as
their perseverance and their disposition to try. Making mistakes is part of the
learning process, and as a teacher, is important to foster a growth mindset
that can motivate the students and continue to grow and learn from their
mistakes.
Asking for help
is sentinel, especially when that help comes from authority figures like
teachers because it encourages an environment where the students feel valued
and useful to participate.
When a student
shows provocative behavior in the classroom, it is due to the student feeling
insecure. For that reason, assigning tasks that let the student feel valued and
proud, such as being a leader of a team or being a coach of a shy classmate is
important. These responsibilities can make the students that he or she valued
more than he or she believes.
Finally,
express the body language of the students like their position when they sit,
postures, gestures, facial expressions, or voice tone, we can demonstrate to
the student or someone that we share the same values and attitudes, which is
the most important key to establish a good relationship, even with people that
can have a defensive position as was the case of these students.
RESULTS
Classes I
taught to sixth-grade students were based on behaviorism, by John B. Watson in
1913, a theory focused on the study of observable behavior, creating
associations between stimuli and responses, which facilitated the planning and
organization of the students during classes.
The first thing
I did when I entered the classroom with my three groups of sixth-grade students
was greeting them and asking them how they felt that day. After the students
expressed their feelings, due to, it was difficult to recognize basic
vocabulary for them, we started the class using a song. The song despite being
for children, students reacted positively. Thanks to the song they were able to
recognize the vocabulary that previously was difficult.
According to
the article “La importancia de la canción
en el área de inglés” published on February 18th, 2001, written by Roció
González Segovia, Amalia López, Pilar Cabañas, Sonia García Uceda and Estefanía
Cañizares teachers of early childhood education, elementary education, and
English from Spain, consider the value of the song as an essential tool in the
learning and teaching of a foreign language, because thanks to this tool the
students will be able to develop the 4 skill of English such as writing,
reading, listening and speaking. Besides, songs offer the opportunity to
explore feelings, culture, and art.
Songs in
learning and teaching English not only help the student to acquire good
phonetic patterns of the words but also facilitate the assimilation of the
concepts through gestures, contributing to better language comprehension. At
the same time, it encourages the love of learning a new language, due to the
songs are enjoyable stimuli for students of any age.
In the class,
we played “Simon Says”, a game that all of the students know and it helped me,
as a teacher, to keep students' attention so they could listen to my
instruction.
The article “la importancia del trabajo en equipo”
by “Servicio Nacional de Capacitación y
Empleo (SENCE) “considers that working in teams facilitates the achievement
of goals, increased motivation, creativity, and social abilities.
Based on the
previously mentioned background at the beginning of this document, I set myself
the task of returning to teams to increase their motivation, creativity, active
participation, and social abilities. This stage was successful due to the
students reacted positively.
Outside of
their classrooms, the students had to choose the color of their bean (blue/red),
take the material that we were working on, especially in that class, and sit in
their chairs as I indicated at the beginning of the class. In that way, it
would be easy to identify and give points to each team easily.
The class was
divided into small activities with a time limit, which made it easier to teach
the planned content and finish my class on time making sure that any student
had doubts.
Through the
observation during the second jornada, I was able to observe the active
participation of the students, and games to help the students to understand the
topic. When the explanation was finished, the students should write the content
in their notebooks including the date, the title, and the content that was
written on the board. If the students complied with this aspect, they received a
golden star. This strategy was effective because it encouraged students to
work.
When the
students finished before the time finished, they were encouraged to decorate
their notes to help them to remember. When all students finished, worksheets
were handed in, and I explained the activities they had to do.
During the
class, thought the observation as an analysis tool, revealed that the students
didn´t use their notebooks, which meant that the students were doing the activities
by themselves.
The margin of
error was quite minimal due to the activities being based on their shortcomings
that I noticed in the first jornada which was related to writing.
When the class
finished, I gave students another golden star, which I stuck on their
foreheads. They were very happy to receive that star, thanks to observation
during the session, I noticed that 2 or 3 students in each classroom didn´t
stand up to receive their star because they had mistakes during the
activity.
I asked them to
stand up and come for their star because mistakes didn't matter, they had done
the activity by themselves and for me, the most important thing was their
learning and effort.
After my first
class with them, I felt better, I didn´t feel as stressed as the first time I
taught them. My lesson plan worked better than I planned. I heard good comments
from sixth-grade students, they liked my classes because they were at their
level, the activities were a challenge for them because they had to solve in a
determined time and did well, the songs that they could dance and sing; and the
golden star that I gave reminded them a lot the kindergarten and motivated
them. The rejection that I experienced at the beginning disappeared. In my
second jornada, I showed empathy and asked students for help, there were enough
times that the students offered to help me with the distribution of the
“special” activities. At the same time, I showed admiration towards students
when they surprised me in classes. This attitude allowed and helped me to
change the dynamic that initially was working in the first Jornada. Besides, I
heard good comments from their regular teachers of sixth-grade students
because, for regular teachers controlling the group, the students'
participation and activities were very difficult to get. However, I was able to
achieve this in a short time.
CONCLUSION
The
implementation of the strategies I mentioned before in the theoretical
framework and the results, marked a meaningful change, achieving the desired objective.
Empathy and positive stimuli as the use of golden stars and dynamics resulted in effective. These strategies not only motivate the students to actively
participate but also reinforce the teacher-student relationship. It was noted a
change in the students' behavior. At the end of each session, through
observation, there was a sense of satisfaction, due to the activities being to
their level. The observation, as an analysis tool, evidenced enthusiasm and a
positive attitude in the students´ participation.
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