Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Can autonomy lead to success?

Update: I found this animated mind map of Daniel Pink presenting his ideas. "If you want engagement, self-direction is better." Daniel Pink  

    Earlier this year, I watched this Ted talk video in which business analyst Daniel Pink discusses motivation. His point is that the business world is not paying attention to the hard science behind motivation. Research, for 40 years (!) according to Pink, has consistently shown that traditional carrot-and-stick motivators do not work when the job requires complex, creative thought. Ever. So, why does the business world still operate this way?

     Recently, I read a related interview in which Pink makes the same points, but relates them specifically to the issues of education. He addresses teacher accountability and pay-for-performance, but of more interest to me are his points on student motivation. Pink says that if we want our students to engage in higher level thinking, creating products and synthesizing information, then we cannot rely on simple reward and punishment motivating systems. Sticker on your paper, anyone? A privilege for the table group that gets the highest score? This sort of "if...then..." classroom management is ubiquitous in elementary school classrooms. Pink says that this system relies on the assumption that students are inert, waiting passively for someone to come along and offer them a carrot...or a sticker...or an "A" even.

     Anyone who really believes students are naturally passive and inert, waiting for a carrot or stick to motivate them, has never seen a roomful of kindergarteners wiggling and dancing, touching and exploring anything within reach. They want to do things for themselves, make choices about how they spend their time, and actively help each other. We train much of this behavior out of them in the early years of school, when we should be encouraging it, cultivating and guiding their natural motivation to learn.



     Pink states that, in order for students to be motivated to complete complex and creative tasks, they need to driven by autonomy, a need for mastery, and a feeling of greater purpose. If the carrot and stick method is working in our classrooms, I think we need to be asking ourselves whether we are really expecting enough of our students. Are we asking them to synthesize information? to analyze relationships? evaluate opinions?

     I think we would see huge progress if we began offering our students their own version of “FedEx Days”. This concept would offer students pure freedom to choose a path, but require accountability to their peers at the end. They would be off to a slow start (because they would be un-learning years of compliance-based schooling) but things would fall into place after a few tries and I think teachers would be amazed at the results.

Autonomy >> intrinsic motivation >> engagement >> performance >> results.

Could you do this with your class? If you teach younger students, are you willing to begin teaching them how to use their freedom wisely, rather than training them to submit to authority?  Update: I found this  at coalcrackerclassroom about one teacher's experience with a "FedEx Day" project.  


Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Teachers share their Go-To books

Reading Reasons by Kelly Gallagher and O dom supremo by Paulo Coelho (Zoyla)
Also, http://paulocoelhoblog.com (Zoyla)
Teaching Adolescent Writers by Kelly Gallagher (Alicia)
(Nzinga) The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz
(Nicole) Making the Most of Small Groups by Debbie Diller
Enriching the Brain by Eric Jensen(Amber)
First Days of School by Harry Wong (Rachel)
Understanding by Design by Wiggins & McTighe, Seven Layers of Knowing by David Lazear, Best Practices by Zemelman, Daniels & Hyde (Vicki)
Classroom Instruction that Works by Marzano (Shawnna)
Literacy at the Crossroads by Regie Routman (Dr. Welsh)
Real Boys by William Pollack PhD (Connie)
Blog: http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com (Laurie)

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Hot topic: Teacher Evaluation

In one of my night classes, we read this article about evaluating teacher effectiveness. It seems like a scary process, as any self-reflection would be for most people.  I am excited, though, by the prospect of how much my teaching could improve.

The method of teacher evaluation described in this article is a process, rather than just a single multiple-choice exam.  Teachers must plan, reflect, analyze, collect data, reflect (again!) and project what they would do in the future. I am struck by the compelling nature of this process, for all participants.

Teachers must look at their own teaching more carefully than they probably ever have before. Analyzing students and student-related data before and after the lesson, the teacher finds out how much more effective a lesson can be when it is based on student needs and formative assessment results. 

The professionals who must score these teachers’ performance also learn valuable lessons about their own involvement in the process. Principals and district personnel might find trends in their schools and districts after scoring many teachers’ portfolios. These findings could guide professional development offerings. Also, in order to score, these professionals must learn about the specific needs of ELL students and SpEd inclusion students.

Teacher education programs, in evaluating their graduates as first-year teachers, find out where their weaknesses lie.  In a telescoping of the teaching process, the teachers of the teachers learn that their proces matters too….maybe more so for how many students they ultimately affect.

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Leap years

August of last year, I took a leap. I can't even describe my decision process. I just held my nose, squeezed my eyes shut, and jumped into grad school with my knees gathered to my chest in the fetal position. Of course, I'm taking my family with me, as they patiently endure my evenings of studying and classes, and my absences from the dinner table. (I'm sure my 10 year old would've learned to use the oven eventually anyway, right?)

Tuesday starts Semester Number Two.  Out of eight. When I am done, my sweet Boy will be 12 and I will be 41. My inner brat did NOT want to register for classes. My inner brat likes to look at family photos on Facebook and chat with faraway friends. She also likes to take naps and make complicated dinners from scratch. After I'd explained salary schedules to her, she was a little more cooperative.  Also, we both love exploring new ideas, though without my discipline, it seems my inner brat would be lost :)

Educational Technology.  I'm expecting to grow more comfortable with using technology in my classroom, but not only for delivering content.  I want my students to consider their laptops just as standard to learning as they do pencils, crayons, and paper.  I want the novelty to be replaced with a comfort level that allows them to explore. We'll see.

Developmental Psychology.  It's been 18 years since I've had a psych class, a psych professor, psych assignments, blah blah blah.  I want this to be interesting, engaging, not just hard work.  We'll see.

That's what's up down here in Texas.  Hope this post finds all of you well and happy.
Laurie