Promoting Calvin's Sense of Competency

Based on the cartoons, there is evidence of how Ms. Wormwood is promoting Calvin's sense of competency and how she can further improve in this regard.

What Ms.Wormwood Does Well: Ms. Wormwood encourages Calvin to take accountability for his grades and allows Calvin to assume the alter ego of "Stupendous Man" to boost his sense of competency.

Ways Ms. Wormwood Can Grow: Seeing as "Stupendous Man" is already a way for Calvin to feel more self assured and competent in the classroom, Ms.Wormwood can allow Calvin to assume this identity more frequently. She should aim to eventually phase this out so that Calvin can see "Stupendous Man's" strengths and competency for what it is - his own. This can be accomplished by providing Calvin with positive and genuine praise as he weens off of the "Stupendous Man" identity to reinforce the idea that he is capable. Ms. Wormwood should seek to ween Calvin off of his dependency on assuming an alter ego to feel competent by providing him with genuine and positive feedback for the work he does in class when he does something well.

She can also help Calvin take more accountability for his grades by asking him questions about why his grades are the way. This way, instead of being told that he needs to take accountability, Calvin can actually begin to discover how he can take accountability. Another method that could be helpful for this is to have Calvin grade his work according to a rubric and explain his reasoning. This is done with the caveat that Ms. Wormwood will only allow the grade Calvin gives himself if she agrees with his reasoning. Not only does this increase Calvin's competency, but it also uses this as a means to increase his autonomy.

Promoting Calvin's Autonomy

Based on the cartoons, there is evidence of how Ms. Wormwood is promoting Calvin's sense of autonomy and how she can grow in this in the future.

What Ms. Wormwood Does Well: Ms. Wormwood allows students to choose their subject matter for presentations (such as show and tell), allows students to suggest their own ideas for discussion (even if those ideas are later punished) (Reeve et al., 1999).

Ways Ms. Wormwood Can Grow: Ms. Wormwood can increase student autonomy in the classroom by increasing the frequency with which she allows students to have choice in demonstrating their knowledge. She did a good job of this with show and tell, and so she can increase the frequency with which students get to choose either the subject matter or the method of demonstration. Since Calvin seems to enjoy drawings, perhaps she could include more in class activities that allow students to draw, for example.

She can also change the manner in which she addresses student requests for discussion that are inappropriate for the classroom. For example, Calvin said he wanted to discuss the punishment for Cannibalism, and then was made t sit in the corner with a dunce cap. Although cannibalism is not appropriate in the classroom, neither is putting students in the corner with a dunce cap. So, when a student brings something up that is not class appropriate, she can say something along the lines of, "I can see that you have genuine interest in this. Unfortunately, this is not something we can discuss in class. Maybe, you can ask your family when you get home." This way she still regulates classroom discussion without discouraging students from sharing their ideas in the future. 

She can also take an interest inventory and ask students at the beginning of the year to write or draw what they would like to learn more about on a piece of paper. Then, she can incorporate them into lessons and the curriculum. This way, students still have a say in what they learn about and Ms. Wormwood gets to screen them to make sure they are classroom appropriate.

Promoting Calvin's Sense of Belonging

Based on the cartoons, there is evidence of how Ms. Wormwood is promoting Calvin's sense of belonging and how she can further improve in this in the future.

What Ms.Wormwood Does Well: Ms. Wormwood allows students to get up in front of the class and write problems on the board, which may contribute to a sense of purposefulness and community in the classroom.

Ways Ms. Wormwood Can Grow: One way Ms. Wormwood can grow is by allowing for and encouraging more collaboration between peers. This way, the students (including Calvin) are able to encourage each other, promoting a sense of belonging. This avoids the scenario in one of the comics in which Calvin assumes the identity of "Stupendous Man" and two of the girls in the class pretend not to know him. However, if the students had a healthier classroom community, they likely would have been able to encourage Calvin and help him feel welcome, increasing his self competency and therefore motivation.

Additionally, Ms. Wormwood can seek to establish positive relationships with the students by getting to know who they are as individuals, not just academics. She can learn about their interests and hobbies and discuss these with the students on a personal and regular basis to build relationships with them. This will increase their sense that they belong in the classroom and that Ms. Wormwood wants them there, ultimately increasing their motivation overall.