LISTEN UP!

Never underestimate the power of music! Adolescents hold a large stock in the music industry, greatly influencing what is in and what is out. Incorporating popular (appropriate) music into your classroom is a great way to motivate students to learn. Remember, song lyrics are also texts (TL)! Reading a novel and comparing themes to music of that era is a great way to cross reference "texts" and encourage common readings of two very different mediums.

Scenario: Live Your Life!

During our Intersession, we examined the TI/Rihanna lyrics of "Live Your Life" to explore celebrity persuasion. Each group of students was given a series of lines from the song. They had to identify the audience, propoganda technique, and emotion associated with each excerpt. Our students really enjoyed this activity; these song lyrics ended up generating a great conversation about race in music!

WHO'S THE BOSS?

This is one of the hardest things for any educator to do: let students have control of the classroom. Being the authority figure in a classroom every minute of every day is exhausting. Allowing students to lead discussions, influence activities, and edit assignment guidelines helps adolescents develop a “stake” in their learning. When they are responsible for the direction of the course, student tend to be better drivers during class. Small changes in classroom practices can result in large changes in student motivation (TL):

• Allow students to develop test questions. Make sure students understand this responsibility: If they are going to present ridiculous questions (What is the name of the main character in this book?), then you will incorporate these types of questions on the test (How many lower case letters are on the cover of this text?)


• Have students pick stations with different activities at each one. These activities will reach the same conclusions and meet the same standard, but will do it in different ways. This amount of choice is more motivational than “assigning” tasks, and helps to embrace the multiple intelligences of your students.


• Students could be responsible for their own grade in the course. If they want a “C”, they do “X”. If they desire a “B”, they do “Y”. And to earn an “A”, they do “Z”. This responsibility helps students assess the amount of work they are willing to do in the course, and generates known expectations between teacher and student

Students appreciate levels of autonomy in the classroom. Little changes to common classroom tasks can help to encourage and motivate students.

PASS THE PRAISE, PLEASE

Everyone loves to hear how lovely they are! Adolescents often feel inadequate, specifically in the school settings. Reassuring them of their value and place in the classroom can generate loads of student motivation. We don't like to work for someone we don't care for; why would we want to learn from someone we don't like? Generating praise, when deserved and commendable, helps to build student self esteem and confidence within your classroom. These concepts add up to increased motivation and engagement in activities, discussions, and assignments (CE).

IS THIS THING ON?

Technology is a great tool for enticing student motivation, but it can also be a persuasive reason for educator frustration. Being aware of the technology available and knowing how to use it will eliminate a lot of technology hurdles. Additionally, many students are familiar with technology tools; don't be afraid to ask them to help you install, start, destroy, or fix using technology.

Scenario: No WWW?
This was the battle cry of the cohort when we were informed that the Internet would not be available for us at Crosswinds. We could try to battle for spots in the one computer lab, but most of us gave up a great deal of media activities because of the lack of available technology. Frustrating still was the lack of concern by Crosswinds staff for this oversight: we were promised Internet and personal laptop use, then denied it four days before our lesson plans were due. We ultimately smuggled, bartered, and sold our way into technology use at Crosswinds. The outcome of this situation: technology can motivate a great number of students, but the lack of technology can disengage an even larger number of pre-service teachers!

LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION!

Adolescents love to be the center of attention. Why not let them? Our ArtLit visitors (5441) highlighted the importance of student centered drama and community building activities. Allowing students to act out emotions and movements in a text helps them to understand and remember these concepts more vividly. This incorporation of drama also allows students to present material in an individualized, subjective way without worrying about being “right” in their interpretation (TL). Students respond well to these dramatic activities and are motivated to participate. Dramatic activities also allow an opportunity for technology integration. Taping or recording these performances will be a fun way to assess student achievement or motivate student self reflection. However, a great deal of front-loading and scaffolding is often required to ensure that students are participating correctly and effectively contributing to the overall classroom goals of these dramatic activities.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Aretha Franklin had it right... No human encounter is productive or effective without a level of respect. The classroom is no different. Every individual in the class (instructor included) should observe a level of respect for the environment. This includes people, material, and possessions. Without respect, students do not feel safe. This safety can be directly linked to student motivation. Specifically in classroom discussions, students need to be respected and respectful. This exchange will maximize participation and motivation during the class.

Scenario: Battle of the Balking
Our Intersession class was a Persuasion course geared towards marketing, politics, and branding. A large chunk of our time was spent on public speaking. This would have gone on without a hitch in a class of ten or fifteen students. But in a health room packed with thirty opinionated junior high students, all bets were off. Kim and I decided that part of being a good speaker was being a good listener. We made this very apparent the second day when students were required to sign a respect contract. Additionally, students were instructed that a great deal of their grade would depend on their ability to be a respectful, engaged audience member. This clear expectation helped to create an open environment for the speaker and the audience member during our eight day visit with Persuasion.

WHERE'S THE WHACHAMACALLIT?

Organization is the oil that maintains an effective classroom. Organization can also stimulate or destroy levels of student motivation. If you don't know where certain things are, don't expect your students to know! Materials used often in classroom activities (art supplies, graphic organizers, extra paper, stapler, or even turn in box) are all important tools for teacher and student use.

Scenario: Oops, my bad!

During a single lesson, Tyler had misplaced copies of the circle maps, lost two sets of markers for student use, and forgot where he set down his jump drive. He played the scenario off with a great sense of humor, but the lack of organization offered students breaks in the lesson and encouraged distractions. When the materials were found, it became difficult to motivate students back into the lesson and encourage them to complete their activities.

I CHOSE...

When picking class texts, it's important to remember that not all students are little clones of yourself. As appealing as this thought may be, each student operates with different reading levels and interests. Allowing students to chose from two or three texts maintains a classroom reading theme and discussion while motivating students to follow their interests (CE). Consider some of the following trends in adolescent literature:

• Graphic Novels have emerged as a key tool to encourage struggling and reluctant readers. Offering one of these texts would help motivate these students to read and contribute during classroom discussion.


• Twilight: do I even need to explain how huge this is right now? Silent reading is a great time to encourage reading of this trendy novel.


• Book series have always been popular. While Nancy Drew may be buried at the local library, other series emerge constantly to generate student motivation towards reading.

Allowing students to chose reading material, based upon interest, is an effective motivating tool. There will be plenty of opportunity for teacher-generated reading material; let your students run free for awhile and see what they pick up!

WHERE AM I?

Classroom environment is a key factor associated with student motivation. Think about these different environments:


Bars- have free salty treats (popcorn or peanuts) to encourage drink purchases

Casinos- always cold to prevent exhaustion

Dentist office- daunting poster on the ceiling to prevent concentration on the sharp tools

Each of these environments have carefully generated an environment condusive to success. Why should our classrooms be any different? Subtle tricks can transform a boring traditional classroom into an environment created by the students, for the students (5441):

• Desks in patterns beyond the traditional row design encourage open discussion and participation.


• Plants sound like a corny addition, but can certainly make the classroom less dark and impersonal.


• Mood lighting, beyond the trendy fluorescent issued lights, can calm students and generate relaxation.


• Rotating bulletin boards can maintain student attention during class periods.

Each of these suggestions are small classroom alterations that generate large levels of student motivation.

I LIKE TO MOVE IT, MOVE IT!

Human beings were not designed to sit in metal contraptions for seven hours a day. As hunters and gatherers, we survived based on movement and observation. Today's people are no different. Students lose motivation when movement is squandered. Encouraging students to get out of their seats and move around the classroom is necessary to engage and motivate quality learning. Examples of movement activities discussed during this semester (5441) include:

• Round Robin discussion formats


• Jigsaw Activities


• ArtsLit Community Builders

Beyond encouraging these activities, educators can empower students to monitor their own movements. In Tyler's class, the “take a break” system seems to work pretty well. When students find themselves checking out, they are encouraged to get up and move around the back of the classroom. “Taking a break” helps to stimulate attention and results in increased motivation for classroom activities. Whether self induced or teacher directed, movement is a cost effective investment towards motivating students.

GROUP WHA?

“Group” has become the new “F” word in the educational field. Many students fear the consequences of these activities: members they don't like, responsibilities they can't complete, and free loaders lurking in the shadows. If done correctly, a great deal of motivation can be linked to group work (5441):

• Group assignments often limit the amount of work assigned to one person during one assignment.


• Many group projects include multimedia options: iMovie, PowerPoint, and Inspiration are often used as options during these types of projects.


• Letting each student pick a partner, followed by teacher generated groups of four or six can help eliminate some of the social hurdles associated with group work.


• Students can be given a time to reflect upon the overall success of their group; during this assignment free loaders can be called out anonymously by group members without fearing the social repercussions.

Above all, educators must stress the importance of individual accountability during group work. Students should be given group assignments, with individual assignments as follow up. Activities may include a personal reflection or a description of the project. This will maintain a degree of individual responsibility while furthering cooperative learning (TL).

DRUM ROLL, PLEASE!

Grades can be a tremendous motivating factor for some students. However, the amount of student emphasis placed upon these “letters” depends on the amount of importance an educator links to these grades. The two scenarios below highlight the different levels of motivation grades can have, depending upon the emphasis of the educator.

Scenario One: Why am I doing this?
In Tyler Livingston's class, students were asked to fill out Reading and Metacognitive Inventories. Each of us in the cohort created individualized inventories for the students in our group. Previous to splitting into groups, Tyler assured his class that these inventories would not be counted towards their grade; the students were merely “helping out the U of M kids”. Kelly and Michael (my two students) quickly became frustrated with the quantity of questions on the inventories:
“Why are we doing this?” (Kelly)
“This doesn't count for our grade, so can I just fill in any answer?” (Michael)
Kelly and Michael quickly realized this assignment would not affect their grade, making it “obsolete” in their eyes. No additional scaffolding had been provided to fill this gap, so the students came to the following conclusion: If they weren't being graded on the activity, why were they wasting time completing it?

Scenario Two: This matters?
During Intersession, students were under the impression no grades would be awarded. Our class made this apparent the second day:
“Why do we have this packet? We aren't being graded!”

"It's only a few days and we're on break!"
Kim and I worked quickly to squander this assumption. Students were informed that despite popular opinion, grades were being submitted the last day of Intersession. If particular students continued to get poor grades during these Intersession courses, it could influence their future Intersession eligibility. Many students quickly got the message: If they wanted to do the crime and hang out with their friends during Intersession, they needed to do the time and complete activities in our class.

PURPOSE OF THIS BLOG

This blog is intended to communicate my personal experiences this semester. Each blog entry represents an area of education linked directly to student motivation. Within these blogs, you will find references to course texts:

Beach, R. et al. (2006). Teaching Literature to Adolescents. Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum Assoc. Labeled (TL) in blog references.

Appleman, D. (2000). Critical Encounters in High School English: Teaching Literary Theory to Adolescents. Columbia University: Teachers College. Labeled (CE) in blog references.

These blog entries also include quotes, personal reflections, and experiences unique to the Crosswinds practicum:

Livingston, T. Crosswinds English Teacher. Observed September to November 2008.

References are also made to discussions during our course this semester:

Dockter, J. (2008). CI 5441 Teaching Literature. University of Minnesota. Fall Semester. Labeled (5441) in blog references.

Relax, read, and be ready to motivate!