Chapter Critique Savage Chapters  3 & 5

1. Basic principles of motivation

1.1. Types of motivation: extrinsic (directed by forces external to the individual) and intrinsic (directed by factors or reinforcement that come from within the individual).

1.1.1. Connection: In one class I observed the teacher paying the students with dojo dollars. I asked her what the purpose of the dojo dollars was, and she said in addition to purchasing pencils or erasers or other class supplies they may have lost or forgotten, the could buy a "donuts with teacher" pass, or a no homework pass, etc. This was an example of extrinsic motivation.

1.2. Increase the value of learning goals: it is important to consider the value of what students are to learn and how to get them to accept these goals. Threatening students that they need to learn the content to get a work grade is ineffective for most students.

1.3. Link learning to student needs and interests: students direct their time and energy toward activities that interest them or have the potential for meeting their needs. Students who feel like their needs are being met seldom cause discipline problems because interfering with something that is meeting their need is contrary to their self-interest.

1.3.1. Three types of student needs: physiological, psychological, and social.

2. Applying a model of motivation to the classroom

2.1. Relate Content to student needs and interests: what is it that students at this age generally like to do? Keep up on current pop culture trends. After beginning with broader interests, keep alert to specific interests and talents of students. Present the material so that the amount of effort is not overwhelming and all individuals believe that if they put forth the effort, they will obtain success.

2.2. Alter perceptions of required efforts by placing it in terms of cost and reward. This requires attention to the rewards associated with the task. There are several variable related to the perception of effort required to complete a task: a clear understanding of what the task requires, the complexity of the task, and estimates of the length of the task.

2.2.1. Modeling is another step in making sure that the students have a clear perception of the effort required.

2.2.2. Feedback and encouragement is important once students have engaged in the task. The feedback needs to be concrete and specific, including both affirmations and corrections.

2.3. Increase the probability of success: individuals are drawn to activities where they believe there is a high probability of success. This meets needs for competence, attention, and power.

2.3.1. Example: I went to the OC Fair, and my daughter really wanted a giant stuffed animal. I tried several games, and I was drawn to the one where you shoot water at the target because I believed there was a high probability of success. I was rewarded by winning a giant hello kitty for my daughter (competence, attention, and power needs met :)  )

3. Link between motivation and student behavior

3.1. Motivation already exists. It is the role of the teacher to discover, direct, and sustain student motivation to learn and behave appropriately.

3.2. Understanding the link between motivation and behavior may lead to the uncomfortable discovery that inappropriate student behaviors are related to: poor teaching practices, failure to make the curriculum meaningful, or a threatening classroom environment.

3.3. Begin learning how to approach motivation in the classroom by conducting some self-discovery

4. Whole-class instruction

4.1. Lesson Momentum involves keeping the lesson moving forward at a steady pace so that students don't get bored and lose focus, yet no so fast that students do not understand what is being presented. Two frequent behaviors by the teacher that break momentum are fragmentation and overdwelling.

4.2. Lesson pacing is one of the most important elements of time management. Diverse students and differentiation may make determining appropriate lesson pace difficult.

4.3. Overlapping refers to the ability to handle more than one task at a time. This is related to teacher withitness. An important element of overlapping is the judgement to identify which events nee to be handled immediately and which can be ignored.

4.4. Lesson smoothness refers to the flow of the lesson. In addition to pacing, parts of the lesson need to be thematically related so that one part of the lesson flows smoothly into the next.

4.4.1. Two dimensions of lessonmmanagement that contribute to smoothness are connected discourse (logic or connectedness of teacher talk) and creative repetition.

4.5. Group focus has several dimensions. These include gaining student attention, providing a variety of tasks and avoiding satiation, keeping individuals in the group alert and accountable, and gaining the active participation of the students, and responding to misbehavior.

5. Cooperative learning and group activities

5.1. The role of the instructional manager involves assigning students to groups, creating a responsive environment, monitoring group progress, watching for unequal participation, and mediating conflicts. The amount of planning and organization that is required prior to group work determines the success of the group.

5.2. Connection: I had the opportunity to observe a fourth grade class doing group work at rotating centers. There were five centers, and the center activities ranged from math to social studies, and teacher assisted editing of student essays. It was evident that a lot of pre-planning went into making these centers successful; the groups worked out beautifully with only minor bumps. The teacher had pre-planned transitions between groups. She used a timer up on the projector, which the "computer coordinator" student monitored well. Music would also play for a set amount of time (about two minutes) during transitions, and this alerted the students with sound as well that it was time to clean up their center and transition to the next. It was all very organized and smooth.

6. The dimensions of classroom management

6.1. Clear objectives: must provide at least one or two. This provides direct guidance for organizing the classroom, determining activities and approaches that are most likely to bring about success in accomplishing objectives, and making estimates on time you need to allocate.

6.1.1. Help a teacher keep a clear focus and are useful in keeping a lesson on track.

6.1.2. Keeping the purpose of the lesson in mind facilitates making good decisions in fast-moving and unpredictable environments.

6.1.3. Lack of clear objectives results in a lesson without cohesion and in student confusion.

6.2. Teacher clarity in verbal communication will have a profound effect on lesson success, since classrooms are usually high verbal environments. Lack of teacher clarity will lead to confusion and frustration, resulting in inappropriate student behaviors.

6.3. Giving clear directions helps students get to work quickly, avoids confusion, and prevents wasted time. Clear directions promote good lesson pacing and a smooth flow of classroom activities.

6.4. Withitness means having a high degree of awareness about what was happening in the classroom at any given time. This high sense of awareness helps teachers to respond quickly and prevent problems from escalating into something more serious.

6.4.1. "With-it" teachers can identify exactly who was involved in an inappropriate behavior, promptly identify potential problems and respond before the problem becomes more serious or spread to other students.