Module 5 Chapters 12, 14 & 15

Since Chapter 12 is all about motivation, I tried to read with as much attention as I could muster because motivation is key to getting the students to learn with fervor and depth.  Some of the students already have intrinsic motivations but that is the minority of the class.  So for the majority of the students teachers must inspire and motivate to the best of their ability, so this chapter is very important for my future career.  Some of the points that stuck out most to me was students' costs and values, the importance of mindset and the long term difference between mastery oriented goals and performance oriented goals.  Growing up I had always done well in school and sports but I put in a great deal of effort.  However participating in classes, even now, is so full of anxiety that even if I enjoy the subject matter, the dread of doing poorly, failing chokes any enjoyment out of the class.  So the section on student anxiety, p. 488-490 really was personally intriguing.  It does tie into the long term differences between mastery goals compared to performance goals, particularly avoidance.  Building up a growth mindset with mastery oriented goals will benefit students, and me, in the short and long term.  This chapter is helpful as well for students who are opposite of me and exhibit behavior that is unconcerned or unaffected by poor performance or grades.  These students will benefit by teachers who will try to get to know the students and put in strategies that will arouse curiosity, interest and value.  And if the student still isn't motivated to try a new strategy or come about it from a different angle.

Chapter 14 was about teaching to every student, how to be effective to every student in the classroom.  I think that the research findings of how expert teachers approach problems and come up with solutions was interesting (p.553-555), just like the books that describe the habits of highly successful businessmen.  The section on planning, especially constructivist planning (p. 561-562) was interesting to note since I did not grow up with this type of teaching in the classroom, I do not have much to go on so I always worry that it might be a bit ineffective and chaotic if I try it, so designing it is important but can be a bit tricky.  Another section of the chapter I enjoyed was the last bit on teacher's expectations (p.582-583).  I have always had high expectations with my children and know that they can affect the children for the good and sometimes badly.  From the text, I learned that high expectations are still good but to temper it with an applied growth mindset, where I am going to have to view the students as all growing from different starting points, but growth is the main goal.

The last chapter, Chapter 15 is about assessments, grades and standardized testing.  The section about the validity, accuracy and bias were interesting.  I thought after reading how very important to keep in mind these ideas as students are often judged through these assessments and their abilities.  Therefore keeping an idea of the goal of the assessment, along with assessments that I am creating or using, being reflective about the test itself and the results in order not to bias any student.  The chart on page 598 on key points on judging textbook tests was very practical but also useful for assessments that I personally construct for my students.  The chart on page 611, I want to copy that for easy future guidance because it really captures the goal of assessment with application of method very succinctly. The section on standardized testing explaining how students can become better test takers (p. 626) made me smile a bit with my competitive nature.  As my children, nieces and nephews are growing up and taking the ACT & SAT tests, they are also taking classes to improve their scores.  I was never offered any aids in takin the ACT and feel a little bit like, "this isn't fair!"  But classes that encourage improvement with practice aids and skill enhancement  are a great idea even if the kiddies beat me, that is a good thing!

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