Group 1

One-To-One Interactions:

Dear Ms. Wormwood, 

    On behalf of our mutual friend Calvin, I would like to bestow upon you some advice. Based on my own one-on-one interventions with a student, I have observed the following. When interacting with a student, it is important to recognize that outside sources can play a role in determining whether a student will want to motivate themselves to do the assignment given to them. Therefore, extrinsic motivators whether it is coming from a parent, or a teacher can influence whether that student will want to put in the effort. I encourage you to consider how using external rewards will impact Calvin when working with him one-on-one. In addition, it may be beneficial to provide Calvin with feedback on his work in a genuine manner that will encourage him to make improvements rather than chastisement without constructive feedback. You can also consider giving Calvin more challenging individual projects that are also based off a choice board to give him more agency. 

    This will help Calvin develop more of a sense of self-regulation in his learning process. However, if Calvin senses any negativity towards him during your one-on-one interactions, this will affect his motivation to learn and improve. A student can sense whether a teacher “likes” them or is at the very least frustrated with them. They will become discouraged and less likely to want to learn or grow in that environment. This will affect the student's ability to analyze their own learning process and adapt. I would suggest that you try to show Calvin how to set goals and manage his time in your one-on-one sessions. Additionally, you can try to apply real world examples that may interest Calvin so that he does not think that there is no point to the material that you are trying to teach him. 

    In some cases, Students may attribute the causes and effects of their behavior to external sources. Calvin may attribute some of his learning difficulties to his parents and his teacher. To help mitigate this, I would suggest that you help Calvin attribute his success and struggles to his own efforts so that he does not fall into a state of learned helplessness. You could also teach Calvin how to see challenges, difficulties, and failures as an opportunity to grow and improve. By helping him understand that just looking smart can hinder his performance and stifle his long-term learning process and memory. Finally, it would be worthwhile to help Calvin re-adjust his thinking towards his learning process so that he can apply his knowledge rather than just memorize the material for an assignment or test. In other words, teach Calvin that he can access different goal orientations for different situations. I hope that this helps. 

Best Regards,  

Adam Baki. 

(Assessment: Emily Loetterle)

The best way to approach assessing Calvin is by implementing some self-regulation and determination theory. These can include teaching Calvin to monitor his own learning progress and behaviors, giving him tools to track his own performance and identify areas for improvement, and encouraging him to set achievable goals. Using those you have several ways to both assess Calvin’s growth tangibly and rebuild his intrinsic motivation. The easiest way to gauge Calvin’s development is to regularly review and reflect on his progress together in consistent one-on-one meetings using any checklists, progress trackers, or self-assessment rubrics you give him. This will reinforce his self-awareness and accountability, as well as provide you with opportunities to give constructive feedback. 

Calvin needs you to celebrate his accomplishments and highlight instances where his efforts led to positive outcomes, reinforcing his sense of self-efficacy. You should provide specific, actionable suggestions for growth while also acknowledging his strengths and progress. Offering support and encouragement to help him overcome obstacles and persevere in the face of setbacks will also help grow his growth mindset. Fostering this positive student-teacher relationship can extend beyond just you and Calvin, he could also benefit from opportunities for collaborative learning and constructive peer feedback. This would allow all of your students to learn from each other's successes and challenges.

Classroom Management:

Dear Ms. Wormwood,

         You can improve your class management by incorporating a few tactics in order to keep kids motivated. You can first add forms of extrinsic motivation, such as rewards for good behavior and high grades. You can also use more engaging lessons and structure in order to keep kids interested in the lesson material and give them autonomy of their own education. This can be done through working in groups, and having projects in class where students have choices on what to do to show they understand the topic. Encourage curiosity to avoid students with a fixed mindset, as well as a focus on progress rather than perfection. Set achievable goals, as well as foster a trusting student-teacher relationship, as well as a good classmate-classmate relationship. Foster an environment where students are kind and accepting towards one another, so students don’t feel insecure in their own intelligence. Thank you in advance. I'm sure this will serve your students well in the long run!

Sincerely,

Madison Zollars

Instruction/curriculum:

Dear Ms. Wormwood,

I understand that helping your students succeed has taken its toll on you, and I'm so glad you've reached out. Based on what you have said, it appears that Calvin struggles with being motivated, engaged, and even present in the classroom. Knowing this, we must work to help him in those aspects. Building a pleasant student-teach relationship with him would be a great place to start. I've noticed that Calvin seems to push your buttons time and time again, but try and look a little deeper, see the little boy behind the class distraction. It will be much easier to help a student want to come to class if the student likes his teacher. As you give instructions, be open to his thoughts and prompt his curiosity. Calvin is always wondering about why you learn the content, so tell him. Give him real-world context surrounding the subject matter and allow him to make those connections and understand the class's purpose. There are also many ways to make the content you teach more engaging and interesting; I feel that few teachers are able to see the potential they have to make a classroom great. Little things like providing choice within projects (e.g. making a list of animals in the state you live in and letting the class choose an animal to research), teaching content in many different ways to solidify and reinforce it (visual, audible, and physical activities), and helping your students set goals and meet them can all help foster a student's motivation and creativity while also retaining information. On these projects, provide tangible feedback. Telling a child to work harder without giving them any examples of how does nothing and makes them feel ignorant. Giving students praise when its due and helping them identify measurable growth they have made to show them proof of their improvement can help a child feel more successful and in control. Providing autonomy, variety, and kindness within your instruction and content are sure to at least create a better relationship with your students.

Sincerely,

Arlene Bair