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Responses to Merrill
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Responses to Merrill
Wordle Response to Classroom Managment 3
When I got to high school, I remember dreading having social studies. My sophomore year, I got a teacher who really changed that for me. Instead of using a book to lecture what we would be doing each day, he would teach us by telling stories. He would always make the information easy to understand and really interesting. It made me really motivated and excited to come to class everyday to see what was going to be happening. I think this would help students be a lot more interested in class today as well. Just making things fun for students would help them increase their learning and actually be excited to learn.
ReplyDeleteI like this example, Danielle and it must have been effective because it clearly resonated with you. I assume this teacher was rather "seasoned". How could you, as a new teacher, use this technique to get student's attention and interest?
DeleteAs a new teacher, I just learned a technique in my health class that I could use at the beginning of a lesson to help students get introduced to a concept. I could provide a dialogue involving all of the students in the classroom. Everyone would get a script and read their highlighted part in the story. This would get them introduced into a subject and help them remember things easier.
DeleteIn elementary we had spelling cards. Inside there would be listed each week and that's where we recorded our scores (how many we missed) after they were checked. If we got them all correct we received a sticker to put on our cards. After so many stickers we received rewards. I think this technique is really effective. It gives the students a chance to be in charge of their own work and receiving stickers was a good thing and makes kids work hard.
ReplyDeleteI agree and think that this is effective for motivation for students. I think that knowing that they are receiving something special from the work that they are doing would really help them want to push to do better. They do not have to rely on anyone else and they know that they can keep pushing themselves to keep getting those rewards and keep working hard.
DeleteIn my kindergarten class we would get something in a jar, like a noodle or cotton ball, for each time as a class we did something well or we were all listening to instructions. This made us all want to listen and follow the directions (most of the time) because we knew that when we filled the jar we would get something special. Usually it was a movie day or extra time at recess and it usually worked for us as young kids. I do not think it would work well in a classroom with older children, but for younger elementary students I think it would motivate them to stay on task and pay attention.
ReplyDeleteI agree this would be more effective for younger elementary rather than the older children. The younger ones are more motivated by filling the jar for extra recess and it doesn't matter what they are filling it with! Great example Brenda! This also fits in with my spelling card I talked about. Gives the kids motivation and to work for something and in your case working together to achieve the reward!!
DeleteThe one strategy I remember the most was a "Star Chart". When we did something above the teacher's expectations, we would get to put a star next to our name. Whoever would have the most stars at the end of a certain time period would get to choose a prize out of the "treasure chest". This worked really well for us because we were rewarded by choosing a sticker we liked to put on the chart. It was sort of made into a game because we would always guess as to who would have the most stickers.
ReplyDeleteI don't think this strategy would be as effective with upper elementary students because they are seeming to mature much faster these days.
I agree that it might not be as effective. I also think that having children see who is a the most stars and who doesn't could bring students down and hurt their self esteem. But it also might motivate children to behave, so they start to receive stars like their classmates.
DeleteIn my level I classroom (1st grade), the teacher did something like that, but with punch cards. When the students got ten punches, they got to pick something out of a treasure chest. This worked really well for the students and they were really excited when they got to pick something out. I think one problem with it though was that some students were further behind with the punches so they felt bad when others got to pick things out of the treasure chest.
DeleteI like the idea of punch cards better than the idea of the “Star Chart.” I think the punch card would work more effectively because it is not in front of the classroom for all the students to see. I believe having the “Star Chart” up in the room would be motivational for some but also cause conflict between the students. With the punch cards, it is more private and the students would only know how many punched they had personally; they would not be able to compare theirs to someone else’s. I think it is a good idea to reward students for their good work and does help keep them motivated. I think this motivational strategy would be most useful for elementary students but I did have a high school history teacher who did something like this. With the correct modifications it could be possible for a strategy like this to be used among all the grade levels.
DeleteI like the idea of the punch cards better than the "Star Chart" because the punch cards would be much more discreet and wouldn't hurt childrens' feelings as easily. The only way I could see it effecting other students is if the students were able to keep the cards in their possession and they showed the other kids. Thinking of this, I would keep the cards in order to avoid any conflict. I think this strategy would work much more effectively than the chart, even in upper elementary and middle school. This strategy doesn't seem like a "childish" motivator for older students, because with other students, the reward could be something geared more toward their grade level. They could earn a few extra credit points on an assignment, instead of choosing something out of the treasure chest.
DeleteIn fourth grade, we had to do multiplication and division holy cards. If we could fill out the card correctly and with the amount of time given, we would receive a piece of candy. This gave all the students incentive to work on our multiplication and division, so we would get candy. In a classroom now, I do not think this is a very effective or fair way to motivate students. Some students may know their multiplication and division, but may not be able to finish in the time given.
ReplyDeleteTimed tests are so bad! Speed comes with time and practice. Also, with the very health conscious times almost any food is frowned on in the class. I do see how motivation is important but there are many other ways.
DeleteI think you make a good point! Every student thinks differently and some students take more time than others to work out math problems. I also think that this method of motivation might not have long-term effectiveness because the students are solely extrinsically motivated. The teacher might also run into problems if not all of the students like candy.
DeleteWe had group project. They teach many things such as a review of the subject-or research skills, they also teach social skills. They do have to be done right. The students shouldn't pick partners themselves and you have to find groups that work well together. the way you grade should also be taken into account. One slacker should not affect the other students grade. over all if you have enough experience use this, but if not, I wouldn't
ReplyDeleteLooking back on my education, there were different strategies and techniques teachers used to help motivate the students. A common one that was used in many of my classes, from what I remember was receiving free time if we behaved well while the teacher was presenting the lesson and got all of our work done, we were able to have an extra recess or free time in the room on Fridays. Some teachers did the whole class have to behave and get their work done; other teachers did it based on individuals. The students who did not get their work done had to stay in and work on homework during free time.
ReplyDeleteI thought this was a good motivational strategy when I was in school because it made me behave during the week and get all my homework done on time. I am not quite sure how I would rate this motivation strategy now-a-days. I think there are pros and cons to it. Students love free time and recess so it would motivate most students to do their work and behave. I think it would be most beneficial if it was based off of individuals and not a whole class because then students might verbally attack the students who were acting out and didn’t finish their work on time. I think this could be modified and effective in all grades. It is rewarding students for their hard work and effort throughout the week.
I also remember getting extra recesses for behaving and being on task in elementary school. I agree with you that there could be pros and cons with it. Every student benefits from fresh air and being able to play outside. On the flip side, providing an extra recess or free time takes away from precious time in the classroom. I think that this is a good motivational technique when used in moderation. I don't think that this should be the only technique that is being used in the classroom. The motivational techniques should be changed around so the kids can experience a variety of motivational techniques.
DeleteThroughout my school career, my teachers used a variety of motivation techniques in the classroom. One of them that I remember specifically is a marble jar. This was used in a lower grade like 1st or 2nd grade. The teacher would keep a jar on her desk and if the whole class was quiet or was on task we would get to put a marble in the jar. We would get a marble for other various positive things that we would do as a class. Once the jar was full, we got an extra recess, an ice cream party, a trip to the park, a pajama day, or another reward that we voted on as a class. Once we got the reward, the jar would be emptied and started again. I think that this was a positive motivation technique to use because it helped us be on task and following directions knowing that we could possibly get a marble for it. We also didn't get a marble every time we did something good, so it wasn't always expected and it kept us on our toes. Knowing that we got to have a say in the reward also helped us want to get marbles.
ReplyDeleteIt think that this would be a good strategy to use in the classroom. It would have to be in the lower grades because it wouldn't be a huge deal for the older grades. It gives students a long term goal to reach for since it takes a while to get the whole jar full with marbles. It is nice to reward the students for the good behavior with something that they want to do, so I think it is a good idea to have the students vote for what they want as a reward.
I had a similar experience with this in elementary school with a sticker chart. I agree that it kept us (the students) making long term goals and we wanted the reward!
DeleteWhen I was in elementary school, my teachers often used programs with incentives for reading that motivated students by awarded them with prizes if they reach the goals set for them. I think it would be effective in schools today, but I also think that the prizes would have to be altered in order to still appeal to students.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was in high school a technique that my teachers used to motivate us was through reason. My Spanish teacher motivated us to learn Spanish by explaining the benefits and reasons why we should learn Spanish. She also used a lot of authentic material and made the class more realistic.
ReplyDeleteErica,
ReplyDeleteDo you think these methods, of making real-world connections to the learning, would be effective in classrooms?
I have experienced motivation in a variety of ways in the classroom throughout my school career. One that sticks out to me is a method sort of like Kelsey's marble jar. Our teacher kept track of the class's behavior on a board and we would get a sticker every time we behaved well or were on track. Once the sticker chart got full we were rewarded with extended recess or snacks. I think this was an effective method to keep us motivated and to have long term goals.
ReplyDelete