Ms. Wormwood Action

If Ms. Wormwood seeks to generate some interest in Calvin, she can appeal to situations that he is interested in. Although this interest is often short term, it can be easily generated by presenting Calvin with new, surprising or intense material that he may latch onto. Another potential trigger of situational interest could be a change of learning environment. We know that Calvin is much more creative when playing outside, Ms. Wormwood could attempt to use this with outside educational activities.

By encouraging group collaboration or creating an exploratory project Ms. Wormwood may be able to leverage this external support into Interest from Calvin. By placing Calvin in a group collaborative setting, Calvin may experience social interest, feeding off the interest of his peers. This approach takes less direct intervention from Ms. Wormwood than others.

Ms. Wormwood can focus on content that is relevant to Calvin and his life outside of school. In class Calvin often references historical figures and events that are above his age level. Ms. Wormwood can choose texts and assignments that connect to that prior knowledge. Texts that connect to prior knowledge are associated with higher levels of interest and engagement from students.

Calvin consistently displays a deep level of knowledge on things he is passionate about, primarily when he is invested in scenarios with Hobbes. Ms. Wormwood could tap into these passions and allow Calvin to go further, exploring and researching areas he has already shown interest in. By connecting to these passions, Ms. Wormwood can create a classroom experience where calvin is driving himself with pure curiosity of the subject. To reach this self-generation, however, Ms. Wormwood would need an understanding of Calvin's personal passions, and she would also need to allow Calvin a lot of freedom during learning time.