As students learn, they grow right before your eyes.
Child
Help Students Grow
As students learn, they grow right before your eyes.
Helping young students grow isn’t always easy for a teacher. It means changing classroom activities and how teachers deliver the lesson without losing the educational content values to increase student participation levels. It happens as a teacher recognizes a change in student learning patterns, signaling the need for the student to learn by doing the work.
The challenge for the teacher is to develop a lesson plan where the student and teacher work through the lesson together, ensuring that the student gains the knowledge to do it themselves. Although the teacher remains close to the student, there are instances where the focus is on instruction (lecture or example) rather than delegating time for student participation. It’s a blended teaching model that allows students to use their cognitive skills to process and apply a piece of learned knowledge.
Throughout the lesson, a student understands that learning involves making forgivable mistakes. It’s part of the growth process to help a student reach the next skill level. For teachers, the lesson plan involves lowering the protective shields within reason so the student engages independently.
Education resources
Setting the path for student growth
Student growth is an established path that young children learn as toddlers and continue following with the first introduction of formal education as preschoolers. Teachers educate through example and encourage the student to do it themselves. Yes, it usually takes several attempts before they achieve perfection or get close to it.
Through it all – teachers are helping these young students to develop new skills while watching ingenuities emerge. What happens as students learn to stand and walk without help? They start to venture out, motivated to learn more – that’s the foundation for growth.
It’s a pattern that signifies success in the classroom as teachers offer reassurance, confidence, and practice time to complete the task. It may take longer for some students to comprehend the lesson – the difference in response time is natural. Teachers’ lesson plans may need to be adjusted during class by slowing down to allow the student to take in all of the knowledge.
Teachers should have the following considerations:
- Be patient and allow the student time to learn.
- Students grow when they do the task, not just by observation or lecture.
- Allow students opportunities to think, study and practice.
Classroom challenges that lead to student growth
The idea behind educational growth for students involves motivating them to achieve and exhibit their learning abilities. The best method of verifying the achievement is to have a student exert the effort to do the lesson. It’s a behavior pattern that occurs during early learning and continues into higher learning.
This isn’t about perfection yet. It’s about engaging a student’s cognitive skills to learn by doing. The method has proven that students learn more when directly involved in the lesson or activity.
As teachers, we become classroom coaches and presenters. We are no longer the doer, and the responsibility for completing the task is transferred to the student. Benefits to the student include:
- Stability
- Self-reliance
- Motivation
- Secured independence
Letting go for continued learning
Let’s face it – skillfulness, adeptness, and competence development during a student’s school years. It’s where students discover their strengths that continue to resonate throughout a lifetime. It’s also a time when teachers begin to release protective coverage over students when assigning tasks.
During a student’s early learning stage, they mimic classroom lesson steps. Continued student growth isn’t about copying what the teacher did; students comprehend and do the work processes themselves. Don’t worry. Students still need assistance and time to process the lesson materials. Teachers should be aware of and make an effort to demonstrate the following:
- Teachers may need to step in and direct a student to the right answer.
- Offer clues that involve choices to instigate a student’s effort.
- Reinforce the practice strategy on decision-making (evaluation).
- Remind the student that choice does affect the outcome.
These lessons help students uncover the answers by integrating their skills with learned knowledge. For the student, it takes practice. For the teacher, it’s about a working lesson plan that provides feedback on the method or approach used to perform the task.
