REWARDS

I feel that rewards are both necessary and beneficial for students in an elementary classroom.  Rewards are beneficial for everyone, for that matter.  Although we want students to be intrinsically motivated to complete tasks and meet learning goals, all learners need to be recognized for their progress and improvement.  Rewards can come in many different forms and do not have to be elaborate.

In my field experiences I have seen school-wide reward systems aimed at encouraging students to meet or exceed behavioral expectations in all parts of the school environment.  At West Lake Elementary, students are given different necklaces to wear when they exhibit positive behaviors.  I have also seen schools use ticket systems that allow students to collect enough tickets to trade in for a reward of their choice.  In many cases, these reward systems are very effective.

All reward systems will not work for every student.  Because of this, I think that it is necessary to have more individualized reward systems in the classroom for students who need extra encouragement.  Rewards should be based on the age of the students, their interests, and the set behavioral and academic expectations.  In the classroom, I feel like the best kinds of rewards are those that come frequently and let students know that they are on the right track and that you, as their teacher, are very proud of their effort and progression.  These small types of rewards and encouragements build students' confidence and help them to develop a sense of responsibility in monitoring their own behavior and learning in the classroom.

Rewards are great! But they have to meet the needs of individual students and help them take pride in their efforts and progress so that they will continue to strive to meet and exceed high expectations.

Self-efficacy

Throughout my lifetime and the multitude of experience I have had, I have developed a lot of confidence in my abilities to complete tasks and to do them well.  I have set goals for myself and been able to reach them.

That being said, this confidence in my own self-efficacy has not always been the case and has been hindered in the face of other personal characteristics, such as procrastination, and circumstances beyond my control. 

Still, in most of my life, I have set goals for myself and worked as hard as I could to achieve them.  I believe this comes from the people in my life who had faith in my abilities as well as the successes I had early in life.  In sports, I was able to succeed from an early age and continue to improve my skills in teamwork and leadership through voice and example. 

In school, I was always able to complete the tasks set in front of me.  I loved to read and write and unlike others of my classmates, those skills came more easily to me.  There were times, however, that I would fail to write a perfect paper or pass a pre-calculus test.  Even if I was discouraged in the moment, I had enough support from family, friends and teachers to hold onto a confidence in my abilities and work harder to achieve my goals.  

Things in life do not always go as planned.  I am well aware of that.  Sometimes, you have to take chances and hope for the best.  Following my graduation for UNC Chapel Hill, I was in need of a change of setting and experience.  I booked a flight and flew to Buenos Aires, Argentina for six months.  When I arrived, I had never felt so incompetent before in my life.  I could not understand the language, had no idea where I was going, and did not know a single person to help me find my way.  The entire experience of being in a new place, speaking a new language and feeling totally alone perhaps lowered my beliefs in my abilities at first.  But once I was able to successfully make friends, learn my way around the city using the subway and bus systems, and finally be able to carry on a full conversation with other people in passing, I felt like I had succeeded, regardless of all of the failures in between.  

Because of all of the experiences I have had, I know that teaching is not going to be easy.  But I also have faith in my own abilities to adapt to situations making the best of what is in front of me.  I think that we learn the most from our mistakes.  Self-efficacy is the measure of one's belief in their ability to reach their goals.  This does not mean that you do not fail.  It means that you persist through your failures, learning from the past to find success in the future.  

Bait and Hook

I have decided to let you in on my inner thought processes.  As you read this post, you will follow along with me as I think through the creation of a Hook Lesson in a unit on the structure of the United States government...

In order to get students excited about a unit on the structure of the United States Government, I have been going over several different approaches to grabbing their attention.

I have already incorporated movies, music, and theatre into other lessons for the unit.  For my opening lesson I have thought about having the students do a group activity that gets them thinking about the idea of 'checks and balances' so that they can later relate that to the structure of the US Government structure and the idea of 'separation of power.'

I want to relate the idea to science and the concepts of balance and equilibrium.  For example, in order to balance a scale, both sides have to have equal weight.  In the same way, each branch of the United States government carries the same amount of weight.  They each have powers but those powers are kept in check by the other branches so that one does not out weigh the other.

There are three branches of government.  In math we have the equilateral triangle.  All of its sides are the same length and all of its angles measure 60 degrees.  This could symbolize the equal distribution of power within the government.

I Googled these ideas.  Separation of powers, checks and balances, balances of force, triangles....and wouldn't you know it, someone has thought of an activity that incorporates these ideas.
checks and balances

I am still unsure of how I will design the lesson exactly but at least I have a place to start.  The students will be divided into three groups.  Using a rope attached at the ends and divided into three equal sections marked with different colors, students will simulate the checks and balances of government by playing a three way game of 'Tug of War.' They will see how one team has to apply the same amount of force as another in order to keep the triangle balanced.  They can then discuss the measure each branch of government may take to override the decisions of another branch or keep them in check.  They will also see how it is important that their be equal force of pull distributed throughout the triangle in order to keep its shape.  If one team lets go, the shape falls apart.  If one team pulls with greater force than the other, the shape will begin to skew and it will no longer be an equilateral triangle.
I am hoping that this lesson will be engaging and entertaining for students as well as educational.  They will simply be introduced to the idea of checks and balances through the metaphor or symbolism of a balance, an equilateral triangle, and the concept of force and motion.

There are two sides to every story...

..and often times, more than that.

My educational experience of history has been mainly guided by textbooks.  I have had teachers that have taken our engagement outside of the text to work in groups on projects of different kinds, however, all of the content has always been guided by the textbooks.  Because of this, I have found that the 'history' I have been taught is the history of the majority.  The textbooks tell us about the major players in important events.
But who has decided that the events written about in history books are the only important events that have taken place? Who has decided which events to include and which to leave out?
And then, I think its important to remember that just like any other written text, a textbook is filled with the words, ideas, and opinions of one person or group of people.  It cannot encompass all of the different perspectives and view points of any and all events in history.

I feel that this is one of the most important things that teachers can discuss with their students.  Students need to know and understand that every text should be analyzed under the context in which it was written.  Students need to know that it is ok to disagree with others or to bring different perspectives on an issue into a discussion.  In order to teach and reinforce the concept of different perspectives to my class, I will spend time discussing how any event can involve many different people and each one of those people will have their own interpretation of what took place.
In discussing perspective, I will be sure to involve the students in my classroom from all walks of life. Students with disabilities and who's native language is not English  may offer a new way of thinking about old topics.
Textbooks are a source of basic content.  In order to involve my students in critical thinking and analysis of history and culture, I will use a multitude of resources that provide many different perspectives on a particular topic.  ESL students and students with different needs will be able to use the resources that best suit their learning so that they can be a valued part of any class discussion.  Students will go beyond the textbook to look at original sources, listen to personal accounts, research topics online, read stories from the perspective of different people.
In teaching history, I would do my best to create an environment that values all traditions and perspectives.  As I teacher I would do what I can to provide information to my students that develops concepts and events through the lens of different perspectives.  Then, it is up to the students to decide what they think and how they feel.

Integrated Curriculum

An integrated curriculum is one that brings different subject matters together in meaningful and relevant ways.  It uses cooperative learning that goes beyond the textbook to relate content to real world contexts.

The only concerns I have about implementing this type of teaching is that is not necessarily parallel the types of testing that students are given.  However, I believe that using this method of teaching will help to deepen students understanding about multiple concepts related to a range of subjects.  It will take a great deal more planning at the beginning of the year but I feel that in the long run, it will help to save time in the classroom and allow students to spend more time investigating and discussing the content material with their peers.  Without structured time slots for individual subjects, content related to multiple subjects can be taught, analyzed and reviewed throughout the day.

I feel that the reason we do not see more of this type of teaching in schools is because it does not teach to the test.  Teachers are under so much pressure to have their students perform well on standardized tests that they are more inclined to teach the material for reading, writing and math, and let other subject areas fall to the wayside.

That being said, I think that there is a place for integrated curriculum in the classroom.  This type of teaching gives the time and attention to other content areas that is otherwise lost.  Teachers can still cover all the necessary math and language arts skills their students will be assessed on at the end of the year, but they will be providing meaningful experiences for their students through science, technology, and the arts.  I understand why integrated teaching has been lost in schools but I do not feel that it is something that should continue to be ignored.

If we as teachers are really trying to be the most effective we can be and set our students up for success, why not teach through engaging and relevant tasks that relate to their own lives? It may take more time and planning on our part, but I am confident that the resulting change in student learning will be well worth it.

Meaningful, Well-Planned Social Studies Lessons...

What does these look like? 

Well...
This week we have been looking at the 'backwards design' model for lesson planning.  This model focuses on three major steps: 
  1. Identifying desired results
  2. Determining acceptable evidences 
  3. Planning learning experiences and instruction accordingly

In this process, teaches will set clear learning goals and expectations.  These expectations will be formed around specific and meaningful performance tasks.  Teachers will guide their students in the inquiry of genuine issues, problems, and questions.  Through instruction, important ideas and processes will be uncovered by exploring essential questions and through the genuine applications of knowledge and skills.  Learning activities will vary to accommodate learning styles, skill sets, and interests.  Through this type of active learning, students will work to make sense of complex content.  Finally, students will be given assessments based on the specific learning goals and expectations met in performance tasks.  Throughout this process, teachers should be constantly responding to students needs and revising tasks so that all students can be successful in meeting set goals. 

(McTighe, J., Wiggings, G. The Understanding by Design Guide to Creating High-Quality Units.  Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development.)

This framework can be used to create an effective lesson plan in any subject area.  It focuses on student success through Understanding a particular concept.  

In applying this framework specifically to Social Studies it is important to look at the attributes of a dynamic and interdisciplinary lesson.  Social Studies can be related to any number of subjects and content areas ranging from English language Arts, Math, and Science to Music and theatre.  It contains functional content as well as a respect for the diverse cultures and societies around the world.  Each Social Studies lesson should help studies construct background knowledge about the world, past, present and future.  In these lessons students should develop skills in organizing data, locating specific areas, and finding directions.  Students will begin constructing core values and beliefs based on civic principles, democratic values, and the interactions between social structures like families, communities, and countries.  Using the different aspects of dynamic Social Studies, meaningful and well-planned Social Studies lessons will identify distinctive learning goals and expectations and develop appropriate performance tasks for students to seek the answers to pertinent questions and demonstrate necessary skills.