THINGS TO AVOID WHEN CORRECTING STUDENTS IN READING ACTIVITIES

NORIZA P. MIRANDA

It is our job as teachers to correct our students in any academic activity that they undertake. But as teachers it should be second nature to correct them in a charitable and good-natured way.

While most teachers correct their students directly and blatantly, there are things to consider so as not traumatizing and even humiliating our pupils in the process. This urge to correct or jump in and help a struggling student should be motivated by love and wanting to help them learn and improve and not by frustration over the pupil’s repeated mistakes.

Sometimes corrections, when delivered at the wrong time and with the wrong motivation, can often feel like hurtful criticisms to young readers. As teachers, it can be difficult to balance when it’s appropriate to correct a student’s mispronunciation or incorrect inflection while reading. It helps to always remind ourselves as teachers that the goal is progress, not perfection because as we all now reading comes with age and pupils should be given all the consideration. What we are building is not perfection in reading but instead confidence.

As a general rule when a student is reading through a text for the first time, never interrupt them for whatever reason. Let them finish and take note of the mistakes. Let them get through it, mistakes and all. Before their second time reading through the text, discuss any unknown words or mistakes made. Then you can model the correct pronunciation for troublesome words or mistakes, but do so with a clam voice and never reprimand.

Avoid saying, “Come on, hurry up!” or “Whoa, slow down!” Fluency can be a challenging skill to master and one that will take time and practice. Pupils learn at different paces, so be patient.

Try not to say, “Stop. Reread that line correctly.” If the mistake did not interfere with the meaning, let it go and review it later rather than interrupting. This will help them focus on fluency and build confidence.

Never laugh at the pupil’s mistakes. This is the most damaging thing that you can do when teaching reading. Now, if your student laughs at their mistake, it is okay to laugh together but never laugh at your reader.

The not over-correcting strategy is especially important with new readers. In the early stages of learning to read, building confidence is often the main objective. So, try to keep the corrections and comments to a minimum. Once you have a confident reader, you can focus more on improving accuracy, fluency, and pronunciation. — oOo—

The author is Teacher I at Pio Elementary School, Porac West District