Classroom Management and Motivation

Proactive Classroom Management Guiding Principals

·         Before the students even come into my classroom I want to be proactive about managing my classroom. To do this, I will first have my classroom set up to limit distractions. The students will be set in traditional rows until I can judge their maturity levels and their ability to transfer concrete ideas to abstract ideas on their own or in a group setting. (DLT & SLT)  I will slowly allow my social learning in the first quarter, as we establish expectations, and eventually leave my room in groups to allow students to discuss their learning in their own words. (SLT)  This scaffolding will allow my students to slowly accept responsibility for their constructing their own learning. (CLT)

·         I will greet my students at the door each day as they enter my classroom. I believe this will help set an appropriate tone for the day and also will assist with curbing any problems before they escalate.  (My 11^th grade English teacher did this daily. Not only did it help us get to know him, but he taught us proper grammar along the way.  Never again did I respond with “I’m good when asked how I am.”)  Also, by building a rapport with my students, they will be less likely to act out. This goes along with BLT as I can learn from my students’ responses. If they choose to brush me off or avoid the greeting, this will tell me a lot about how that student is feeling and assist me with getting the involved in the day’s lesson.

Classroom Management and Motivation

·         A great way to manage one’s classroom is to be an effective teacher. If students are engaged, motivated, and involved in constructing their own learning (CLT) than they are less likely to be off task. According to John Keller, there are four steps (ARCS) for promoting and sustaining motivation in the learning process:

o   Attention- Keeping the students’ attention is vital for classroom management AND motivation. To do this, I will provide concrete examples of the content to grab my students’ attention and motivate them to learn more about it (DLT). By getting this attention, and piquing their interest, they will be more likely to later transfer their new knowledge to more abstract ideas, therefore participate in a deeper level of thinking about the concept/material.

§   Variety- I will vary my instruction to keep my students’ guessing and engaged. Whether we are discussing our new knowledge in groups amongst their peers (SLT) or using video to introduce new concepts, each lesson will be different.

§  Constructing Learning- I will pose questions and problems to my students for them to solve and work through. They will need to explain their thinking and outcome (CLT). This will keep them involved in their own learning and allow them to think about things differently as I take an opposing viewpoint to question their thinking. (Incongruity and Conflict)

o   Relevance- Building on a students’ past experience or background knowledge provides scaffolding to assist the student with accepting the new knowledge or concept into their existing schema (CLT). To do this, I will use concrete language and examples that are familiar to the students.

§  I will demonstrate for the student how the new concept/material can benefit them NOW and in their future.  Making this connection for the student is imperative to keep their attention and keep them on task. If they are interested in learning something that will benefit them in the future, they will stay motivated.

o   Confidence- Assisting the student with realizing they can succeed can go a long way. (Intrinsic Motivation) They are less likely to give up if they are able to see their effort will pay off.

§  Providing clear expectations will assist the students with confidence

§  I give constructive and selective coaching to give students positive feedback and assist with improvements.

o   Satisfaction and Rewards- I hope my lessons will be entertaining and engaging, a reward in own their right (intrinsic motivation) but I know this naïve! When they are not or simply cannot be, I will provide positive reinforcement and praise to keep the learner motivated. (BLT)

§  Providing real life examples as how the material is beneficial would help motivate the students to learn said skill (intrinsic motivation). If possible, it is even better to allow the student to demonstrate their new knowledge in a new real life setting.

§  Providing praise to the students will affect their motivation and provide necessary encouragement when a student struggles.

§  Grades are an example of extrinsic motivation each student will encounter as well. However, it will be stressed in my classroom to learn the material effectively for future application rather than for a grade.

Keller, John. "ARCS Model of Motivational Design (Keller) ." Motivational Design. Learning Theories, 2011. Web. 21 Jul 2011. <http://www.learning-theories.com/kellers-arcs-model-of-motivational-design.html>.

 Wiener , Bernard. "Attribution Theory- Weiner." Attribution Theory- Weiner. Learning Theories, 2011. Web. 21 Jul 2011. <http://www.learning-theories.com/weiners-attribution-theory.html>.

Learning Styles/Theories

Learning Styles Don’t Exist

            The video presented reasons why learning styles don’t actually exist.  The information provided almost seemed obvious.  It makes so much sense and made me question if it is just easier for people to make excuses as to why they didn’t learn something effectively.  While some people have a better visual memory than others, it doesn’t mean they ONLY learn visually. It is important to base your style of teaching on the content AND not the student’s alleged learning style because any good teacher can use any method depending on the material , and any student can learn the content if it is presented effectively.

Behaviorism—

            After reading the articles defining behaviorism, I have a lot of questions. I am not certain what I was to take away from these readings. I have ascertained behaviorism as presenting a student with material (stimuli) and rewarding the student with positive reinforcement if they give the desired response, or negative if they do not.  Doesn’t this just allow students to memorize the desired response rather than actually learn how or why they need to know it?   I can only assume this represents the status quo. I feel educators too often condition students rather than teach them.  The material is processed but the students fail to comprehend the material at a deeper level therefore they are unable to apply the concepts outside of a classroom. This goes back to teaching students concrete and abstract ideas to allow them to transfer the same concepts to other concrete ideas. They can only do this if they achieve a deep lever of understanding of the concepts.

CLT—

            The idea of constructivism resonates more than behaviorism. I appreciate the idea of students building on current knowledge and connecting it to what they already know. The article does a fantastic job of outlining the principles of learning and every teacher is affected by theory. One’s teaching methods should revolve around the principles of learning to ensure their instruction if effective.  Taking into consideration what a student already knows and building off current knowledge to introduce new concepts allows students to construct meaning and retain the new knowledge. While I appreciate the articles and the insight it gives, I am also a little overwhelmed with the ideas and principles of CLT

 I appreciate the articles but I am overwhelmed with the principles of learning. I fully understand the principles but am fearful of how I will take them into consideration to effectively teach my lessons. Practice I suppose!