5 Ways to Spot Low Performing Kids before it gets out of Hand
Some students are eager to come to school whilst others on the other hand tend to be reluctant about it. The later tend to actively avoid any form of activity, be it at home or in school. This trend can be spotted as early as elementary school. It is manifested in different ways, for example a student may be an excellent reader but often fails to do homework or does it with a lot of reluctance and mistakes.
In middle school, low performance can be manifested both in academic and non-academic areas. If this goes unnoticed, it transitions into withdrawal and defiance which translates to labels as underachievers encouraged to take on vocational education later in life.
“Underachievers are, in fact, highly motivated – in directions other than getting good grades. And finding out precisely where their motivation lies, is the key to helping them turn around and become achievers at school “(Mandel &Marcus 1995 )
Identifying under achievers
1. Avoidance behavior: Avoiding participation in class activities and failing to do homework is a way of shielding them from the frustration of being perceived as incapable. They are often distracted, forget to do homework, misplace their assignments and test papers. In class some spend a fair amount of time staring out the window.
2. Low self-esteem:-Students who are in fact gifted can underachieve simply to ensure there is no pressure on them .There is a definite lack of personal control over their school success. They will often believe that any additional hard work they put into a subject will still result in failure. Such students will normally set their goals either too high or too low.
3. Not being confident in their own abilities: If they fail, such students will blame their lack of ability and if they succeed they attribute it to luck .They tend to only accept responsibility for their failures and don’t even consider they may be successful. For the younger ages, school is boring while for high schoolers it is irrelevant in their daily lives. They will blame poor grades on having the “worst” teachers. They don’t know how to build self-confidence. These students have not been given the tools to persevere at something and succeed.
4. Rebellion: – Students who rebel against authority use it as a way to blame the school for underachieving.
5. Avoidance of any competition- Students will avoid competition both in and out of school. This is unless they are sure that they can win .These students often have competitive feelings but they don’t believe they can win .They will often quit before competition starts .This way they will not have to cope with defeat.
Generally, a typical underachiever is the student who is smart but turns in work of a low standard to get C and D grades. This happens often when they fail to turn in assignments or don’t bother to study for tests. A good teacher will be able to help children to learn in a way that works with their personalities and learning styles. As a teacher you can make adjustments in your methods of teaching and classroom management. This will help underachievers have a chance to succeed. Parents should also consider private schools with small classroom sizes where students can be followed up individually.
