Growth Mindset and Motivation TIPR

One of the ways that I saw Growth Mindset encouraged in the class right away was a quote written on the board.  It said something along the lines that a small change is far greater than no change.  I feel like this was encouraging students to keep going, even if they think it's hard.  For the motivation, I haven't been able to see anything either of the times I came to do observations, so I just went up to the teachers and asked them.  They told me that one of the first things they try to do is create a relationship with the students.  Mrs. S told me that a lot of times they'll do what they're meant to as to not disappoint her, which is an extrinsic reward.  They told me that building a relationship takes time though, so having a good reputation helps get a jump start on that.  They also told me that having genuine enthusiasm helps motivate the students as well.  This applies to their interests and is an intrinsic motivation.  I saw that first hand.  I came into the lesson, saw that it was about Hamlet and was immediately disinterested.  I'm not a big fan of Shakespeare.  But due to Mr. D's enthusiasm by the end of the class I wanted to read Hamlet for myself.

One of things that I saw was that during lectures, both teachers were actively taking in input and asking questions.  I was especially impressed with the way Mr. D would take unrelated comments from the students, comment on them, and get the students back on track without much interruption.  I think this is way to keep students engaged, because the tangents are short but they tend to be interesting.  However, on the day I came in to observe the first class I observed was just watching Hamlet.  She gave some context ahead of time and told them things to look for, but just in general I don't think that movies are very engaging.

The teachers build respect and rapport with their teachers by trying to get to know the students.  Mr. D had me sit at his desk, so during student presentations he would sit at different student desks and say "I'm ______, now."  One of the students he imitated as he sat down.  I don't know the student, but I got the impression that was the sort of jest that both that student and the class enjoyed.  So, he not only knew his students well enough to know where they typically sat (though they don't have a seating chart) in that class but their personalities well enough that he knew who would take his joking well.

One thing that I've noticed, that I feel like I need to address in that class, is they sit there for a very long time.  Now, typically they are doing a little bit more than me, but I always feel myself getting slightly bored just sitting there for so long.  And I've seen the students start to get restless as well.  If possible I'd like to vary things when I teach my lesson so they aren't just sitting there the entire time.

Defining Intelligence

The way that I would define intelligence is that intelligence is the use of knowledge to solve problems, socialize, and find understanding.  To me, it is found in many different aspects of life and in many different ways.  I understand that some students are generally more gifted, but everyone has intelligence and can develop intelligence.

This will impact the way I treat my students, because I will try to come into my classroom with optimism and avoid the belief that certain students "can not."  Everyone can develop and further their intelligence from the most gifted to the least gifted and to not help both would be wrong.  Furthermore, I will look for student strengths in order to better utilize talents and bring in assets.  Students can be a huge asset to each other and talents should be recognized and utilized.

Metacognition TIPR

My field work placement has me observing two teachers.  So, for all blog posts I will be referring to both teachers.  One as Mrs. S and one as Mr. D.  One thing I noticed right away in Mrs. S's class is that the students are encouraged to highlight and write notes in their text.  This is a form of procedural metacognition, giving them tools so that they can learn how to take notes and get things from their notes.  I wasn't there when this would have been described to them.  In Mr. D's class, he gave them a project to work on in class.  He told them who was in their groups and sent them to go work.  There wasn't any instruction past that.

However, this seemed to be just fine.  I watched for the metacognition needs of the students, and was surprised.  I believe they might have done this type of project before, because they got right to work and worked without any problems.  I went to three different groups and all three were working well with no problems.  They all knew what they were meant to do and were working really well together.  One of the groups that I went to, by the time I got there, had already been done for a few minutes.  I imagine this is due to Mr. D's previous instruction.  In addition, I didn't see any needs in Mrs. S's class either.

When I teach my lesson, I'll keep in mind the metacognition tasks that I've already seen the teachers employ.  I'll try to stay on course of what their teachers have already taught them so that the needs that have already been fulfilled can continue to be fulfilled.