To listen to the podcast click on the link below, then go to the second podcast titled: Motivating Young Adolescents and click on the listen button to the left.
http://www.nmsa.org/Publications/TodaysMiddleLevelEducator/tabid/1409/Default.aspx
Wow! This is a great podcast! Just like they say in the podcast, motivating students is a struggle for all teachers: novice to seasoned. We have all experienced students who were unmotivated, and unwilling to participate. How we deal with these situations will not only improve our students motivation, but the overall experience in our classroom. The podcast is a discussion between Jack Berckemeyer and Kim Campbell, where they talk about the various issues of why kids are unmotivated and how we can help improve motivation in our classroom. Some of the simple ways to motivate kids involve making the material relevant, involving movement into our lessons, providing a safe environment, and incorporating technology. All of these are characteristics of This We Believe, and should be part of our daily curriculum in the middle school.
For me, the most important characteristic from This We Believe discussed in the podcast was building meaningful relationships. Jack and Kim discuss how scary this concept can be for some teachers. They identify some great ways to develop relationships, which will also help to increase motivation. Kim refers to a study that was done asking students if they worked harder for some teachers versus others. Almost all of the kids answered "Yes", and the reason was because they felt like the teacher cared about them. This speaks volumes to how important those relationships are. This podcast is full of so many great discussions, I just can't speak to them all! Please take the time to listen, as I think it will be worth your while. Enjoy!
Loved this podcast! It doevtails really nicely with what our textbook has been saying about being student-focused and caring about affective development. The podcast I found underneath it dealt with a lot of the same themes, like motivating students and building positive relationships. One of the obstacles for me, though, has been the attitudes of some of the veteran teachers, who can be more authoritarian in their student-teacher relationships. One such teacher walked in on me while I was sitting on the floor with a student who was upset about something that had happened in P.E., and he made fun of me for the rest of the year. It made me really self-conscious, I feel like they're judging me.
ReplyDeleteI also loved this. I really enjoyed the conversation. I want to touch what you said your entry. It's all about building meaningful relationships. Relationships period have always been important to me-regardless of who with. I will brag about myself just for a minute, and say that I worked EXTREMELY hard this year as a first year teacher on establishing and maintaing a very positive and appropriate relationship with EACH child in my classroom. Man, was it hard. However, I did it, and I saw the results of that every single day. Jack and Kim did discuss how some teachers are just so scared of this, and gave great examples on ways to 'crawl out of that holoe as a teacher.' Kids sense things just like adults do- and they know when that teacher cares about them. I know I worked harder for those teachers who I knew wanted me to succeed and do good. I still remember those teachers, and keep in contact with several of them.
ReplyDeleteGreat podcast, Sunny.
I hate to hear that Amanda! I think we just have to know that we are doing what is best for our students, and that is all that matters. Kudos to you for trying to comfort that student!
ReplyDeleteAs Lindsey pointed out it really is about forming those relationships, and getting to know your students. I totally agree that I worked much harder for teachers that I liked, or classes that were "more fun" than others. It's human nature, and I think we do it as adults to some extent. If we like our boss we won't mind going above and beyond, or staying late to work on a project. If we have a boss who is not so wonderful we will probably hit the door running at 5pm, or whenever our day is done. We don't have to be their friend, but we must show that respect and understanding of who they are as a person.
True, Sunny. I think it was in my podcast (which touched on some of the same themes as yours), the speaker said that kids are human beings as well as students, and we have to give respect to get respect. It kind of goes beyond "This We Believe"'s educators valuing adolescents to educator's valuing human beings.
ReplyDeleteSome of the practical ways of motivating students such as cooperative learning, technology, various teaching methods (stay away from lectures), and making the subject relevant are great for MS students but I think they are universal for all students. All these things mentioned lined right up with everything in the reading. The above topics have been mentioned so many times in the reading. I also like the question about been emotionally unstable. That was funny but may be a good idea.
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