After having the opportunity to work with kids from first, second, and third grade, I realized that each group is different. Each group has its own personality, and that is why strengths and weaknesses varied from one group to another. So, I can only refer to this matter just in general terms or by providing examples of situations that I experienced.
Among the strengths I could mention students’ receptiveness to learn new material. I think that at this age students are like little sponges that absorb everything they can, so it becomes easy to present new stuff. They don´t have high expectations or demands, they just expect to have fun while learning. Kids’ honesty it is other strength. They are very sincere about what they like and dislike, so it is easier for the teacher to find out which activities are more appealing to them. Kids are also full of love, and they usually have a positive attitude about life, and this transmits a lot of good vibes and energy to the teacher to keep working harder.
Among the weaknesses I could mention the lack of organization. They tend to be disorganized. They forgot their books or notebooks at home, so they have to work in a piece of paper that they usually lost. They miss important deadlines for projects and assignments, which is also parents’ fault because they always are notified about these things. They don´t know how to prioritize, so sometimes they are finishing something from a previous class or they just don´t work during the English lessons. Other weakness that I found is that they are very messy during English lessons. Sometimes it is because they do not understand what the teacher says, so they just ignore her or wait until she gives instructions in Spanish. I think this is because they are not accustom to the foreign language, so they might feel uncomfortable or frustrated when they don´t understand. Some other weaknesses I noticed are lack of confidence, shyness, and peer pressure. Learning differences is another aspect that has a huge influence on the process of learning a foreign language. As I mentioned before, each group has its own personality. For example, teachers sometimes refer to a group as “the terrible one” to refer to the hardest group to manage because they usually misbehave, they have a lot of problems at home, or some learning difficulties; and there is also another tag for the most calm group “El facilito”. All these misconceptions are usually related to students with different learning styles. Nowadays, many students are being labeled with ADHD just because they are kids who need to release their energy in a different way, and instead of teaching with more dynamic methodologies we medicate our kids to behave as expected. This shouldn´t be like that. As teachers we should work on applying different kinds of activities to enhance learning and to promote kids freedom and creativity. Adaptations should be done for every child according to his/her particular situation.
