Posted by Teacher Ria in Teacher's Corner | 0 Comments

Keeping an Eye out For Red Flags in Children’s School Performance

Being a teacher for so long, I have gotten used to watching out for red flags that may indicate problems or difficulties my students are having. However, when working in larger class sizes, it’s not as easy, especially when these red flags are the quiet ones that tend to remain unnoticed. The crying, hyperactive behavior and odd, repetitive and distracting actions are easily noticed but other more subtle indicators need to be watched out for.

Here are some things I feel are important to note:

1. Bathroom habits. I have a student who, everytime it is time for writing exercises, needs to go make poo-poo. At first I chalked it up to coincidence, but even when I switched around my routine, he would have to go. This can be an indicator of anxiety or an area of conflict for the child.

2. Aches and pains. Repeated complaints of stomachaches, headaches and the like can be an indicator of anxiety or distress as well. These somatic complaints may be their way of expressing these uneasy feelings.

3. Slow or incomplete work, such as writing, particularly copying from the blackboard. Sometimes I am quick to assume that my students are dilly-dallying or just getting distracted instead of working when it comes to copying time. I’ve heard a myriad of excuses from my hand hurts, I can’t see and so on and so forth. However, it is important to take these statements with a grain of salt. Just recently, a child in my class (who was notorious for working too slowly) was once again last in copying from the board. When I asked why she was taking so long, she said she couldn’t see. I initially thought she was acting up again, but the next day, I transferred her seat and was amazed to see that she finished very quickly. Apparently, she was indeed having eye problems.

4. Selective in verbal interaction. A very prevalent problem I see in my practice nowadays is selective mutism. This is an anxiety disorder in which a child refuses to talk or communicate with others. Typically, this was previously not the case. Selective Mutism can be a manifestation of stress, anxiety or even childhood depression.

These are some important red flags I watch out for. Other things that could be of note include absenteeism, low energy, lack of motivation and refusal of tasks.

As teachers we should try our best to identify these red flags. Of course an issue that may arise would be when would we be reading too much in to nothing. However, in my opinion, it’s better to play it safe and take note of these behaviors as soon as possible.