There
are many facets and different aspects of a student’s life that can impact how
they perceive and interpret literacy. This idea was seen through this week’s
readings and class activities such as creating an avatar of a potential
student. The avatar activity really got me thinking about how educators can
completely change a student’s experience with literacy or just school in
general simply by knowing some background information about them. Recognizing
students as people and not just another youth in your classroom opens up many
doors and opportunities for educators such as lesson differentiation and
learning how to motivate a student most effectively.
Hopefully one of the end goals for
educators is to create an environment where their classroom and students are
both self sufficient and motivated. The key to this is to make the students
believe that they have a choice in the matter. I can remember so many times
during my teenage years when I would purposely do the opposite of what an
authority figure told to do simply because they said it. Rebelling and going
against the rules was exciting. It made me feel like I somehow had power over
the situation. I know my students will be no different than I was. So giving
them a choice is imperative. Now some will argue that students need structure
and discipline because they are not capable of making good use of this “choice”.
I would respond that if students are invested in the outcome of the choice and
have pride in their ability to make it then they would become self motivated. The
excellent resource of knowing students as people and individuals will come in
handy here because you can ensure student investment by differentiating lessons
and concepts to relate to something the student already cares about. Basically
if an educator can get a student to care about a subject or topic then they
will become self motivated to learn more not only in school but on their own as
well.
I agree that everyone likes having choices. Choices help us feel like we have control over a situation, which is optimal regardless of what age a person might be. If students are used to the same old monotonous routine, unless there is some variation or choice, students will eventually become disengaged. You brought up the idea of students also needing structure, which is also important at the high school level. Choices should be appropriate based on whatever grade a teacher is teaching. One of the easiest ways of implementing choice saying, "You all decide what you'd like to do today." If the class is generally engaged, they will be able to call out various activities or games you have played in the past that they can do or play with the new topic at hand. If a classroom isn't like that, then giving them various choices on what to do allows them to pick what activities they enjoy best, along with feeling like they have a sense of control.
ReplyDeleteI love how your cartoon went perfectly with your blog! I agree that its important for teachers to look at our students as individuals with unique identities, experiences, interests, and motivations. The avatar activity was a great way of thinking of the vast array of experiences and differences that can affect how our students perform in the classroom. Getting to know our students on an individualized level will allow us to teach our students to be self-motivated and pick appropriate choices both in and outside of school. Modeling and allowing our students to make their own choices in the classroom would be a great way of getting to know our students level of motivation while encouraging them to take control of their education.
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