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Describe a recent time when you’ve been discouraged with a student’s progress. Have you witnessed a change in the student’s life, or are you still waiting for that change to occur?
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I will speak of my own child. I was discouraged when my son didn’t want to continue a rigorous program because it was difficult. He spoke of not being able very quickly. In talking to him, I realized he didn’t feel confident in front of his classmates to discuss ideas. We worked on his assignments at home until he said, “I feel proud of myself.” Then he began to take over and not ask for my help as often. I was glad to see him grow and continue to work hard even through a rigorous program because he believed he could. His teacher equipped and encouraged me, which helped her time in the classroom because he began to participate more.
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As a math teacher, I generally teach content that many students struggle to understand. Students who give up too easily, without trying to understand, would always frustrate me. Regrettably I have yelled at and disciplined my students previously, but I always tried to show that it was because I wanted them to succeed. At the same time, I’ve seen students who earnestly improved over time. I’ve seen moments of mental growth when my students decided to give more effort.
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I had a student struggle with turning in their work, and while I saw improvement by the end of the year, he still struggled at times. I have him again this year, and I will be praying for increased growth on his behalf and for increased patience and encouragement on my end.
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I had a student who, during math, would simply not do his work unless I was there by him the entire time assisting. At first I was frustrated because it was holding the course back in math (I couldn’t assist other students when I was constantly having to go to his desk to keep him on track), but then I talked with him and realized the cause. Instead of getting impatient with him, I would encourage him and help boost his confidence by having him teach it to me. He was fully capable of doing the work, he just felt he couldn’t because it could be challenging. By the end of the year, when I would walk by his desk to check his progress he would say “I got this! I don’t need help!” and smile. Encouragement, love, and support can be applied to all students and all progress in their lives.
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My students are with me for a short time, many are visiting for a semester from their home country. I have had several who struggled and was discouraged that they were not interested in learning. As a team, mower would pray for our students, with a little extra thrown in for those who struggled.