When teaching children how to read and write they can become very discouraged, so it is our job as teachers to motivate them to continue on through this learning journey. Throughout this chapter I found many wonderful ideas on how to get the children excited and motivated to learn. First of which is giving them the opportunity to make choices on what they read and write about. When doing this us as teachers still have a hold on the situation, but the children in turn have the opportunity to pick something that is in their area of interest so that the learning process will be more fun for them. Giving children choices makes them feel like they are in control and not only gives them the feeling that they have some sort of freedom, but that they also can be in control of their educational journey. When I was in elementary school we were always provided with a paper/pencil assignment where we are given a writing prompt and let loose to write a paper. While that gave us a tiny bit of freedom we still had very strict guidelines to stick to, which was frustrating as a child. Were you given reading and writing choices or freedom when you were in elementary school?
The next motivational items that teachers can utilize are computers. Digital teaching is becoming more prevalent in todays classrooms, and are used in many different areas of learning. Children are surrounded by electronics on a daily basis and most genuinely enjoy the use of it, so why wouldn't you use it as a motivation? Nowadays most schools have iPads that the children can use for learning instruction, games, and even just plain reading. As it mentions in the text, electronic books can motivate the children with stories that move with animations that also is read aloud to them so that their attention is kept on the text. It also mentions that they are embedded with skills like K-W-L that keep the children thinking about the story structure and format. As a child, my school didn't have a lot of money so the technology provided to us was minimal. Did your schools provide different electronic learning experiences? Have you worked in a classroom where technology was used frequently?
This chapter provides so many ways to get children motivated and how to create a motivation rich environment. I didn't realize how important it was to give children a choice on so many different things through their journey. Us as teachers have to realize that not only the way we teach the children is important but also the environment as well. After reading this chapter I will be planning out my literacy centers very carefully along with the rest of my classroom to keep my kids motivated about learning.
I have always been a big supporter of choice in the classroom. I did a research paper last semester on homework, and I found out that if children are given choices in the assignments they must do, they are more likely to complete the assignment. With literacy instruction, choice not only motivates, but it also allows children to explore there interests so interest in reading is increased. I do like the idea of using technology for motivation, and I do think we should use it often. But, as my science professor cautioned, we should not use technology just to use technology. Technology needs to be integrated into lessons in order to enhance the learning experience. My past teachers often used technology, but endless power points and projected word documents doesn't always enhance learning.
ReplyDeleteHi Laura! In my elementary school we were given free library time each week in order to pick out any genre that we wanted to get familiar with and picked out any book that caught our eye. I remember how much our whole class enjoyed the freedom and how motivated it made us to continue this reading journey that we had going on in our classroom. My classroom provided minimal technology experiences and mostly everything was done in a traditional way. I have found that this has made me less technologically savvy and I know I am going to make technology training a priority in my classroom. I have worked in classrooms before where technology is used frequently and while this requires more time, I think it is more beneficial to the children’s learning . I agree, I didn’t realize how important and how many different ways that you can use to motivate your students until this chapter.
ReplyDeleteDid your schools provide different electronic learning experiences? Have you worked in a classroom where technology was used frequently?
ReplyDeleteThe only electronic learning experiences happened in the library, and they weren't helpful or even fun. I see a lot of classrooms today that are really getting into iPads and SmartBoards and all of that, but honestly I think it can be distracting sometimes. As long as it is used during the right time and the children have limits set on them, they can be used for motivation. Like having your students create a mini-movie on a story they read or (depending on age) create an app about a book they've learned about. Many opportunities come about through technology that we can't forget about.
Hello, Laura! Great post! I think letting students have lots of choices in the classroom is extremely important. Children need to start building upon their decision-making skills. This can range anywhere from what color crayon they want to color with, to what story they would like to read. In my school, we did not have many electronic learning experiences. Everything was pretty hands on, old fashioned, paper and pencil, etc. Including technology into my lesson plans is something that I struggle with, however I am begging to feel more comfortable with it. There are several apps that students can use to motivate them to read more, and even have choices of how they want to hear the story (such as pictures, words, auditory). Great post!
ReplyDeleteI think that having as many choices available in a classroom is a great idea. I also like limiting these choices so that the students get choices but any choice made still leads to my objective. In my school we did not have a lot of technology and as such I have very few learning experiences with technology. The most technology I used was a computer to take Accelerated Reading tests. In my teaching experience I have used many apps to control and enhance lessons. Instead of having students write a persuasive essay I had my students write a script to a commercial for a random classroom object the students then paired up and using an iPad actually filmed their commercial. They loved it and many wrote longer scripts than I asked for and some even wrote multiple scripts.
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