How rodent tutors might help kids achieve more at school

There has been great emphasis on raising academic achievement in schools.

Of course, who could argue with wanting to raise student achievement? Schools everywhere spend great amounts of money and time purchasing and running new programs to boost student performance. Instead of spending hundreds of thousands of dollars, what if we let rodents teach the kids?

As ridiculous as this sounds, and it's certainly an exaggeration, a growing amount of research is showing us that pets might just be the key for some kids to achieve more in school.

Let’s be honest, a pet is not going to teach a particular skill to a student. We still need good, engaging lessons and teachers. However, research shows an animal may increase results for some students and, often, the animal plays no role at all except for just being there.

Even better, the going rate for a guinea pig tutor these days is about $29 plus about 1/4 cup of pellets, a few veggies, and some hay each day.

Providing focus

A 2015 study found students with ADHD showed improvements in sharing, cooperation and behavior when they interacted with a living pet while learning. Reading to animals has also shown to increase reading scores in students. This is particularly true with students who struggle with reading. The students will not be embarrassed when making mistakes when reading to an animal. The same mistakes are debilitating to some when done in front of teachers or peers.

Some teachers have used stuffed animals for this purpose and that seems to have a positive impact too — but live animals have shown to be even more effective. This is probably because, while pretending to read to a living thing is fun, they know the stuffed animal isn’t really listening.

Providing a friend

Some of the highest levels of anxiety among students come when the student does not believe they have anybody that listens or cares about them.

This becomes particularly apparent as kids reach the adolescence stage. Middle school, in particular, can be quite cruel for a child that struggles to socially interact with others. The social awkwardness often leads down a spiral that causes them to check out of all aspects of life, socially and academically.

Once a student goes down this path, it is tough to bring them out of it. But can animals help? A growing amount of research shows that they can.

Unlike humans, animals will always listen. Of course, the animals have no real idea what is being said, but they give the appearance of active listening — which is better than many friends! They won’t criticize, don’t roll their eyes, and they won’t gossip about you later.

However, do you know what they will do? They will keep all your secrets, will love you no matter what (or at least appear to), will listen to you no matter how long you dribble on with your story, and many will seem excited to interact with you no matter what. Researchers say that this is exactly what some students need. They need unconditional love and attention that they might be lacking from other parts of their lives.

It's a proven fundamental need in life and not all of us get that from other humans.

Providing engagement

You can also use your class pets more directly to provide greater meaning and engagement to lessons. Studies clearly show the biggest reason for low achievement is a lack of engagement and motivation.

Instead of having students practice math using random math problems that do not mean anything to them, students could calculate the food consumption of a certain animal. Maybe they could graph the weight or growth of their animals. Instead of writing about something a student may not be interested in, a teacher could allow students to write about one of the class pets. Most students will be more interested in that writing prompt than something generic from a textbook.

Of course, animal tutors come with some drawbacks too. A purchased tutoring program often will not poop on you desk, run away from you or require food and cleaning. Your animal tutors are a bit more needy than your typical academic tutoring program, but they are also far more appreciated by the student.

Mike Szydlowski is a science teacher and zoo facilitator at Jefferson STEAM School.

TIME FOR A POP QUIZ

How can an animal improve a student’s reading skills?

How can animals fill in the gaps for a student feeling lonely?

What are the advantages and disadvantages of having animals compared to a purchased program?

What is the biggest reason for low achievement in students? 

If feeding a guinea pig costs about 20 cents a day, how much would purchasing and taking care of a guinea pig cost after a year?

LAST WEEK'S POP QUIZ ANSWERS

What is a microclimate?

A microclimate is an area that receives significantly different weather compared to areas nearby due to some physical trait that sets the small area apart from the areas around it.

The greatest Lake Effect snows happen to the east of the Great Lakes. Which direction do you think the winds blow from most of the time in the Great Lakes?   

The winds would normally blow from the west to the east. This would allow the air to gather the greatest amount of moisture because of the shape of the lakes.

The most intense Lake Effect snows occur during the first half of the winter season. Why?

The lakes are the warmest in early winter. The warmer water would send the more moist air up into the cold air. As the winter goes on, the water temperature drops and this would send less and less moisture into the air.

In your own words, describe what is necessary for a Lake Effect snow to occur.

Cold air blows over relatively warm-water lakes to build clouds. As the clouds move onto land, they cool and condense into snowfall.

What conditions would cause Lake Effect snows to happen later in the winter? 

If the winter has been relatively warm, the lake water could still be warm enough to cause Lake Effect snows later in winter.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: How rodent tutors might help kids achieve more at school