By VIDAMBU Sam.
In form one, most students do very well. They mostly score A, A-, B+ or B. When they reach form two term one, performance starts to decline sharply and the students starts getting C, C-, or even D at some point. This performance keeps on going down until form three end of term two. In form three term three the student's performance starts going up again but not as steadily as it was dropping. It keeps improving at a slow pace until form four term two when it stabilises.
If you are a parent and you have a student in high school then you know what I am saying. If you are a teacher, you have seen this trend.
Don't get me wrong, I understand the critics are already ready to comment and criticise. I have not said that it always happens like that to every student, I am just saying that this is mostly the graph.
Why do performance drop in form two? Many parents ask me this question, 'Mr Vidambu, my girl was doing very well in form one but when she went to form two she completely lost sense of academic direction. She performs so poorly'.
1. Sophomore.
According to Wikipedia, sophomore is a person in the second year at an educational institution usually secondary school. The term is commonly used in the United States. Etimologically, sophomore is derived from two Greek words sophos and moros. Sophos mean clever while moros mean fool. Literally, sophomore means a clever fool. In form two, students think they know everything. Now that form ones have come, they feel like they are entitled. This gets to the better part of their minds and it has a negative effect to their performance.
2. Adolescence.
For girls, adolescence starts in primary school and for boys it starts in high school. But for both, the climax of adolescence is between form two and form three. During this period, the students tend to be rude to teachers and don't want to be told anything by anyone. At home, the students become unruly at home and unmanageable at school.
3. Larvae stage.
As my Science teacher taught me in primary school many years ago, metamorphosis of a butterfly has four stages. Egg, larva, pupa then adult. Larva is the second stage and also the most destructive stage. Form two can be compared to larva stage.
Why do we have students who don't decline in performance in form two? The answer will be gotten in the statement below.
Form one should be about preparation, form two should be about consistency, form three should be about intensity and form four should be about organisation.
The students who drop in form two lack consistency. The consistency should be continuation of what was achieved in form one. As I always say, lack of consistency means lack of results.
Students should learn how to maintain focus and avoid anything that might destruct them, especially in form two class.
The work of commentaries is to comment. The work of critics is to criticize. And the work of toxic critics is to have negative views on everything.
To God Be The Glory.
By Sam VIDAMBU.
Vidambu is an Academic Mentor with over 3000 high schools in Kenya running his academic programs.
His Academic Mentorship Programs revolve around Syllabus Coverage, Syllabus Understanding Strategies, Content Mastery, Content Retention, Content Delivery, Proper Revision Techniques, Time Management Strategies, Working Timetable, Study Book, Classroom/Staffroom Intercordination, Academic Cultures, Study Habits, among other great topics.
He is a Trainer of Principals during KESSHA conferences and teachers.
He is the President of Global Student Mentorship Center, He is an author, and a Lecturer.
To Have Vidambu launch their Candidates Academic Mentorship Programs in your school and be a Class Mentor kindly call/text/whatsapp 0743480435 (Sam Vidambu).
To have Mr Vidambu mentor your son/daughter call/text/whatsapp 0743480435 (Vidambu).
If you’re not happy with your child’s results text Vidambu to help them.
He has Catch Up programs for Chemistry, Mathematics, Biology and also Languages.
He also addresses youth during youth camps. He doesn't dissapoint.
His Facebook Page is Sam Vidambu (The Previous Articles By Him Are Found On His Facebook Page).
Kindly Forward This Article To Whatsapp Groups of the Teachers, Guidance and Counselling Teachers, Parents and All The Principals you know.
To Be Added To His Whatsapp Group Full of Principals and Teachers To Receive His Mentorship First Before Anyone Else Kindly Whatsapp His Number (0743480435).
You Are Blessed.