Campus Connect| UNDERSTANDING THE SLOW LEARNERS AND HOW TO HELP THEM LEARN - By @solexybaba

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Hello to everyone in this great community known as CampusConnect I welcome you all to a great weekend alongside a wonderful lesson that has been brought to you all by me. you all may be wondering why in school, there are what we called grades after the semester exams and these grades are given to all students according to their performance in school. also some of us, on our journey of skill acquisition, sure have come across certain individuals who are mostly called senior apprentices in our various workshops or business place as the case may be. have you ever wondered why certain students score higher than others, or why certain apprentice knowns more than others. this is what I want to unravel for you all. I have tagged the lesson understanding the three categories of learners in other to educate us all on the fact in we get to notice other individuals doing so well than others. so sit tight and relax as I unravel this lesson for us all.

In as much as we want to understand the three categories of learners, it is expedient that we know what the word learning entails and also some factors that facilitate learning processes.

WHAT IS LEARNING?

Learning can be seen as a process whereby knowledge is accumulated. it is a gradual scenario where an individual gets an idea about doing a particular thing. virtually everything that we all know how to do today is an act of learning, we come here all day to blog, as a result of what we have learned so far. the ongoing tutorials in this community are a product of something been learned and the cat in which that person comes to teach us and we also come to know what that thing is all about is an aspect of learning processes.

But we can not learn anything without some processes, different factors facilitate what we called learning. there are some undoubtful features in the learning processes whereby if not included, then learning will not take place. a few of these processes are as follows.

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LEARNING THROUGH OBSERVATION

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Learning takes place when the individuals you are teaching are good observant. they tend to focus on you vividly and what you do. when the learners placed their focus on you then it tells us that they are observing closely what you are trying to inculcate in them.

Take, for instance, we are having a biological practical, and all the students are expected to pay attention. at that moment you get to see a close observation from the student in other to understand what the teacher is trying to explain in the laboratory. we also get to see this in workshops, where the boss will be constructing a table or chair as the case may be, and as an apprentice, it is expected that you pay absolute concentration to what your boss is trying to make.

This is a concept in learning, observation is a factor that enhances the learning process, with the observation of both the students and the apprentice, there is fast accommodation of the things that have been observed. with observation, one can learn a thing easily and very fast. that is why whenever a teacher is tutoring, he or she often asks the student to concentrate and observe, this is for the student to understand what the teacher is saying by observing the illustration given by the teacher or boss as the case may be.

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LEARNING THROUGH IMITATION

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This is also a part of the learning processes, Imitation is grate factor that speeds up the learning processes. it is also seen as learning by doing. after observation, the imitation process then surfaces. we all are students, when we are talking about high school, we all can relate that we have been given things to do in certain schools which we have attended individually. a scenario whereby the teacher calls out a student to execute a practical after she has finished running hers. at that point, the student now imitates the teacher, following the teacher's methods and steps used to carry out that practical.

Also, we get to see such a scenario where an apprentice imitates their boss's method of constructing things after they must have observed him doing that particular thing before, in fact, in the case of apprenticeship, one is expected that he does his thing just as perfect as his boss normally do it. and we get to see a lot of apprentices trying to imitate their boss's methods of making certain things in the workshop.

This is what imitation entails, doing things just the way the tutor does it. so for learning to take place, there must be a way of imitating the teacher by doing certain things the teacher does since the teacher is now seen as the superior and so one is expected to do things just the way the teacher does.

In the case of helping your siblings or children out in regards to their home assessment, You must have heard your younger siblings or children, telling you the way their teacher does things and in fact, they may go against your methods, telling you your method is not correct because that is not the method their teacher often make use of. that is what we called imitation. learners often exhibit the methods and patterns of their superiors.

Now having known what learning is all about and a few factors that speed up the learning processes, let us now return to the main topic of today. understanding the three categories of learners is very important as tutors irrespective of your various field of teaching, it is expected that you know the various categories of learners in other to get an adequate method of teaching each of the various categories.

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• FAST LEARNERS

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These are individuals that have a greater IQ, they tend to quickly understand certain things both in school and in their localities. In school, they often seat in the front seat in the classroom. fast learners are considered to be problem solvers. they are quick to solve puzzles and fast in looking for solutions. they are considered the best in the class or workshop as the case may be. they are often the tutor's favorite. they enjoy answering questions, and they are mostly quiet and calm both in social gatherings and in the classroom. they tend to focus more than talking in the class. they also tend to answer all questions correctly, they fancy competitions and engage more in quizzes and debates. they often like to prove their point and like to confirm that they are often right, and they often score the highest figure in the class assessments.

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• MODERATE LEARNERS

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These are individuals that are in between the fast learners and the slow learners. the moderate learners are individuals that are also good but not as compared to the fast learners. they tend to learn things gradually and before the end of the teaching process, they will get what the teacher is trying to say. they are either lousy or calm. most of them are seen in the middle seat in the classroom, they solve problems to an extent and mostly participate in social competitions. they often score average in class and are considered the average students in the classroom. they take little time to understand things and can manipulate things in a short while.

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• SLOW LEARNERS

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Slow learners are individual that often takes time to understand a particular thing. they tend to perform poorly in class and other places. we all can attest to the fact that even in our present institutions we have seen individuals like this before. having difficulties in understanding, assimilating, and accommodating what is been taught by the teacher.

Not just in schools, but even in various workshops just like mine, we have a slow learner in our midst. this is someone I met in the workshop, he s my senior apprentice and I respect him a lot but he is a slow learner. things I can do now, he is still finding it difficult to learn those things. and this is not his fault, it's just that he is a slow learner by default.

Slow learners are individuals that often give up whenever they are faced with certain challenges. they tend to have low morale on things they do, thinking they won't be a positive outcome when they do a thing. they also find it very hard to understand a given topic, most especially mathematics, slow learners dislike calculation because they cannot catch up on time and as such, they are majorly seen in the back seats in the class when we talk about the classroom setting, while at workshops they are often seen behind other apprentices. they often score below average in the classroom and have a very poor performance in general.

Slow learners mostly stick to themselves and are often lousy in social gatherings and class.

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HOW TO HELP A SLOW LEARNER

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This is very important, helping slow learners is very expedient and that shows how good you are in the profession. I have seen cases whereby most teachers and workshop bosses often delist slow learners in their menu. they tend not to work with them as though they consider them incompetent. they tend not to ask them questions or give them things to do or solve problems and that is very bad.

As teachers, we need to work on their readiness to learn, consider their emotional stability regarding learning processes and also boost their learning morale. until a student is sure that he/she can confide in you, he/she won't open up for learning to take place. as a teacher, you need to build that trust in your student that he or she can do better. give them positive vibes by letting them know, that if others can do it, they also can do it. make them believe in themselves by them knowing fully well that you believe in them. be optimistic about their improvement. make them your friend by drawing them close to you.

As good tutors it is expected that you pay more attention to the slow learners, give them much of your time, break all abstract information into concrete, and make all complex information simple in other for them to catch up with others. do not insult them or cast them away. draw them close and motivate them to do better show them that you care a lot and with that, we get to see a new development in the learning processes of the slow learners.

Many slow learners often want to partake in problem-solving in the class but the fear of being laughed at by other students when they eventually fail is their problem. as a teacher make sure every student is given equal rights and attitude toward learning and make sure the students don't look down on each other. when giving a task, always make a mixture of the gifted, the moderate, and the slow learners in a group. that is how to facilitate learning among students.

CONCLUSION

It is vital to figure out the slow, fast, and gifted learners in our various fields of specialization, and as such it is important to show equity among students. the issue of selecting certain individuals as your favorite should be deleted from your memory. treat all students equally with care and love, and make sure you carry all students along. do not say it is a waste of time to teach the slow learners, carry them along as well. create a student-teacher relationship with all your students and do not be sentimental.

Thank you all for your time, I hope this publication has been beneficial to you. greetings!