Helping Students Who Need More Processing Time

I carefully observed a few of my students this year in an attempt to understand how their brains work and how they learn so that I can help them do better in school. And that’s a wonderful thing to do—adapt your teaching to help your students more. At our school, we especially try to do this for students who struggle a bit.

And what I have noticed with several students who struggle is this: they are intelligent and very able to learn, but their processing times are different. Specifically the ones who struggle. They just take longer to grasp and understand a concept. While they are usually able to function fairly well and keep up with the rest of the class, they usually aren’t the straight-A students. So, how can we help them?

1.  Slow down. Just teach a little slower. Pausing slightly between steps in concepts (especially math and English) gives them time to think and comprehend better.

2. Repeat. I’ve noticed that I may have to reteach concepts repeatedly to certain students, but that this pays off. Eventually they do remember. Try to lead them the right direction the third or fourth time, and just ask questions after that. They will usually begin to “connect the dots.”

3. Use different words or pictures. Often, the names of the concepts are confusing to some students. Rather than just say, “cross multiply and divide,” draw an arrow from the bottom number on the left to the top number on the right and then circle the number by which you will divide. I’ve had students that were totally confused (at first, especially) by the terms “relative pronouns” and “subordinating conjunctions.” Yet, these same students could easily find the “deer antlers” (We “spot” deer—the relative pronouns and subordinating conjunctions—circle them and draw antlers on them) and diagram them like nobody’s business.

4. Teach only one concept at a time. We had one student who repeatedly was making the same mistakes. We figured out that she could comprehend where to put capitals, or where to put an “a” or an “an,” but struggled to do both concepts in the same sentence. Her wise teacher told her to do the “a’s” and “an’s” first, and then to go back and check to see which ones needed capitals.

By taking these simple steps—slowing down, repeating, using different words or pictures, and focusing on just one concept at a time—we can greatly assist our students who are capable of doing the work but just need a little more processing time. And kudos to the teachers who make the effort to do this and help their students even more!

Photo by Mike van den Bos on Unsplash