What can Ms. Wormwood Do?

Ms. Wormwood is some one who has almost unlimited potential to help Calvin grow in an exponential amount of ways, Calvin is a student who is not stupid or worth giving up on because he has potential. Outside of the classroom there is evidence that Calvin cares about what he is learning about based upon his interests in the world around him. If he has choice and feels a sense of relatedness to his material or the people around him he is more likely to learn. Calvin has a relationship with Hobbes and that allows him to care more about the material because he is able to share the experience with someone. He is also much more autonomous with his choice in what he learns and what he does, outside of the classroom learning to him is just how he plays. So if Ms. Wormwood was able to bring more of his choice into the classroom then he would be able to learn.

how to fix the problem

Ms. Wormwood, is an overbearing teacher who allots her students no sense of self control in their learning. The first and most important action she could take in order to improve Calvin's behavior in the classroom would be to develop a relationship with him. This is one of the most important actions any teacher can take. If she was to do this then Calvin would no longer have as many classroom issues, because he would then have one of his basic psychological needs meet by his teacher and feel much more related to someone in the classroom. Another major act that Ms. Wormwood could take would be to positively reinforce Calvin when he preforms well or when he gets his work done. This will give Calvin a sense of competence in the classroom, she could simply say good job when he gets a math problem correct or if he goes up to the board, even if the answer is wrong, she could tell him how good of a job he did for trying and positively criticize what he did wrong. This would create introjected regulation as well allowing him to be extrinsically motivated by receiving praise which is much more powerful than being told what to do by the teacher. Finally Ms. Wormwood could help foster his autonomy. She could do this in many different fashions from letting him choose what he does for a project, such as letting him choose to write a story or build his own diorama for a history project (Deci, E. L., Koestner, R., & Ryan, R. M. (2001).). These are the best options for Ms. Wormwood to understand in order to grow and learn in the classroom.

A direct example of how Ms. Wormwood could foster a relationship with Calvin would be to ask him about his day, an act as simple as this would make Calvin feel like Ms. Wormwood cared about him and what he did during his day. She could also simply work with Calvin on a one on one level which would make him feel much more important to the teacher and allow him to know that she wants him to succeed. The work that she puts in will allow Calvin to improve his work and feel much more related to the work that Ms. Wormwood will give him.

In order to establish competence in Calvin there are many different actions that Ms. Wormwood can take. She can take simple actions such as telling him he has done a good job if he manages to answer the question in a correct manner or when he writes out what he thinks on a piece of paper. Building off of that she can simply teach more to his strengths and that will allow him to develop a sense of competence in the classroom. This small modification to her class that will make sure Calvin ends up in the metaphorical basket of the learned.

To develop autonomy in Calvin Ms. Wormwood can take so many different actions she can undertake to improve the sense of independence in Calvin. The easier are testing him in many different ways such as allowing him to do a presentation over a test. She could also allow him to do a project of his own choice, which would allow him to do his own research on a topic that he has interest in and then present on that. Simple tasks like these while they may require a change in curriculum will help not only students like Calvin, but the rest of the class.

In order to foster better motivation patterns in the subject (Calvin), we suggest that Ms. Wormwood find the things to make Calvin want to do something. Does he like to be recognized for good work? Does he like to be left alone but given an encouraging nod before he continues on working? Asking questions like these and finding answers will allow Ms. Wormwood better understand how she can get Calvin intrinsically motivated to do his work and be at school. As long as her motivation techniques are not too frequent, eventually Calvin will find his own intrinsic motivation and she can take a step back and see that all of her hard work paid off. If applied correctly, Ms. Wormwood can encourage a change in Calvin’s school motivation where he actually wants to be there and learn in her classroom and in others.