How to Boost Lagging Students During Online Classes?

As a tutor, do you deal with lagging students during online classes? It is challenging for a slow learner to keep up with the rest of the kids while retaining concepts. We’ve got you covered with the best suggestions and solutions to boost lagging students during online classes.
With the advent of Covid-19, digital learning has become the century’s backbone, and online classes have played an increasingly crucial component in students’ lives since then. The unpredictable nature of the world has made tutors & students adapt to digital advances to continue teaching & learning.

It all comes down to the gush of pressure that left no option for students & tutors except online classes. Therefore, no two students can learn, excel, and thrive at the same pace. Lagging students don’t have a mental disorder, but they need gentle care, special attention, and support to learn more effectively. 
In this article, you’ll find the best solutions and suggestions for tutors to improve their approach to online classes. 

Suggestions to Boost Lagging Students During Online Classes

1. Eliminate Subject-Matter Difficulties

Online tutors can look at remedial approaches to help students hone their abilities. As a tutor, you can look for loopholes in a student’s academic skills or capacity. See what you can do to help them overcome their weaknesses or challenges in online classes. It’s a condition where you experiment with different ideas and solutions to cure the pain by experimenting with remedies.

You can utilize a variety of activities, games, and solutions to help a student reach their full potential. For example, if you see a student is lacking in math due to weak foundational basics; provide remedial attention to the kid by clearing their basics in maths and providing help where it is needed. If a student is lagging in writing skills; you can introduce them to various writing styles, grammar, and activities to help them further their writing skills. The possibilities are endless; the only limitation is your creativity or willingness to work with your students to reach their full potential.

2. Provide 1:1 Special Learning Sessions

One of the most effective suggestions for lagging students is to offer 1:1 online sessions. These sessions are beneficial as they will provide extra attention to students who need it through individualized attention and help. 1:1 sessions can also provide a medium to discuss their concerns, receive personalized feedback, and offer students the opportunity to ask questions without being judged or evaluated. Online tutors can look for various ways to help a kid improve, no matter how small the area of weakness might seem. You may create a haven for students to assist them in overcoming their limitations. 
Lagging students can benefit from 1:1 online sessions to gain confidence and develop their ability to ask questions. Students who are uncomfortable with the online environment of many students will feel more at ease and learn more effectively.

3. Collaborative Peer Mentoring

Sometimes students thrive and enhance their learning efficiency when they learn and understand concepts with their friends. Some students are too shy to reciprocate when the class is at its peak strength. An online tutor can assign a student-tutor and create small groups where youngsters can discuss, analyze, strategize, share ideas, correct each other, and make each other learn as an alternative or better solution.
Peer tutoring helps children flourish by allowing them to ask questions, develop problem-solving abilities, and gain confidence. It is a positive approach and one of the most effective suggestions to improve a student’s learning efficiency in a supportive environment. You can also pair a slow learner with a quick learner and work together to allow them to learn from one another and expand their learning capacity.

4. Bonus Learning Materials

Supplemental learning is one of the most successful suggestions for online tutors to provide children with bonus learning alternatives and methodologies. During the classes, you don’t have to substitute bonus learning with the actual learning material, but you can provide a student with extra learning incentives that will help them to focus more and worry less.
Lists of vital questions that may be asked during tests, significant themes, beneficial study material, written explanations of challenging topics, and some valuable resources to study before the exam are examples of these incentives. These bonus learning aids help lagging students fret and stress less and concentrate more on the bonus materials offered by the tutor.

5. Introduce Techniques & Suggestions for Learning

Lagging students are generally uninterested in online classes, and while they are physically there, they are emotionally and mentally disengaged. You can motivate kids to learn with receptive and active brains by asking them questions if they understood the concept; asking them if they need to understand something again, trying to be calm, generous, and patient with a child. 
Aside from that, you can advise students to take proper notes in class and try to make your lessons more informal, engaging, and informative by proceeding at a normal pace and using simple language. It can also be considered one of the most practical suggestions for tutors during online classes.

Related Article: Is Online Tutoring A Trendy Job of 2022? Let’s Find Out!

6. Be Patient & Discover Creative Methods 

When you’re dictating lessons and questions, slow learners won’t be able to keep up with higher-ability students. This circumstance may make you feel like you’ve lost control and patience with lagging students, but as a skilled tutor, you must take some unconventional ways and innovative techniques to calmly address the matter. 
You should select a balanced teaching method that does not negatively impact the academic levels of both high-ability students and slow learners. As a competent tutor, you can repeat basic concepts, incorporate engaging learning methods, and activities that will keep students engaged in the class for longer. Slow learners have a limited attention span and lose their focus, therefore you need to pay special attention to them.

7. Seek Assistance from a Co-Teacher & Parents

It can be difficult for a solo teacher to manage lagging students on their own, and online classes might add more pain to the challenge. However, every problem has a solution, and you can address it by requesting their parents accompany them during online sessions at all times, and also you can enlist the assistance of one of your co-teachers to help you manage them. 
Make sure the camera is turned on during the class so you can read a child’s body language. Parents can help them make notes for kids if they are not able to grasp concepts by themselves. You can also ask the school officials to arrange extra classes for such kids. 
As a result, parents supporting children with note-taking and learning might be one of the beneficial suggestions during online classes.

Related Article: Are Flashcards Helpful During Online Teaching? Let’s Find Out!

8. Provide Positive Feedback & Suggestions to Kids

Positive words can have a huge impact on a student’s attitude and behavior. Students who receive favorable feedback are more likely to work harder and finish homework.  It aids a student’s understanding, awareness of the significance of assignments, responsibilities, as well as enhances their self-confidence. 
Online tutors can provide positive feedback in the form of a comment, a genuine smile, or a simple nod. You can also provide positive feedback through the use of stars or smileys. It also helps a student feel acknowledged and valued. Also, If your students complete these tasks, you can give them a small prize. You can also offer a small reward if they finish these tasks depending on students’ needs.

Final Verdict

Parents and teachers must understand that two students have their unique pace of learning and grasping concepts. Comparing them or getting out of patience with lagging students will only increase their problems. Slow learning is not a disability, but such students need extra care, reassurance, positive feedback, bonus study materials, peer support, creative solutions, suggestions, tips, and patience than other students. Therefore, you can search for more creative learning aids to maximize a child’s abilities and capacities. You can also connect with PiggyRide if you’re new to online learning.
PiggyRide is a kid-friendly platform that not only delivers quality education for kids but also provides online tutors with practical suggestions & solutions to succeed in their online classes. We also create a safe environment for tutors to thrive and participate in our mission to educate children. If you’re a teaching enthusiast, connect with us today!