"Two powerful and related motivators for engagement are student interest and student choice (pg. 52)." One challenge to a teacher is linking the content area to the student's life in order to make learning engaging and interesting. At the high school level, content is much less generalized so finding practical life situations that students will encounter is often even more difficult. So how can we as teachers meet the goals outlined on page 53 which are to match school and student desires, connect learning, bridge familiar with unfamiliar, and motivate? The author suggests being flexible and allowing students to look into areas they find interesting will help encourage motivation. Some ways to draw student interest are interest stations, specialty teams, real-life applications, and new ways of presentation.
Of the ways to draw on student interest the heading "New Forms of Expression" really stuck out as appropriate for WCHS because of all the resources the school has been blessed with. Netbooks and other technologies provide ample opportunities to explore new methods of expression. However, with any new method it is important to have a solid structure (pg. 57) so student success can be maintained. The tendency of students is to look on the surface of research rather than inside so assessment must be carefully designed to make sure students are meeting education goals and truly building knowledge to apply it to a new way of expression.
How do you currently draw upon your students interests? Has reading this section provided any insights into how you could change your classroom?
What are the challenges of DI based on interest? Give one way you can think of to help mitigate this challenge?
Of the strategies mentioned on pages 58-59 have you used any of them in your classroom? What are some of your reflections on the activity you used? If you have not used one of the mentioned strategies, how would you use one of them (or an adaptation of them) in your classroom?
In my classroom I try to find what the students are interested in and incorporate some of this into my curriculum. Sometimes combining what a teenager is interested into history can be problematic, but I try to bridge what was going on then to connections in todays life. I like the point on pg 54 where it talks about creating new interests by being passionate about the topic would really be key.
ReplyDeleteOne of the bigger problems would be I think to keep a structured timeline and keep things moving as well as students following a rubric for a lot of things. I think allowing the students input on this can be very beneficial and make them feel much more involved.
I really like the idea of the webquest especially since every student has a netbook with internet access. Being able to navigate the internet and find information is going to be invaluable as they mature and grow both in school and in the workforce. As well as the negotiated criteria where students give input to develop isntruction. I have used this and it helps at the end of a project when a student asks about a grade I can show they had input and they agreed to the rubric and helped develop it which gives them more of a voice and makes them feel more included.
I try to use as many "real-life applications" as possible. We might read a book from the 1930s but we try very hard to apply it to the 21st century. I try to utitilize art, music, etc. into English - we recently created political cartoons (based off historical info. in our reading unit of our textbook). The kids had some strong opinions about many issues and they often feel think their voices are not heard today. Keep thinks CURRENT to help promote interest is my ideas.
ReplyDeleteSoon, students will be writing research papers and no two students will have the same topic. This will require I-search. Those who want to know will find out and they should want to know since they choose their topic.
Issac- it sounds like you have some good ideas on how to plan with differentiating instruction. We are lucky to be at a school where every student has a netbook. How could you use a webquest? Would you let them choose a topic? Or would you give everyone the same? How do you plan to modify your instruction for learning readiness?
ReplyDeleteApril- I love the idea of political cartoons! That would be a lot of fun to do! If only I could figure out how to use more creative stuff like that in Chemistry. It sounds like to you differentiate best by learning profile by making things relevent to the students interests.