Fears of students come in many degrees. All students think differently. They face challenges of learning and being different. Thus, their fear leads to stress and anxiety. More than likely their biggest fear is one of failure. As students lack self-confidence, failure leads to a stoppage in further classroom work. This leads to a cycle that the students can’t stop.
Social skills can be a problem for some students. They may fear various social situations. Also, they fear group interactions. Thus, they are afraid to say something wrong that causes others to laugh.
Another fear students have is competition within the classroom. Students notice they can not keep up with others as they work and complete assignments. Therefore, they feel that they are stupid.
Young students fear leaving their families. They are afraid their family will not be there when they get home.
Older students fear acceptance. They want to make friends and have their friends accept them. Students need to ‘fit in’. Teens worry their friends won’t consider them to be cool or fun.
Fears and Thinking Differently
Many students think differently. They are usually referred to as daydreamers, right-brained students, and even labeled as lazy or scatter-brained. They are students that usually have to deal with various fears. Also, they are gifted and talented students. Various strategies help students with fears and who learn differently.
- Provide wait time to give students time to think.
- Brainstorm ideas.
- Spaced practice for tests. Teach students not to wait until the night before. They need to space their study time into chunks over some time.
- Think-pair-share is a good way to help students remember previously learned content.
- Elaboration on content. Ask open-ended questions about the material to be tested and answer with details.
- Students need time to process information. Interleaving is a good method as students study.
- Provide concrete examples. Some students need a picture or a reference.
Students face many unpredictable and uncertain circumstances. Some strategies help students to manage these uncertainties. Thus, teachers and parents can teach them to cope.
