First T2P of the day: Teachers must take responsibility for creating a positive and moral learning environment in their class
If a teacher wants to encourage good citizenship, social control, and ethical behavior in students, then the teacher must conscientiously monitor his or her own behavior and create a classroom in which these values are a priority, because students will observe and develop competency in the behaviors a teacher chooses to model and value. Judy Yero suggests that teachers create an environment through their actions, thoughts and words that greatly affect whether a student will feel valued and safe in the classroom. Further, David Hansen theorizes that teachers can and should strive to create a classroom in which life is as close to fair as possible. As an example, do I describe my classroom as a zoo (which usually suggests a negative, chaotic connotation) or a beehive (which usually has a positive, productive connotation)? Do I spend time teaching how to efficiently distribute and collect papers in the classroom in order to demonstrate that the classroom values organization and efficiency? Do I demonstrate by my words and actions that I respect myself, my students, and my classroom? As a society we want our citizens to take turns, treat each other with consideration, be supportive instead of judgmental, and make a personal commitment to life-long learning. As a teacher, I must model the behaviors I want to foster in my students. I must demonstrate fairness, rationality, respect for the classroom, appreciation for diversity, honesty (in a polite and respectful manner), flexibility, and even punctuality if I want my students to value these characteristics.
Second T2P of the day: Self-Determination Theory - Vicki Davis
If I want students to engage in the curricula, then incorporating self-direction is effective because then the motivation to learn is intrinsic instead of extrinsic to my learners. The keystone to Self-Determination Theory (SDT) is that students are intrinsically motivated to learn and thrive best when presented with an environment that fosters autonomy (freedom to make your own decisions), competency (freedom to master a skill), and relatedness (freedom to make connections with other people). Vicki Davis is a teacher in Georgia who is an exemplar of a teacher using SDT in her curriculum to foster autonomy and competence. She is committed to the theory that every student can learn and teach when empowered to do so. She expects her students to direct their learning. Her faith in their intrinsic motivation to learn and succeed is justified by the students' choices for activities: they are communication based, include internet literacy and critical thinking, and lead naturally to collaboration.
Vicki's classroom provides an exemplar of SDT. According to SDT, when autonomy, competence and relatedness exist in a learning environment, the results are enhanced performance, persistence, and creativity. In her classroom, the students are free to chose topics of interest (within Ms. Davis' guidelines). Students are expected to be able to "teach" the teacher and the rest of the class about their project when finished. By giving the students the opportunity to be teachers, the natural consequence is that: competence is developed; a connection is made to the material that fosters introspection, self-awareness, and self-reflection; and a connection is made to other students. The students share their information and themselves in a safe environment. They learn to explore what is important to them and get positive feedback from others for their ideas and interests. In cases where projects are global, the opportunity naturally exists to form a connection with people of other cultures, nations, and socio-economics.
In conclusion, in the video we watched of her classroom Ms. Davis made several pedagogical statements that resonated with me:
Hypothesis: if/then/because
Instructional Event
Theory
Evidence
Moral/Ethical Values
Pedagogical Terms
3rd T2P of the day: Self-Determination Theory with Daniel Pink
In this week's videos, Daniel Pink presented studies confirming that incentives and other external motivators (think grades) can result in a negative impact on performance. In contrast, great performance and high achievement is achieved when one is "intrinsically motivated" in a project. He promotes the idea that intrinsic motivation, the desire to do something because it matters and is important, is tightly connected to three factors: autonomy (the urge to direct our own lives), mastery (the desire to get better at something that matters), and purpose (the need to do what we do in the service of something larger than ourselves). In business, this means paying people fairly (so money is no longer an issue) and allowing them autonomy over their time in order to pursue personally-interesting aspects of their profession. When this theory has been employed in business, it has been tremendously successful, leading to technological advances and fixes that would not have otherwise been generated. Daniel Pink applies SDT to business in a similar way that Ms. Davis applies SDT to the classroom. Based on Daniel Pink's presentation (and as a philosophical cohort of Ms. Davis), if a teacher wants to encourage intrinsic motivation in students to learn, then curricula must include projects that provide opportunities for autonomy, mastery, and purpose because science confirms that this is how one increases a person's engagement and productivity.
Link to my Learning Theories Spreadsheet.
If a teacher wants to encourage good citizenship, social control, and ethical behavior in students, then the teacher must conscientiously monitor his or her own behavior and create a classroom in which these values are a priority, because students will observe and develop competency in the behaviors a teacher chooses to model and value. Judy Yero suggests that teachers create an environment through their actions, thoughts and words that greatly affect whether a student will feel valued and safe in the classroom. Further, David Hansen theorizes that teachers can and should strive to create a classroom in which life is as close to fair as possible. As an example, do I describe my classroom as a zoo (which usually suggests a negative, chaotic connotation) or a beehive (which usually has a positive, productive connotation)? Do I spend time teaching how to efficiently distribute and collect papers in the classroom in order to demonstrate that the classroom values organization and efficiency? Do I demonstrate by my words and actions that I respect myself, my students, and my classroom? As a society we want our citizens to take turns, treat each other with consideration, be supportive instead of judgmental, and make a personal commitment to life-long learning. As a teacher, I must model the behaviors I want to foster in my students. I must demonstrate fairness, rationality, respect for the classroom, appreciation for diversity, honesty (in a polite and respectful manner), flexibility, and even punctuality if I want my students to value these characteristics.
Second T2P of the day: Self-Determination Theory - Vicki Davis
If I want students to engage in the curricula, then incorporating self-direction is effective because then the motivation to learn is intrinsic instead of extrinsic to my learners. The keystone to Self-Determination Theory (SDT) is that students are intrinsically motivated to learn and thrive best when presented with an environment that fosters autonomy (freedom to make your own decisions), competency (freedom to master a skill), and relatedness (freedom to make connections with other people). Vicki Davis is a teacher in Georgia who is an exemplar of a teacher using SDT in her curriculum to foster autonomy and competence. She is committed to the theory that every student can learn and teach when empowered to do so. She expects her students to direct their learning. Her faith in their intrinsic motivation to learn and succeed is justified by the students' choices for activities: they are communication based, include internet literacy and critical thinking, and lead naturally to collaboration.
Vicki's classroom provides an exemplar of SDT. According to SDT, when autonomy, competence and relatedness exist in a learning environment, the results are enhanced performance, persistence, and creativity. In her classroom, the students are free to chose topics of interest (within Ms. Davis' guidelines). Students are expected to be able to "teach" the teacher and the rest of the class about their project when finished. By giving the students the opportunity to be teachers, the natural consequence is that: competence is developed; a connection is made to the material that fosters introspection, self-awareness, and self-reflection; and a connection is made to other students. The students share their information and themselves in a safe environment. They learn to explore what is important to them and get positive feedback from others for their ideas and interests. In cases where projects are global, the opportunity naturally exists to form a connection with people of other cultures, nations, and socio-economics.
In conclusion, in the video we watched of her classroom Ms. Davis made several pedagogical statements that resonated with me:
- Students are intrinsically motivated and capable of success if provided with a classroom environment that allows them opportunities to make decisions for themselves about what they will learn.
- By choosing a topic of study that interests them, students will more likely be motivated to develop competence in their field of study.
- Allowing students to collaborate and teach others about their interests will additionally motivate the students toward competency and will naturally foster relatedness on several levels: towards collaborating members in their group; towards the students they share with (e.g., teach); and towards any cooperative entities that they worked with (e.g., students, groups or organizations in other places that helped complete the project).
Hypothesis: if/then/because
Instructional Event
Theory
Evidence
Moral/Ethical Values
Pedagogical Terms
3rd T2P of the day: Self-Determination Theory with Daniel Pink
In this week's videos, Daniel Pink presented studies confirming that incentives and other external motivators (think grades) can result in a negative impact on performance. In contrast, great performance and high achievement is achieved when one is "intrinsically motivated" in a project. He promotes the idea that intrinsic motivation, the desire to do something because it matters and is important, is tightly connected to three factors: autonomy (the urge to direct our own lives), mastery (the desire to get better at something that matters), and purpose (the need to do what we do in the service of something larger than ourselves). In business, this means paying people fairly (so money is no longer an issue) and allowing them autonomy over their time in order to pursue personally-interesting aspects of their profession. When this theory has been employed in business, it has been tremendously successful, leading to technological advances and fixes that would not have otherwise been generated. Daniel Pink applies SDT to business in a similar way that Ms. Davis applies SDT to the classroom. Based on Daniel Pink's presentation (and as a philosophical cohort of Ms. Davis), if a teacher wants to encourage intrinsic motivation in students to learn, then curricula must include projects that provide opportunities for autonomy, mastery, and purpose because science confirms that this is how one increases a person's engagement and productivity.
Link to my Learning Theories Spreadsheet.
Sue,
ReplyDeleteLooking good here. It appears that the exercises we did in class w/ the labeling really helped advance your ability to articulate and demonstrate you content knowledge.
Keep up the great work!
GNA
Thank you very much for your comments. Good instruction and direction!
ReplyDeleteCheers