My Student’s Journey to Academic Confidence

Is your child’s negative thinking getting in the way of their academic progress?

Do they feel like a failure or are they afraid to be wrong? I was just thinking about one of my students and wanted to share a little about his journey.

My student is in 8th grade and came here from Africa. He struggles with reading—he’s reading below grade level and also had to learn English when he arrived. Together, we’re working through nearly 300 sight words, decoding and spelling strategies, and reading comprehension. I focus on replacing what my students have lost or never learned, while also challenging them at or above their grade level.

He’s making progress, and he’s learning a lot. But sometimes his struggles make him self-conscious. To cope, he’ll avoid reading aloud, act out, or try to be the class clown.

He even misses class at times, and I work with his parents to help him stay consistent.

When he does come, he actually enjoys it and loves seeing his progress.

At times, he feels frustrated when he can’t read a word right away. When he first started, he’d sometimes lash out or put himself down, calling himself “dumb” or saying his English is “bad.” In my class, though, negative self-talk is not allowed.

We replace it with champion language! Instead, we say, “I got this!” And we encourage our peers by saying, “You got this!” I’m teaching him to use this positive language so he can feel empowered, not defeated.