You can re-engage struggling learners with a multifaceted approach.
You instinctively know that all your students are capable of learning, yet some battle mightily with the material. While no single set of activities can address all the needs of your struggling learners, you can use a framework for understanding approach the task. It is important work. Catching students when they are young and successfully connecting them to their education can reduce their risk for dropping out of school later on.
Learning Styles
Conduct a learning styles inventory on your students. By adding to your own understanding of how they perceive and process information, you can adjust your teaching strategies to meet them in their areas of strength. For elementary students, some of the simplest-to-complete inventories categorize students as kinesthetic, visual and auditory learners. In general, kinesthetic learners benefit from hands-on activities, while often struggling with reading and listening. Visual learners enjoy graphic organizers, power point presentations and using colored markers to emphasize information. Auditory learners do well in classroom discussions and lecture formats.
Targeted Skill-Building
Some struggling learners experience gaps in understanding learn -- gaps you can address by direct teaching of the missing skills. This practical approach relies on both your knowledge of the student and informal interviews with him to determine the instructional starting point. Your goal is to break assignments into manageable tasks composed of the missing learning strategies. Depending on your student, your list might include constructing an outline, taking notes, completing homework or writing paragraphs. Knowing approach a learning task can improve your student's motivation.
Parental Engagement
Commit to engaging parents with your school. A research brief published by the Harvard Family Research Project points to the academic gains elementary students can make under the umbrella of a well-functioning home-school relationship. Engaged parents help out in the classroom, have supportive contact with the teacher, attend school functions and set high expectations for their child's learning. These activities have both short- and long-term effects that are tied to higher reading scores, increased language development, quality work habits and higher graduation rates, according to the Harvard Family Research Project.
Community Involvement
Invite the larger community to work with your students. Every community has assets that can be tapped to help improve the academic achievement of struggling learners. Community volunteers from service organizations, churches or colleges could partner with students for weekly reading time, one-on-one tutoring, or afterschool enrichment classes. Federal programs such as AmeriCorps VISTA provide dedicated adults willing to work for one year with low-income students to enhance literacy. Meaningful engagement relies on a sense of shared responsibility for student success.
Tags: struggling learners, your students, elementary students, Family Research, Family Research Project, Harvard Family