Video Highlights
2. John Seeley Brown - A new culture of learning
3. Howard Gardner - Five minds of the future
4. Sir Ken Robinson - Challenges the way we're educating our children.
5. Daniel Pink - The surprising science of motivation
In my search for common threads among these videos, I found myself metacognitively thinking about my own neurological connections and trying to make those synapses fire! Brain research is definitely a fascinating area that teachers should understand better. Two important threads that stood out to me as a teacher of struggling readers is the idea of fostering creativity by preparing students to be wrong and the importance of intrinsic motivation. These two concepts fit perfectly with my driving question of self-perception and reading achievement. Growth mindset seems to also support creativity since perseverance and making mistakes is encouraged. Philosophically I completely agree with this idea, but our educational system and my own classroom is not designed this way since student achievement is based on their quantitative scores (Reading Counts quizzes, Reading Inventory, Read 180 software grading reports) How do we teach students to want to make mistakes when those very "mistakes" on their assessments are what is keeping them in intensive reading intervention?
The other idea I found intriguing is that incentives kill creativity and don't work. More importantly they can actually cause harm. As teachers, most of us realize that extrinsic motivators should be temporary and that intrinsic motivation is the ultimate goal. How to make that happen is still a mystery to me. I especially related to Daniel Pink's concept of mastery- the desire to get better at something that matters. How do I show students, especially my "whatever" attitude 5th graders, that reading skills actually do matter and there is a real sense of urgency for them to improve? One reason students like being in my class is that I offer many different ways for them to earn rewards, but those sweeter carrots only work for some kids. How do I make this shift in my teaching so that kids truly have the desire to get better at something that matters? Any and all suggestions are welcome!!
4 Comments
Kris Drew
7/11/2016 12:24:08 am
I really like how you integrated all the videos here- your organization is impressive!
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Brendan Galvin
7/19/2016 11:14:32 am
Nice blog, fun to read. I think if it is at all possible to somewhat abandon the importance of the result of the assessment and use it as a way to learn from one's mistakes, that may help to balance the ideas of being able to make mistakes and learning from them, and assessing student's for a product. Still use the assessment, but focus more on the process, less product, if that makes sense. And also, for inspiring students to maybe bring in books you really enjoy and read them with the students from time to time; and then encourage them to do the same, or help them find a book to read for the joy of it. (If you don't already do this or if it is at all possible).
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Kristin Pruitt
7/19/2016 06:06:32 pm
Love your blog! Is that a wordle at the top? So creative. I agree with trying to get our students intrinsically motivated as well, but sometimes those carrots make a difference!!
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Autumn Duarte
7/25/2016 10:45:27 pm
I agree with the importance of encouraging students to try without the fear of failing. I think it feels very counter-intuitive for students though. I know that there are things I could do better in the classroom to encourage risk-taking an creativity, and help students unlearn the fear of making mistakes. I could offer more whole-class puzzles or brain pop games, where being wrong is ok as long as you're trying! I could emphasize the importance of trying your best and being creative, and supporting others when they make mistakes.
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Dana HandI teach Read 180 at Northwood Elementary School and I am passionate about reading (obviously!) In my "free time" I love hanging out with my 2 teenagers and taking our two dogs for long walks. Archives
March 2017
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