``````````okay third times a charm right?~
Once again I will try this blog post without it being deleted and sent off to a faraway land that cannot ever be recovered!
I was asked to complete this blog to add to my first motivation blog as there were some details missing.
I was asked how and what is intrinsic motivation...intrinsic motivation must come from within the student.It means that some of my students will not be satisfied with a simple thumbs up good job approach but will need some other type of motivation to keep them working.
The assignment has to tap into a general interest of the student in order to motivate him/her. I understand there are many things that can hinder a students ability to become intrinsically motivated, but with these following ideas I hope to be able to reach all my students. Some of these factors that may hinder this could be beliefs, values and what they attribute success to. It could be possible they are taught that to be educated means to be a respected person in the community and has nothing to do with education as we may believe.
In addition to the previous notes I feel that by having an understanding of each of my students backgrounds before they enter the classroom will show that I am truly interested in their education, by making home visits and explaining my expectations to families will show families as well that I expect their student to succeed in my class.
I will speak to the students the first day and let them know why it is important to get grades and by modeling the tasks that I expect my students to follow and by giving the students options in their work, I hope to develop their sense of intrinsic motivation.
In making the students have a choice in their work I mean that I would have different assignments that all meet the same requirements, but the student would feel that he/she did it their own way giving them a strong sense of pride in their own work.
I believe that first and foremost each and every student must feel that you genuinely care for them and that you want them to succeed. Making student aware that you care and value and respect their opinions is the first step to get your students intrinsically motivated. If your students are feeling comfortable in the classroom they will want to please you and that will result in getting tasks done that are asked of them. Making them feel good about their work, by having others take notice of the students work will make the student feel appreciated and recognized. Many times this is all the student wants is to be known that they are there.
I believe that by having my students work in groups as stated in my first blog I am creating a sense of community and by arranging the seats in this manner students cooperation level will rise,through cooperation students will learn valuable interpersonal skills and a sense of accomplishment when they are helping their peers. By understanding that each of my students bring valuable resources and experiences to the classroom each student will have a sense of value and want to please the teacher.
Creating ice breaking activities the first day to get all of my students acquainted with each other on a more personal level will help bring a sense of community within our classroom. My curriculum will be in line with standards but I will try and think out of the box to make the lessons more relevant to my students daily lives with the same end goal in mind.
I believe with these examples of creating a positive classroom climate, building good relationships, giving rewards sporadically, and incentives that the class has came up with together will create an overall positive climate and students will become intrinsically motivated.
Friday, December 10, 2010
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Standardized Tests Yay vs Nay
Standardized testing has been the norm for many school districts across the nation and it may be time to ask when we get into the classroom is this the right approach for our students. When I think of standardized testing I think of the typical (here in Iowa) ITBS that is given once a year to third grade students and up, and the grueling week of testing. I think of the rallies and treats as well as the breaks that were allowed during testing times and the weeks before testing when the teacher would constantly go over with us on how to correctly color in the bubble!
Throughout all this preparation I never felt like the hindsight of the prep made me do any better on the tests than what I would have normally done. Most standardized tests are long drawn out and biased in several ways, beginning with how the questions are asked. Some of the language used in the testing is confusing therefore causing students to be confused and after awhile the students just start to fill in the bubbles, skipping from A, to B to C , then to D and making various patterns so that it doesn't look to conspicuous.
I feel that while these types of tests can be useful in the means of finding exactly where our students are, because of the bias within the tests the results are not always reliable. A student may completely bomb a test but have vast knowledge of the subject matter and is not a good test taker or does not do well with the stress of test taking.
I believe that when I have my own classroom , developing ways beyond the standardized testing to assess my students will be my number one goal. knowing the benchmarks that are expected of my students by the end of the year and go from there. I understand that I will not be able to have the ideal classroom with all of my students at the same ZPD level ( no one will as this does not exist), but being able to assess my students on an individual basis so that I know where that child is and not necessarily in comparison to the rest of the class but with the end goal in mind. This way I know what each child will need to work on and tackle that one thing with each student.
An example of this would be if I was in the Kindergarten classroom and the students are to know their ABC's before going on to first grade (not a requirement as they do not do retentions) but upon doing an individual assessment with a student and I see that consistently that student is mixing the letter D with a B (which is again common) I would work with that child on this particular issue.
I believe that by assessing my students monthly on the concept that is being taught in addition to the benchmarks randomly, I will have a vast knowledge if my students are making progress or not on an individual basis which I will have a more in depth knowledge of each student to be able to share with the teacher for the following year.
One of the biggest downfalls with the standardized testing is that the teacher with the most ELL's and Sped students in the classroom is at a downfall regardless of the greatness capabilities she may have. The scores of these tests are sub categorized into four different sections, low SES, ELL, SPED, then it is even subcategorized into ethnicity. Although this may seem to give an in depth look at teach demographic in the classroom and how each student did on the tests, the results for the entire number of students are looked at in each classroom regardless of the subcategories. This is the main reason why when a child is put into a classroom before entering the class race, gender, low SES, Sped is all looked at and given an effort to give an equal balance in each class. This also compresses the teacher whn the schools are looked at in regards to making AYP and if your class is not than everyone looks at you and what you are doing wrong. (NCLB)
If we did not look at standardized tests to get information on each student we might be able to come up with a way to develop a tests that can truly let us know if our students are making progress or not. Many times in my past experience, I have had teacher come to me with concerns about "Charty's" work in the classroom and looking at tests she was doing very poorly her reading level was 2 grades below her grade level, she wasn't able to comprehend many tasks in the classrooms, but when assessed on an individual basis taking into account she just arrived in the country three years ago and can write, spell and read knowing that in her home language they don't use letters, Charty has made HUGE strides, but this was unseen in standardized testing. Was this fair to her, No but it was what it was a comparison to her classmates even though she was doing great.
Throughout all this preparation I never felt like the hindsight of the prep made me do any better on the tests than what I would have normally done. Most standardized tests are long drawn out and biased in several ways, beginning with how the questions are asked. Some of the language used in the testing is confusing therefore causing students to be confused and after awhile the students just start to fill in the bubbles, skipping from A, to B to C , then to D and making various patterns so that it doesn't look to conspicuous.
I feel that while these types of tests can be useful in the means of finding exactly where our students are, because of the bias within the tests the results are not always reliable. A student may completely bomb a test but have vast knowledge of the subject matter and is not a good test taker or does not do well with the stress of test taking.
I believe that when I have my own classroom , developing ways beyond the standardized testing to assess my students will be my number one goal. knowing the benchmarks that are expected of my students by the end of the year and go from there. I understand that I will not be able to have the ideal classroom with all of my students at the same ZPD level ( no one will as this does not exist), but being able to assess my students on an individual basis so that I know where that child is and not necessarily in comparison to the rest of the class but with the end goal in mind. This way I know what each child will need to work on and tackle that one thing with each student.
An example of this would be if I was in the Kindergarten classroom and the students are to know their ABC's before going on to first grade (not a requirement as they do not do retentions) but upon doing an individual assessment with a student and I see that consistently that student is mixing the letter D with a B (which is again common) I would work with that child on this particular issue.
I believe that by assessing my students monthly on the concept that is being taught in addition to the benchmarks randomly, I will have a vast knowledge if my students are making progress or not on an individual basis which I will have a more in depth knowledge of each student to be able to share with the teacher for the following year.
One of the biggest downfalls with the standardized testing is that the teacher with the most ELL's and Sped students in the classroom is at a downfall regardless of the greatness capabilities she may have. The scores of these tests are sub categorized into four different sections, low SES, ELL, SPED, then it is even subcategorized into ethnicity. Although this may seem to give an in depth look at teach demographic in the classroom and how each student did on the tests, the results for the entire number of students are looked at in each classroom regardless of the subcategories. This is the main reason why when a child is put into a classroom before entering the class race, gender, low SES, Sped is all looked at and given an effort to give an equal balance in each class. This also compresses the teacher whn the schools are looked at in regards to making AYP and if your class is not than everyone looks at you and what you are doing wrong. (NCLB)
If we did not look at standardized tests to get information on each student we might be able to come up with a way to develop a tests that can truly let us know if our students are making progress or not. Many times in my past experience, I have had teacher come to me with concerns about "Charty's" work in the classroom and looking at tests she was doing very poorly her reading level was 2 grades below her grade level, she wasn't able to comprehend many tasks in the classrooms, but when assessed on an individual basis taking into account she just arrived in the country three years ago and can write, spell and read knowing that in her home language they don't use letters, Charty has made HUGE strides, but this was unseen in standardized testing. Was this fair to her, No but it was what it was a comparison to her classmates even though she was doing great.
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