Exploring Achievement Difficulties: Nikka Irah Camarista Nicole Dominique Claud

Here are 3 potential strategies the teacher could take to help the underachieving students in each case: Case 1: 1. Speak to the student privately to understand what may be causing her lack of motivation. 2. Work with the student to set small, achievable goals to build confidence. 3. Involve the parents to ensure support at home and monitor her progress. Case 2: 1. Provide the student specialized instruction and accommodations suited for his dyslexia. 2. Encourage participation through strategies that play to his strengths. 3. Connect lessons to real-life examples to increase engagement and comprehension. In both cases, the teacher should take a supportive,

Uploaded by

Nikka Irah Camarista

We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.

Available Formats

Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

0% found this document useful (0 votes)

107 views

Exploring Achievement Difficulties: Nikka Irah Camarista Nicole Dominique Claud

Uploaded by

Nikka Irah Camarista

We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.

Available Formats

Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

You are on page 1/ 27

EXPLORING ACHIEVEMENT

DIFFICULTIES
Nikka Irah Camarista
Nicole Dominique Claud
Introduction
One of the most common problems in school age children
today is underachievement, a lot of children these days suffer
from achievement difficulties. Many children find it hard to learn
and stay motivated in school or class, some also fail to live up
expectations for them. There are many reasons why children
have achievement difficulties and can be a culmination of
various factors. It is very important that the teachers and school
identify underachieving students and think of ways to help these
kids.

Answer these following Questions:

• What is your reaction or insight in the video?

• If you were a Teacher, how would you handle

students who are underachiever?

• What would you do to help them enhance their

capabilities?
What is Underachievement?

According to Davis & Rimm (1985), underachievement can

also be defined as a discrepancy between the child’s school
performance and some index of his or her actual ability.

Underachievement is poorer than expected performance,

especially in school. Students that fail to live up to their own
competencies and cannot give a high-quality work (Renard,
2019).
Conway (2015) stated that underachievement mostly happens
to students who:
• Fail to set goals and plan how to reach goals

• Have low expectation for success

• Procrastinate
• Are perfectionists
• With high anxiety and are uninterested or alienated
Identifying Underachievers
1 Letting students take an intelligence test to see how
gifted a student is
2
Testing students in groups

3 Observing each student’s behavior and when their

behavior changes
(Renard, 2019) It is important to distinguish achieving
students from underachieving students. Although both students
can be equally talented students, underachieving students have
different characteristics than achieving ones:

• lack of integration of • social immaturity,

goals & self-direction, • emotional problems,
• lack of self-confidence, • antisocial behavior,
• Inability to persevere, • low self-concept,
• inferiority feelings, • and an unstable family
environment
UNDERACHIEVE
R PROFILES
According to Dr. Diane Heacox (1991), there are different
underachiever profiles a student can take. As a teacher, I’m sure
they will sound rather familiar.

1. The Rebel- the relevance of classroom activities and assignments

don't seem to be of importance to the rebel. They refuse to believe there
is a connection between school and the outside world and have a general
attitude of “I don't need this.“

2. The Conformist- can do well in school, but decides it is not worth

it. These types of students may have found if they do well,
they get rewards of doing more work for their efforts
and by not doing well they won’t have to do more.
3. The Stressed Learner- also known as the perfectionist. A
student's rise and fall is dependant on academic performance. When
things are good, students feel great and when things aren't so good, he
or she may feel awful.

4. The Struggling Student- the one who got through

elementary school with little effort and did well, but hit the wall when
academics became more demanding requiring more study skills.

5. The Victim- these are students who are unwilling

to accept responsibility for lack of success in the
school setting.
6. The Distracted Learner- is the student who has concerns or problems outside of
the academic setting that affect school performance. Some factors of this could include
transitions in the family, victimization of verbal or physical abuse, problems with friends,
or abuse within the family.

7. The Bored Student- is the one who is truly gifted and talented academically and
needs more challenging activities in the academic setting due to advanced skills and
abilities.

8. The Complacent Learner- is the student who is content with school and how
learning is going for him or her. This student is comfortable in his or her skin and doesn't
seem to have any academic difficulties. However, the adults around him or her believe the
student could do better in school.

9. The Single-Sided Achiever- the student who has decided

only certain classes are worth his or her time and energy.
STRATEGIES FOR
UNDERACHIEVIN
G STUDENTS
Supportive strategy
It is where students may feel included and feel that they
are a part of a family. Involving students in making rules,
decision making, setting up rewards and punishments
together, discussing students’ corners and creating
activities that are based on the students’ needs and
interests, will allow them to find their competencies.
Intrinsic Strategy

Students have to be motivated intrinsically. Students

must feel the desire to achieve something academically,
without others telling them that they should. Once
students feel motivated, setting goals and working harder
in school will follow. Teachers encourage students to
attempt something and not just success.
Remedial Strategy

Every student has their own strengths and weaknesses,

and their own social, emotional, and intellectual
needs. Students are given a chance to excel in their
strengths and interests. It must be done in an
environment where students feel safe and mistakes are
considered a part of learning.
The 5 Cs

Some students may find learning boring. The 5

C’s are (a) control over what they learn, (b)
choice of what they learn, (c) challenge the
students to do what they are not used to, and
(d) complexity in what they learn, do not make
things too easy.
Focus of strength

Teachers have to focus on the strengths of the

students, and the students must also
acknowledge their strengths. Creating
challenging and a variety of activities will give
students an opportunity to make use of their
strengths and improve their performance.
5 COMMON STEPS TO GET
STUDENTS EXCITED
ABOUT LEARNING
Encourage Students
Students look to teachers for approval and positive
reinforcement and are more likely to be enthusiastic about
learning if they feel their work is recognized and valued.
You should encourage open communication and free
thinking with your students to make them feel important.
Get Them Involved
One way to encourage students and teach them responsibility is to
get them involved in the classroom. Make participating fun by giving
each student a job to do. Give students the responsibility of tidying
up or decorating the classroom. Make students work in groups and
assign each a task or role. Giving students a sense of ownership
allows them to feel accomplished and encourages active participation
in class.
Offer Incentives
Setting expectations and making reasonable demands encourages students to
participate, but sometimes students need an extra push in the right direction.
Offering students small incentives makes learning fun and motivates students to
push themselves. Incentives can range from small to large giving a special
privilege to an exemplary student, to a class pizza party if the average test score
rises. Rewards give students a sense of accomplishment and encourage them to
work with a goal in mind.
Get Creative
Avoid monotony by changing around the structure of your class. Teach through
games and discussions instead of lectures, encourage students to debate and
enrich the subject matter with visual aids, like colorful charts, diagrams and
videos. You can even show a movie that effectively illustrates a topic or theme.
Your physical classroom should never be boring: use posters, models, student
projects and seasonal themes to decorate your classroom, and create a warm,
stimulating environment.
Draw Connections to Real Life

“When will I ever need this?” This question, too often

heard in the classroom, indicates that a student is not
engaged. If a student does not believe that what they’re
learning is important, they won’t want to learn, so it’s
important to demonstrate how the subject relates to them.
Student success and failure depend on
teachers, parents, and the student. When
these partnerships form with the school
and home, positive change is more likely
to occur for the underachiever (Voegeli,
2008).
Case No. 1
An 8-year-old student has been having a hard time learning and has
been underachieving, her teacher has expressed her concern about her
recent performance in class. She does not participate in classroom
activities, fails to submit her homework and her grades have been
constantly dropping; she also tends to put her head down on her desk.
She does not have any problem at home nor does she have problems
with her peers.
Case No. 2
An 11-year-old boy has started the new school year, he has
always had difficulty in language and reading. He is also very
silent in class and does not participate much. However, his
previous teachers all just said that he should just try harder and
study more. His new teacher then notices his behavior and
referred him to the guidance counselor. He is later diagnosed
with dyslexia.