KINDS OF LEARNERS

Throughout the years, a lot of educators have devoted their time trying to understand and analyze student behavior. Some have been successful in trying to identify each kind that appears in the classroom. Being a teacher for 11 years, I have met thousands of students. But sometimes, when times are rough and the work becomes stressful, teaching becomes a burden. But then the passion comes in. Doing something you love makes you see the positive side of it.

One of the joys of being a teacher is knowing that you are trying to help others and that deep down, they do appreciate it - even if they act up and misbehave in class. Since I love PopCap's Plants vs. Zombies, I found out that many of my learners have something in common with the zombies. Let us now meet the different zombies, er, learners.

·      Yeti Zombies – the endangered species

They are the very few and exceptional learners who excel academically, perfects quizzes and exams, submits projects on time, leads group tasks efficiently, do all assigned tasks responsibly but are well-rounded (sing, dance or act well) and still find time to perform extra-curricular activities and have fun with friends. They gain the respect of their peers as well as their teachers.

·      Newspaper Zombies – members of the geeksquad

They are highly intelligent but don’t care about anything except books, exams and the teacher. They do not involve themselves in activities not related to studying and they seldom socialize. A number of them could either be hunch-backed (for bringing tons of books daily) or almost blind (for reading in dim light in the wee hours of the night).

·      Football Zombies – very persistent

They know that they do not possess the intelligence of the achievers, so they try to cover up for their weakness by submitting effort-laden projects, reciting in class a lot (keeping their hands raised all the time though they are unsure of their answer) and leading group works. They often belong to the achievers’ group and the ones who (most of the time) become successful in later life.

 

·      Jack-in-the-box Zombies – the class’ clowns

For a fellow student, the class clown is one cool guy, one who has a smart and funny response for everything that happens, one who wakes up the class when everyone is just about to snooze while the teacher mumbles in front and one who enjoys the attention when being reprimanded. For a teacher, the clown could be very bright or very poor, but one who continually disrupts the class, too busy clowning to finish his work or makes funny remarks to cover up poor performance and often comes to school unprepared.

·      Dancing Zombies – the celebrities

They are the dancers, the politicians, the title holders – the Ms. and Mr. blah blah. Most of them also do not excel academically in class, but redeem themselves through their efforts in participating in school programs such as pageants, fund-raising projects, the student government, intramurals and many others. Since they are always part of school activities, everyone including parents of grade school learners knows them.

·      Balloon Zombies – the daydreamers, drifters

Learners in this category are grouped into two. The drifters are those who seldom attend class, whose seats are always vacant. The daydreamers are those who are present in their seats, but the answers to their exams and their outputs or projects are often absent. Both were floating, floating on the river of nowhere, uncertain whether they will be admitted to the next level or will repeat their present level.

·      Bungee Zombies – the cheaters

These learners are very determined to pass… at all cost. They peek at their seatmate’s answers, they ask questions to the one in front or behind them, they have codes (tapping, sneezing, winking, clearing the throat, hand movements, foot movements, eye movements, etc.), they flip pages of their books using their feet, they write notes on a 3mm x 3mm paper which can be folded and hidden under their fingernails, they write on walls, their palms, their shoes, their socks. In short, they will risk their lives to be able to bungee-jump on everyone in the class just to get one teeny-weeny answer.

·      Zombie Bobsled Team – male and female groupings

They come in groups and do everything – as in everything – together. The girl group eats together during lunch, giggles together when a cute guy passes, whispers together, gossips together, brushes their hairs together, or goes to the restroom together. On the other hand, the boy group sniggers together, courts a girl together, struts in the school grounds together, laughs boisterously together, plays DotA together or shapes their hairs into Mohawk together. The learners in this category often make faces when grouped with other members of the class, claiming that they can only function successfully when working together. When I encounter one, I always send them to the counselor’s office together.

·      Gargantuar – the bully

Most bullies are big, much like Gargantuar. One look at him and you’ll be running away with your ‘tail between your legs.’ But not all bullies are big in size. They could be anyone, regardless of height, weight or even gender. Physical bullying* like pushing or punching seldom happens in school, but emotional (spreading rumors, ostracizing, provocation, making faces) or verbal (using foul languages, name-calling, extreme teasing) bullying is more common.

·      Digger Zombies – “emo,” blacksheep

Their name says it all: they wear their emotions on their sleeves. These learners are very pessimistic. They tend to lose control easily and blame it on all the hardships and sufferings they have in life. They want to be treated invisibly in class, but do lots of things to themselves that draws attention (they wear dark eyeliners and often has cuts in the arm). When ‘depressed’ they do not participate in class, do not follow what the teacher asked them to do (believing that it was all pointless) and just sit on their chairs, wanting the ground to swallow them whole.

I used to be a Football Zombie trying to be a Yeti Zombie, yet I ended up being a Newspaper Zombie, since I do not have extra talents. What kind of zombie are you?

(Eggheads, did you know that the initial planned name for the game Plants vs. Zombies is Lawn of the Dead, a pun on the title of the movie “Dawn of the Dead?”)

*Bullying is generally defined as repeated physical, verbal, sexual, or psychological attacks or intimidation by one individual who is perceived as being physically or psychologically stronger than another.