How to help slow learners (and raise their IQ’s)

On August 9, I blogged about cognitive psychology’s new insights into the nature of intelligence - most importantly, that it is not fixed - and promised to provide information about measures to increase slow learners’ IQ and learning. Once again, I am excerpting from Dan Willingham’s book Why Don’t Students Like School? (pp142-145)

Praise Effort, Not Ability
“You want to encourage your students to think of their intelligence as under their control, and especially that they can develop their intelligence through hard work….In addition to praising effort (if appropriate), you might praise a student for persistence in the face of challenges, or for taking responsibility for her work. Avoid insincere praise, however.”

Tell them That Hard Work Pays Off
“Praising process rather than ability sends the unspoken message that intelligence is under the student’s control. There is no reason not to make that message explicit as well, especially as children approach upper elementary school. Tell your students how hard famous scientists, inventors, authors, and other ‘geniuses’ must work in order to be so smart.”

Treat Failure As a Natural Part of Learning
“If you want to increase your intelligence, you have to challenge yourself. That means taking on tasks that are a bit beyond your reach, and that means you may very well fail, at least the first time around….Try to create a classroom atmosphere in which failure, while not desirable, is neither embarrassing nor wholly negative. Failure means you’re about to learn something.”

Don’t Take Study Skills For Granted
“All students must learn new skills as homework becomes more demanding - skills of self-discipline, time management, and resourcefulness (for example, knowing what to do when they’re stumped). Students who are already behind will have that much more trouble doing work on their own at home, and they may be slower to learn these skills.”

Catching Up Is the Long-Term Goal
“It is important to be realistic about what it will take for students to catch up….If your slower students know less than your brighter students, they can’t simply work at the same pace as the bright students; doing only that, they will continue to fall behind! To catch up, the slower students must work harder than the brighter students.”

Show Students That You Have Confidence in Them
“Ask ten people you know, ‘who was the most important teacher in your life?’....People say things like ‘She made me believe in myself’ or ‘She taught me to love knowledge.’ In addition, people always tell me that their important teacher set high standards and believed that the student could meet those demands.”

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