Chapter 5

The section that I found most interesting was on performance and learning goals.  This was easily comparable to the hundreds tests that I have taken in my education career where I memorized the information for that specific test and by the time I walked out of the door I couldn’t remember any of the information.   This sadly is what still happens today.  Applying what I’ve learned in my education classes I see how important it is to have student apply what they have learned into some type of project or even presentation to show what they have learned.  This for me tied into the Goldilocks section, where the idea of turning work into play appeared.  I have heard this idea many times; however, this was the first time it was actually explained and while it was used with job motivation I believe it can be applied to student motivation.

I agree with Laura’s previous post (Chapter 5) that no person can truly ever master of the art of teaching because students and the world we live in is constantly changing, therefore it is vital for the teacher to continue to change and grow throughout his/her career.  As she pointed out, technology is something new to the education world.  When I went to high school laptops and smartphones weren’t a part of the classroom, now I have yet to visit a classroom during practicum that doesn’t have both.  For teachers they must “get on the bandwagon” in some cases in order to keep up with their students. 

Chapter 5

I believe ensuring there is flow in the classroom is an important element to keep students interested in schoolwork and wanting to learn more. However, I also believe, as Amber does with ROWE, that it will be difficult to maintain flow in a classroom because the teacher will have to differentiate for each student. I know it will be a struggle to construct the perfect activity to please each student with every single lesson, but I will be able to work at this by differentiating instruction and activities to make sure all students needs are met throughout the year. As a teacher, it will be important for me to get to know students and their abilities in order to establish a consistent flow. I will have to spend an adequate amount of time planning different lessons to fit the needs of all of my students and keep the activities interesting.

Maintaining flow in my classroom will be an important part in working toward mastery. I really liked the quote that “mastery is a mindset.” I believe that no one person will ever truly master the art of teaching because there will always be room for improvement, whether it is learning a new strategy or just a different way to teach a lesson. Especially in today’s world with the amount of technology there will always be something new that a teacher can integrate into the classroom that will result in becoming a better teacher. 

Chapter 4

As Zeba and Amanda mentioned in their blog posts, a "result only work environment" (ROWE) can be a difficult strategy to implement into a lower elementary level classroom. Currently, schools and teacher are constantly under the pressure to meet the standards set by NCLB therefore, raising test scores are becoming a priority than meeting students' interests. Through my practicums in kindergarten classrooms, I have also realized how some children come from such complicated family backgrounds that they come to school without knowing how and why they need to follow directions and instructions from an adult. As a result, to some extent the students need to be disciplined and taught how to follow the curriculum and school rules.

On the other hand, I believe that teachers need practice an authoritative teaching style than an authoritarian teaching style. One possible way to enhance student motivation is to allow students to choose topics for papers and projects.  Allowing students to feel a degree of ownership in their class assignments it also prepares our students to make meaningful choices for themselves in the future.

Chapter 4

This chapter was a little frustrating for me. I agree with Zeba when it comes to the ROWE. Like Zeba claimed, with the standards and benchmarks, hitting up all interests every time is difficult. With a classroom that has twenty some students tapping into every single interest can be difficult every week. I agree with Zeba that subjects such as Math can be hard to adapt interests to. With elementary students I think having activities will keep them engaged about the information. High school can be rather difficult. Giving choices when possible is definitely ideal. When I have options for a project or paper, I spend ten times more effort on it.

The chapter revolves around autonomy, and the book makes some interesting points with regards to the subject. A group will work for efficiently when provided with a choice. Even if the choice is merely choice A vs. choice B, people want to feel like they have some control in their life. The most frustrating classes I encountered in high school were the ones that involved the teachers giving me exactly the topic I was suppose to write about.

Chapter 4

After reading this chapter I had many questions, the main one being how could a results only work environment (ROWE) work in a classroom?  With No Child Left Behind and other laws or district/government input it would be very difficult to have a curriculum planned around only student interests, as often times important skills such as math or grammar aren’t often interesting to students but essential in life.  This immediately got me thinking about how I could use “freedoms” in my classroom yet still get the results needed to be successful in my classroom and in the future. 

As I thought about it more, I began to think about my own personal learning style and how when I have the opportunity to decide what type of project or paper to write that interests me that I tend to put forth more effort and remember more of what I learned.  Now I can see how allowing more freedoms in the classroom can improve motivation and morale.   As Laura mentioned giving students a choice board for homework can give the students the “freedom” yet they are still learning the content.  Along with choice boards I can see in my future English classroom allowing students to choose the topics they would like to write about in papers, let students decide what book to read in a Lit Circle (with the teacher supplying several that meet the requirements for the unit) or letting students decide what final project they would like to do. 

Chapter 4

     As Zeba mentioned in her last post, the worst punishments received were those that were class punishments. If you didn't do anything wrong then why should you be punished? I believe this chapter on autonomy ties into this because students must be responsible for their work, actions, and decisions individually. It is necessary for students to have a sense of autonomy to keep them motivated. 

     As Pink wrote, Type I behavior emerges when people have autonomy over their task, time, technique, and team. I believe this practice can be implemented in some way each day in a classroom. Teachers can help students have a say in what they are learning by completing an interest inventory for students at the beginning of the year. The teacher could gear instruction toward students' interests throughout the year instead of randomly picking things. The only restrictions would be that content was grade appropriate, is adaptable for different levels of learning, and fits the standards and benchmarks. 

      Students could have a say in the technique used to complete work by using a choice board instead of assigning each student the same assignment. Some days, the teacher could let students pick the people they want to work with instead of assigning random groups. Time would be the hardest to give students choice with, but it could be done by giving students a choice of what they would like to do in their free time or for a center. Making autonomy an option for students would require more work from the teacher, but I believe it would result in a more positive classroom environment. 

Chapter 3

I had a hard time with this chapter trying to sort through all the different motivations.  I understood the reference to Motivation 2.0 since it was explained in the last chapter.   This reminded me of my observation, where the punishment was to the whole class rather than just the students misbehaving.  As a student who followed the rules and played “school” well, I disliked being punished for other students’ behavior and felt that this punishment didn’t do anything to motivate me but rather made me lose respect for the teacher.

Laura mentioned her concern with how to properly use rewards, which is also something I do worry about myself.  The main question Laura posed was how to use motivations that aren’t in the classroom, for example using sports as a motivation.  Looking back to my high school years I was motivated by my parents, I didn’t want to get into trouble for bad grades but in today’s society that isn’t the case.  This question is something that I too wonder about.