Southern Nevada Regional Professional Development Program Motivating Students to Learn

Transcription

1 Southern Nevada Regional Professional Development Program Motivating Students to Learn Saralyn Lasley RPDP Secondary Literacy Regional Trainer

2 Workshop Outcomes Identify and classify motivators in personal life Understand the psychological needs that affect motivation Examine the differences between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation Understand and apply teaching strategies that motivate students to learn Teachers open the door, but you must enter by yourself. ~~Chinese proverb~~

3

4 Think and Write. Write about a time when you were motivated to learn something. What did you learn to do? Why did you learn it? What motivated you?

5 Small Group..to Whole Group On a white board or large chart paper, small groups compile a list of motivating factors for their group Small groups share lists with whole group Whole group: What motivates us?

6 A Little Bit of Research B.F. Skinner Traditionally schools operate on reward/punishment Use stimulus-response, behavior modification or assertive discipline Based on the belief that human behavior results from environmental factors If it weren t for the reward, what we are teaching you would not be worth learning.

7 Internal Control Theory William Powers, 1990 s Young children don t need to be rewarded to learn At any age rewards are less effective than intrinsic motivation for promoting learning Rewards for learning undermine intrinsic motivation

8 If the learner is doing the task to get the reward, it will be understood, on some level, that the task is inherently undesirable. Forget the use of rewards Make school meaningful, relevant, and fun. Then you won t have to bribe students. ~~ Eric Jensen, 1995~~ What happens outside of us has a lot to do with what we choose to do, but the outside event does not cause our behavior. What we get, and all we ever get, from the outside is information; how we choose to act on that information is up to us. ~~ William Glasser, 1990~~

9 Think About it From your experience, which of the following statements are true or false? True False Statement I teach at least one student who is not motivated. I know that I can motivate the students in my class. There are students in my class that I simply cannot motivate.

10 Myth One: The student just is not motivated: All students are motivated you just have to figure out what motivates them. Myth Two: You can motivate someone: You can motivate someone to perform a particular action (like a trained seal) through rewards and punishments, but this form of motivation won t last.

11 Myth Three: You cannot motivate someone: This goes back to number one. It s a matter of finding out what motivates that student. You can establish an environment that will develop students internal motivation to learn. You have the power to positively or negatively affect student motivation. What do you think?

12 I m not saying anything that will have a huge impact on anyone s life. All I know is that I have spent much time searching for my motivation to succeed anything at all that will drive me to do my best. What I have discovered is that motivation, whatever it maybe, is absolutely not external; it comes from within. No one can provide motivation for you. It must come from your core, from your inner self. If it doesn t, then it s not motivation. ~~ 15-year old girl~~

13 We have four basic psychological needs: Belonging or connecting Power or competence Freedom Fun All behavior represents our best attempt at any moment to satisfy our needs. William Glasser, 1998

14 Remember: Behavior is always purposeful Internal control psychology asserts that all humans are motivated from the inside out. Therefore, the struggle is NOT how to motivate students to learn; it is in creating a classroom environment that focuses and attracts students intrinsic motivation to learn.

15 Back to the group- What Motivates Us? Examine the motivators your group has listed Identify/classify based on the four needs: Belonging or connecting Power or competence Freedom Fun Are your needs being met externally or internally? Why?

16 Belonging and Connecting Create a positive climate attitudes are caught, not taught Positive feedback/recognition Celebrate diversity Display student work Establish a relationship with parents Cooperative learning How a person feels about a learning situation determines the amount of attention devoted to it. ~~Eric Jensen~~

17 Praise P Personally meaningful R Respectful of the individual A Authentic I Immediate S Specific E Encouraging

18 Perception is Reality Whether you think you can or whether you think you can t, you are probably right. ~Henry Ford I m not the One You Think You Know If you could see what I can see Then you would see me differently I see from here, you see from there Perception differs everywhere I m not the one you think you know So please let that perception go. ~~Annette Breaux~~

19

20 Cooperative Learning Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much. Helen Keller Rat studies have shown: Greatest gains social interaction, play, exploration, physical and mental challenges Medium gains social Low gains isolated with toys No gains isolated, inactivity When cage conditions were changed, it took only four days for the rats brains to change.

21 Power & Competence Help students set goals that are specific, measurable and realistic Teach students to self-assess Address purpose: Why do I need to know this? How does this connect to me? Use rubrics and models as a way to communicate clear expectations Give students a voice Break down large tasks into small, manageable chunks

22 How do you encourage your students to set personal and learning goals? Individuals shape their own future by creating a mental vision and purpose for any project, large or small. They don t just live day to day with no clear purpose in mind. Stephen Covey

23 Choice and Freedom Plan lessons and assessments that incorporate all the modalities Focus on learning styles rather than student abilities Provide students with more choice and they will feel more ownership Help students see they make the choice to misbehave or not provide structures, activities, and modeling to facilitate positive choices

24 Count the Fs in the following sentence: FINISHED FILES ARE THE RE SULT OF YEARS OF SCIENTIF- IC STUDY COMBINED WITH THE EXPERIENCE OF MANY YEARS.

25 Making Learning Fun Make it fun and learning happens. Integrate elements of curiosity and novelty Use movement Use learning games Be enthusiastic Appeal to their interests Although structure and routine are critical parts of a successful classroom, students thrive off of variety

26 Schools shouldn t be a place where young people come to watch old people work! A good laugh is sunshine in a house. William Thackeray

27 Attention! The brain is not designed for continuous attention Grab their attention: Our brain retains only about 1% of the information that bombards us daily. Provide choice Attention span-1 minute for each year; stops at 20 minutes

28

29

30

31 Write a Recipe for Motivating Students A Recipe for a Successful Classroom 1 tablespoon of lecture (for auditory learners) 2 cups of small group discussion ½ cup of guided reading 1 ½ cups of hands on activities ½ cup of various activities that involve movement. Sprinkle in little by little, not all at once. 3 tablespoons of music and art, which integrate content material 2 cups of opportunity for students to decide how they will be assessed 4 ounces of graphic organizers The more you stir and allow these ingredients to bend, the more productive your recipe will be. Allow adequate time to let ideas, questions, and exploration occur before putting in the oven to brown.

32 Evaluating Student Behavior We succeed when what we do compliments student dispositions. Dale Schunk As a group, read the student descriptions and determine which of the four psychological needs is dominant. What can you do to internally motivate the student to learn?

33 Stop and Reflect Ideas that struck you Questions you still have Thoughts, connections or suggestions

34 What Does a Teacher Make? The dinner guests were sitting around the table discussing life. One man, a CEO, decided to explain the problem with education. He argued, What s a kid going to learn from someone who decided his best option in life was to become a teacher? He reminded the other dinner guests what they say about teachers: Those who can do. Those who can t teach. To corroborate, he said to another guest: You re a teacher, Susan. Be honest. What do you make? Susan, who had a reputation for honesty and frankness, replied, You want to know what I make? I make kids work harder than they ever thought they could. I can make a C+ feel like a Congressional Medal of Honor You want to know what I make? I make kids wonder. I make them question. I make them criticize. I make them apologize and mean it. I make them write. I make them read, read, read I make them show all their work in math and hide it all on their final drafts in English. I make them understand that if you have the brains, then follow your heart and if someone ever tries to judge you by what you make, you pay them no attention. You want to know what I make? I make a difference. What about you?