We've heard it a thousand times, "Activate your students schema", "Make it relevant to their everyday life", etc. But if we really think about it, it's not as easy as it sounds. Of course I thought, "Yep, got it; should be a breeze" but then after sitting in a 5th grade class for a couple of weeks and not seeing the students motivated to learn, I realize either it is harder than it sounds or these teachers aren't putting forth the effort to try and motivate those students.
Conley says there are three factors that influence student motivation: prior experiences with success and failure, differences in home and school values, and teacher experiences.
Prior experiences with success and failure reminds me of my own motivation for crocheting. Last summer I went to the store and stocked up on yarn and tools and a How-to book, only to find myself unable to figure it out. Once I tried and tried and never succeeded I gave up and have since been unmotivated to pick the stuff back up. This can very well apply to many students. I can totally understand why something to them that seems as a pass failure would result in lack of motivation.
With differences in home and school values, Conley talked about how some people in poverty "fear education as a way of losing their relationships with their children." I've never thought of it like that. I would think that they would be happy with their children's success, but not be able to take much credit due to having no time with their children. It is all some people can do to pay the bills and put food on the table for their children. Some may not be as fortunate to be able to sit down and read with their kids due to being at work (night shifts, double shifts, etc). Life in poverty isn't pretty.
Motivation and teacher expectations explains how teachers have an impact on a students motivation. If a teacher has high expectations for a student to do well, the student usually does. However, if a teacher is biased of a student (maybe from past tests or previous teachers experiences as the book suggest) and doesn't expect much out of them, they won't get much.
Therefore, as a rule of thumb try to make all lessons motivating to your students. Make them fun and informational at the same time! There are several ways you can do this:
- Make learning experiences relevant to students lives.
- Make your tasks for the students not too hard (you want it to be achievable) but not to easy either (we don't want students bored); find a balance.
- Be a supportive teacher.
- Build from the students schema.
- Create a positive and open learning environment for your students.
In regarding differences in home and school values, I really hate to believe that some parents would be so selfish as to look at education as Conley say they do. I think that some of the differences in home and school values stem from some of the parents' past school experiences. Some students who are lacking in school have parents who do not care because they did not do well in school themselves. I think they feel like they did not enjoy school or do well in school as a child and do not expect their children to do well in school either. Because of that, I think they don't have any confidence in their children and feel that education is a waste of time.I also think some parents do not go to parent-teacher meetings and check to see how their children are doing because they have no education themselves and cannot help their children with their assignments and homework.
ReplyDeleteWhat would be some good strategies to use to get the parents motivated to become more involved in their children's education and to get them to see that education is the most valuable thing that a child has in his/her life?
Mrs. Aydra- The fist thing that comes to mind when I think of getting parents involved is my classroom brochure I made last semester. Interesting and Informational I feel like it would be a really great tool for all teachers to use to inform parents. Also, I have my own website, and hope to be able to have a classroom website that parents could access at their leisure. Another thing I will strive for is to make the parents feel as comfortable with me as they can. I want to create an open envirnoment for both parents and students. I know from experience (with all the snobby parents at my daughters school) how a parent can sometimes feel left out or out of place. I don't want any of my students parents feeling that way. I will go that extra mile that is needed to increase parent involvement in my classroom for my students, because parental involvement plays such an important role in the students success.
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