Team 3 Letter

Curriculum - Adam 

Instruction -  Julisa 

Assessment - Alina 

Classroom management - Yaz 

Dear Ms. Wormwood,

In regards to instruction, I believe you should try to find ways to relate your lessons to topics that Calvin is already interested in. Calvin seems to find certain topics fascinating, but when applied in an academic setting he doesn’t seem to understand the value of the knowledge because the information isn’t relevant to him. Try to create a space in which you don’t undermine his creativity and free thinking since he clearly thinks differently than other students. Positively reinforce the behavior you do want from him. You should also try to establish clear goals out of learning the material. Discuss what the students should be able to know and do after participating in the lesson. After observing the dynamic between you and your class, I am under the impression that you utilize a task structure in which you evaluate success through correct performance of the task instead of mastery orientation in which calvin would have a clear, deep understanding of the material. Further, you encourage social comparison because of how you try to teach Calvin the same way you teach all of your students instead of seeking out how to address his specific instructional needs. I believe you should aim to provide an engaging classroom environment by asking questions that challenge your students to recall the information they have retained and try to connect the content to a real world scenario. This is something that Calvin seems to be wanting since he doesn’t understand why the lessons are important or necessary. Provide models or opportunities to challenge Calvin’s skills instead of simply asking him to do a task that would demonstrate his understanding of the given concept. Further, instead of killing his intrinsic motivation by scolding him for being off task, find ways to reconnect his behavior with the subject material. For example, Calvin is very talented at creating comics. I think he would flourish if you assign him a task in which he can explore his creativity through comic design to demonstrate his mastery of the subject material. Find a balance between student-led learning and guided lessons that again connect calvin’s individual interests to the content and positively influence his motivation to learn. Lastly, try to incorporate more opportunities for individuality and choice in school projects. 

To support Calvin’s success in school via curriculum usage, you can employ several strategies as guiding principles. These strategies will create a conductive learning environment that can aid Calvin in achieving his overall objectives. The first recommendation is to establish clear and measurable learning objectives for each lesson or unit. These objectives should precisely outline what students are expected to learn, understand, or achieve. Additionally, involving Calvin in the goals-setting process is crucial. You can help engage him by discussing his academic aspirations, strengths, and weaknesses. For instance, Calvin’s vivid imagination, which sometimes leads to distractions, can be channeled into group activities aligned with his interests and strengths. This approach demonstrates a genuine interest in his success and encourages him to develop a mastery-oriented mindset. Regarding the amount of material to cover in class, it should be determined by various factors, including Calvin’s specific needs, as discussed earlier. Striking a balance is essential; it entails maintaining a pace that allows both Calvin and the entire class to thoroughly grasp the material. This balance means neither rushing through topics nor dwelling on them excessively, accommodating both mastery and performance-oriented goals.  Considering a flexible curriculum is also beneficial. This flexibility allows for adjustments when needed, ensuring that Calvin has the opportunity to master concepts that may require additional time and support, without neglecting other essential topics.  Mastery goals emphasize individual development and progress. To support these goals effectively, the curriculum can be adapted to allow Calvin to learn at his own pace. Additionally, Mrs. Wormwood can offer tailored resources, provide continuous feedback on assignments and class participation, and encourage self-reflection through assessments. This approach helps Calvin recognize his strengths and areas for improvement more effectively. Another critical recommendation is aligning the task structure and evaluation methods more closely. Currently, it appears that tasks are designed with a mastery-oriented approach, but the evaluation process leans towards a performance-oriented style of learning. This misalignment might be discouraging Calvin from putting forth his best effort.

In order to use classroom management to help Calvin, you need to create an environment where she is motivating Calvin to want to improve himself and his abilities. The pattern that we mostly see with Calvin is he often does performance avoidance, and you can change your teaching method to something that your students will like. Making them do almost a “genius hour” or having them have a hands-on project might help as well. Something that Calvin would enjoy doing his own project and something he is passionate about. You also need to be conscious of Calvin’s feelings and ask him why he feels the way he feels. Maybe you can do the forethought phase with Calvin and really plan his next moves or you can do a class lesson. You can relate more to your students with the context, and try to make learning more exciting by doing hands-on learning or making hands-on projects. You will benefit from making school interesting, and it is important to try to make it something they won’t hate, as if they come to school not wanting to learn anything then they will not. Lastly, most students have two types of motivation, intrinsic and extrinsic. To help Calvin, he is intrinsically motivated so he is motivated but he is motivated about things he is interested in. To help a student like Calvin you need to find things he's interested in and kinda relate to him like that. One thing that you could try and see if it might help is setting some expectations for the whole class to try to follow. To help Calvin the environment might have to change and the way you teach might have to change as well.

 In order to properly assess Calvin’s learning, you need to ensure that you are setting Calvin up for success prior to any exams.  There are many ways that you can do this - all of which utilize different motivational theories.  By providing Calvin and his classmates preparation time before an exam, you can gauge how interested and engaged your students are to determine how successful they may find themselves to be on the next exam.  You can garner more interest by giving the students a preparation class period before the exam period, and by providing a study guide, you can help them anticipate what will be on the exam.  Providing information that is relevant to the exam will allow you to utilize the four phases of the Interest Theory in order to support your students.  You can also give practice exams in order to assess what level of knowledge your students are operating at, while also helping students who may have testtaking anxiety/performance avoidance techniques feel more prepared and equipped to take the real exam.  By ensuring your students are confident with the content and the skills required to demonstrate competency, you are effectively creating a path to success for your students by utilizing the Goal Theory.  You can also support your students to be successful by ensuring that they are not learning for extrinsic reasons.  You can alter the weight of assessments in the grade book, therefore ensuring that students are not just taking tests with the hope of getting a good grade to maintain a good GPA, but instead can show them that tests are good ways of growing one’s knowledge and understanding of the content being taught.  Beyond minimizing the grade-impact of assessments, you can ensure that your students are intrinsically motivated by working with them to establish autonomy regarding assessment preparation, and working to teach them how to take their education into their own hands.  This is a prime example of how Self-Determination Theory can benefit students in an assessment environment, with adequate preparation before the assessment itself.  Academic autonomy can also be linked to Self Regulated Learning, a motivational theory that allows for students to take charge of their learning habits to control their academic environment.  If you help your students practice crucial SRL habits from each phase, you will help guarantee their success.  By strengthening their goal planning and time management skills, you will help students with the Forethought Phase of SRL, which is crucial to the Performance Phase (the time in which students are actually doing the assessment itself).  After the assessment, if you have your students fill out a self-reflection survey you can help facilitate self-satisfaction and self-evaluation skill growth, which will allow your students to strive to improve on future assessments.

All in all, the best way that you can help students like Calvin is to listen to them, and alter your teaching styles to accommodate them, instead of expecting that every student will benefit from the exact same educational practices.  If you allow yourself to grow the way you expect your students to, you will help motivate them to be successful in every aspect of their educational journey.  Do it for the students!

Sincerely,

Adam, Alina, Julisa, and Yaz

(Team 3)