More From Teacher-Motivator Ron Clark

I mentioned in a previous blog one of my favorite authors is teacher/motivtor Ron Clark.  Guess what?  His newest book was released on June 27th!  Titled The End of Molasses Classes, Clark outlines 101 strategies he and his colleagues use at the Ron Clark Academy (RCA) his school in Atlanta.  The current issue of Instructor magazine, Summer 2011 features an article on Clark's newest book.  The article excerpt's six strategies from The End of Molasses Classes.  Strategy #1- Be excellent.  Strategy #2-Create moments that will have an impact on children's lives forever.  Strategy #3-Uplift the parents and guardians who raise your childen.  Strategy #4-Make learning magical.  Strategy #5-Teach children to walk with confidence.  Strategy #6-Create lasting traditions.  The article goes on to explain Clark's rationale for each of the strategies outlined.  My favorite quote from the article:"We all know how miserable it feels to see a lack of interest in our children.  When they don't enjoy learning, we need to take drastic measures!"

Intrinsic Motivation Doesn't Exist Says OSU Professor

Ok.  Here's something interesting.  Dr. Steven Reiss, a professor of psychology at Ohio State University argues that intrinsic motivation doesn't exist.  See http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/inmotiv.htm   There is a link to the journal Behavior Analyst.

Dr. Reiss argues that a "diverse range of human motivations can't be forced into these categories of intrinsic and extrinsic motivations."  Dr. Reiss has developed and tested his own theory of motivation that says there are 16 basic desires that guide meaningful behavior.  They include power, independence, curiosity, and acceptance.  Reiss states, "Whether you agree there are 16 desires or not, there is not any way to reduce all these desires to just two types."  Reiss goes on to say that some of the problems he sees with the theories and studies connected to instrinsic motivation is that there are multiple definitions of intrinsic motivation, and that the definitions can change depending on the circumstances.  In the article Reiss also suggests that "many of these studies haven't considered the possibility that the negative effect of rewards has nothing to do with intrinsic or extrinsic motivations.  Instead, rewards may cause some people to pursue an activity less because of the negative feelings they cause, such as in performance anxiety." Finally, Reiss argues "too many studies that supposedly prove intrinsic motivation have serious flaws in logic, or too many important uncontrolled variables.  There needs to be more scientific rigor."  I agree with Reiss.  Results can always be turned around to prove the hypothesis.  I hope Reiss took that into consideration when he did his own study.

Supporting Children and Lifting Them Up

As you have probably guessed by now, I enjoy reading books about people who are passionate about learning and teaching.  One of my favorite authors regarding this subject is Ron Clark.  You probably know who he is.  He is a motivational speaker and was named the Disney Teacher of the Year in 2001.  He has been a teacher at some of the most challenging schools in the U.S.  If I recall correctly, his first teaching assignment was in North Carolina, and most recently he is teaching in Harlem, New York.  Clark's first book was called The Essential 55 which discusses the characteristics of great teachers.  In 2004 he published The Excellent 11 which discusses qualities teachers and parents use to motivate, inspire, and educate children.  In this book, Clark says "the number one thing parents and teachers can do to positively affect the lives of our children and students is to become more aware of the way we speak to them."  Clark then writes about a school he visited in Phoenix, AZ where the faculty members had been instructed to make every attempt to be positive with all the children.  They were never supposed to be negative or focus on the weaknesses of the children.  Clark goes on to describe the school as one where the children are overflowing with pride, and the teachers offer support and love.  We need to remember that children see themselves reflected in our eyes.  If we constantly say things that are negative, disrespectful or rude those connotations will become part of the child.

Extraordinary Teachers

I've been reading a book called Extraordinary Teachers by Fred Stephenson.  This book is a collection of papers that teachers have written about their teaching experiences.  In a chapter written by Loch K. Johnson, the author believes the elements of effective teaching include subject mastery, passion, rapport, listening, rigor, relevance, networking, self-improvement, enjoyment and commitment.  Of those characteristics, the one that really struck me were the comments about rapport.  Here's what Johnson said, "I once asked a friend, F.A.O. Schwarz, Jr., a successful New York trial attorney and grandson of the toy manufacturer, how he always seemed to win his cases.  Schwartz replied, 'Eye contact with the jury'.  In the classroom, nothing so improves rapport with students as eye contact.  Move around a little, ask some questions, and look into the faces of those whom you are trying to reach." Then, the best way to know you students is through informal chats that make students feel like the teacher is truly interested in them as individuals.  Johnson goes on to say that listening is an important characteristic of an effective teacher.  "Students should not be viewed merely as en empty vessel that we are supposed to fill up with information.  They become more interested in what we have to say when we take more interest in what they have to say."  Memo to self, no talking without also listening.

Levels of Expectation

I have been reading about teachers' levels of expectations.  Alderman (p. 183) questioned "Which has more positive effects on student expectations: minimal requirements that all students are expected to reach or the most hoped-for level anyone can reach?" To answer the question, Alderman cites Brookover, Beady, et al 1979. " The research shows the most important differences affecting achievement were (a) the level of expectations teachers held for students, and (b) teacher commitment to ensuring that academics were learned." (p. 184).  Brookover et al. concluded, although a student body composed of minority or low SES students may predispose teachers and principals to accept low levels of achievement, this can be overcome through developing a positive academic clinate with appropriate instruction.  Some of the ways teachers can communicate high expectations are: build on student's prior knowledge, help students construct their own knowledge, communicate information in a variety of ways, engage in dialogue that requires more than one-word answers.  Perhaps the important point to take away from all of this is,when teachers have high expectations, their students will rise to or excel above the expectation.

Developing Self Regulation

We have begun an interesting discussion about the development of self-regulation in young children.  In this article two local author-educators talk about self-regulation, what it is and how does self-regulation develop, and whether teachers can promote children's development of self-regulation.  Here is the short but very informative article.

www.naeyc.org/files/yc/file/200803/BTJ_Primary_Interest.pdf

Of particular note is that teachers can teach self-regulation to all children; create opportunities for children to practice the rules of behavior; offer children visual and tangible reminders about self-regulation; make play and games a part of the instruction.

Additionally, there is growing evidence that self-regulation can be taught in the classroom (Blair & Razza 2007; Diamond, et al 2007).  Blair's article is titled School Readiness: Integrating cognition and emotion in a  neurobiological conceptualization of children's functioning.  The article is in American Psychologist 57(2): 111-127.  The second article is titled Preschool program improves cognitive control.  The article is in "Science" 318(5855): 1387-1388.

Reciprocal Teaching

I have never heard of a reading strategy called "reciprocal teaching".  Based on the video in EPSY 6600, I am going to make the following observations.  First, reciprocal teaching must be an instructinal strategy that takes place in the form of a dialogue between teachers and students who are reading text for meaning/comprehension.  It uses the four comprehension strategies: summarizing, question generating, clarifying, and predicting.  The teacher and students take turns assuming the role of the teacher and leading the dialogue.  Second, it appears this teaching strategy is intended for small group discussion such as a literature circle, as the video showed the strategy being administered in this way.  Finally, it appears that all the readers in the group are probably reading at the same level.  I'm wondering if struggling readers would benefit from this comprehension strategy.  It has been my experience that struggling readers need a set structure for reading comprehension and retell such as: who are the main characters, where does this story take place, what was the problem in the story, and how was the problem solved.  I can understand how for some students this would greatly improve meta-cognition, but I believe the students would have to be adequate decoders before engaging in this reading strategy.