In one of my previous posts, I had mentioned that sometimes students, whether be ELL or non-ELL students may require a push; The question that arose from this was what is meant by “push”. I thought of answering this question based on what I have observed from practicum.
By push I mean that as teachers/ teacher candidates we should encourage our students to try hard. We need to assure to them that they are capable of doing their work and are indeed superb students.
We need to constantly remind our students that they themselves need to do their best to get to the desired level they want to be at. We need to remind them that at times they will struggle, but they must understand that it takes perseverance to get through it all. Students need to be challenged and we need to stretch their minds.
As for some of the students that I have been working with who want that constant attention, we need to remind them that they are proficient of being independent. We need to figure out ways of how to get them enthusiastic of starting and finishing their work without continuously relying on adult supervision.
In the next few weeks I will be sharing some of the techniques that I have been learning and using from practicum and research studies to promote effective working strategies in the classroom with ELL and non-ELL students.
Thank you Suriti for the clear explanation of your definition for ‘push’ 😀 I look forward to reading how you plan to gently ‘push’ your students and promote an effective work ethic.