In my experiences, I find that we too often focus on what a student cannot do. Rather than discussing a student's strengths, it seems as though most conversations and legal paper work ask us to describe a student's weaknesses. Why do you think this is so? What are the implications of this mindset? In a few sentences, describe your experiences and reply to these two questions.
Teachers want their students to be at a high level. They want to find out who is struggling, why they are struggling, what they are struggling with, and how to fix it. Teachers do not focus on what a student can do well because that is not something that can be 'fixed.'
ReplyDeleteWhen we talk about student's weaknesses, we try to focus on what they need to improve on and have them to find a way to make strides in their education. I think the implications of the mindset, is from the old way of education. Education is changing and in the old ways the teachers pointed out their wrongs and never really found a way to correct it. But that is not focusing on the student. When we focus on the student and their strengths, we can have their education and their needs more focused around what they can do and show them over and over again that they have strengths and I know they are struggling, but we all have an area we struggle in and you are not the only out there. As I was taught in undergraduate degree, you start out with strengths and then you tell what the student should work on. Then you should always have 3 positives for every negative, just a general rule of converstaions and this applies to students too.
ReplyDeleteI believe that it is easier to point out weaknesses because they are more visible. If a teacher focuses more on a student's weaknesses rather than their strenghts than they will not be able to understand the link that will help that child to succeed.
ReplyDeleteIn order to address the problem the student is having, teachers must identify the weaknesses, but must not stop there. Teachers must also focus on what students can do in order to achieve the goals, so that the student's environment is not always negative.
ReplyDeleteWe always point out the weaknesses first to see where instructin needs to begin. Most of the students who struggle are the students who will get the most help. We always want to show improvement and we are trying to close in the gap between the highest student and the lowest student. We as educators should always point out the strengths first. In doing this we would be able to challenge all students.
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