SOME COMPLAINTS STUDENTS HAVE AGAINST TEACHERS

Teaching is an art. Not everyone is cut out in this area. Been able to impart knowledge in the way and manner that generate desirable response from students is an amazing skill. However, in spite of some teachers best effort students feel less satisfied with their  teaching. The following are prominent complaints students have against teachers:

1.       The teacher is too harsh: a lot of students mistake a teacher’s discipline and insistence on good moral behavior to harshness. They hate teachers that flog or melts out punishment on students. A word of advice for the teacher: if at all you have to instill discipline, do so with love. Avoid projecting an image of harshness. In fact, draw close to your students.

2.       The class is boring: some students dislike teachers whose class is not very motivating or rather dry. Also, when the teacher’s voice is low or inaudible, students tend to strain their ears to listen. This way discouragement soon makes them to tune out from the teaching, before long they are overtaken by sleep.

3.       The teacher is inconsistent: some students do not understand their teacher. When they are punished, they feel the teacher hates them. When they perform poorly in test, they blame the teacher.

QUESTION FOR READERS

1.       How do you bridge the gap between the teacher and the students?

WHY STUDENTS PERFORMANCE IN EXTERNAL EXAMS DROPS EVERY YEAR

It is quite alarming how students keep performing very poorly at examinations. The situation has remained virtually the same from year to year. Identifying the major cause is a positive step in the right direction. The following are the prominent reasons:

1.       Poor study habits: it is sad to observe that most students basically lack reading culture. Instead they spend their valuable time on valueless activities. Some watch season films  and movies late into the night. These individuals make last minute preparation for their examination.

2.       Anticipated involvement in examination malpractice. A lot of students who are aware of the usual assistance during examination often do not see any reason to prepare or study. This is the trend in most schools. As a result, they are relaxed and easy-going.

3.       Poor spelling skills:  Because of the prevalent social media platforms many students stick to the use of unconventional spelling and language. Consider these examples: night is replaced with nite, your is replaced with ur, today is replaced with 2day, etc. This behavior creep in during examination. Unfortunately this is not tolerated especially in English language  where adhering to the highest linguistic standard is of great importance.

CHALLENGES KIDS FROM POOR HOMES ARE FACING

I have taken my time to dig into this matter. A lot of kids from poor homes are facing real challenges in terms of learning. In the first place, parents in this group take their children to small and fledgling schools-schools that lack standard facilities for learning. Because of been of little means, such parents are unable to buy textbooks for their children. Their priority is to pay school fees only.

The school deliberately refuse to emphasize the purchase of such items for fear of losing their students. For this reason, kids do not have enough material to work with while at home. They often play away their valuable time. In the end, the kids performs poorly.

Furthermore, kids from poor homes, sometimes if not always, suffer from malnutrition. A child that is not well fed faces challenges learning an d retaining information. Since they are at a developmental stage, any shortage in the right nutrition goes a long way to affect their proper mental functioning. I observed that kids in this category have problem recalling information as against their counterpart from rich homes.

Another factor contributing to their challenge is that poor homes lack modern gadgets which in one way or the other enhances learning. On the other hand, kids from rich homes watch educative programmes or even have toys that involve some kind of learning.

QUESTION FOR READERS

1.       What accounts for the different learning abilities of children from different backgrounds?

2.       Suggest how parents can handle the problems pointed out above

HOW PARENTS UNWITTINGLY CONTRIBUTE TO THEIR CHILDREN’S POOR PERFORMANCE

These days a lot of children are having a hard time getting along in the classroom. Who should be blamed for this situation? Very easily, parents are quick to point accusing fingers at the school more especially the teachers. For this reason, some parents withdraw their children. They keep changing schools. In fact, parents hardly see themselves as partly responsible for their children’s poor performance.

Here is the truth: some parents do not show any interest in their children’s school work.  This gives the children unlimited play time. 

They watch different TV Channels without restriction. Hence, school work is given little or no time at all. This habit is repeated throughout the term.

In the end, parents get angry at their poor performance. Parents need to know that monitoring their child’s activity should not pose a big challenge. All that needs to be done is to establish rules in the house. This involves setting restriction for certain activities such as no watching of television unless all homework is done. This rule should be enforced consistently. This way children come to know them properly and stick to it.

QUESTION FOR READERS

1.       How do parents contribute to children’s poor performance?

2.       Is it right for parents to monitor the activities of their children?

3.       What kind of rules should parents set for their children?