Motivating+Meaningful+Learning

It is my desire that students feel excited to come into my classroom. I remember as a student having certain teachers whose classes I just couldn't wait to go to and others that I would just have to sit through till lunch. As a teacher now myself I still have a strong sense of these same feelings. I really want my students to be motivated to come to class and enjoy the learning that is taking place. I really want to process to be unique and exciting for them. Grade 8 is a very special year in a student's education as they are transitioning to high school and are enjoying their last years of being leaders in the "school." I feel that it is this time in a student's life that they can really begin to develop themselves academically and start really narrowing in on some of their academic interests. Through the use of technology and classroom setting, I hope that I can open students' imaginations and inspire them to find meaning as individuals amongst all of the material we cover. It is always the greatest teaching moment when a student's eyes light up with understanding or when students come striding into class with smiles and genuine interest in what they are working on.

In order to motivate meaningful learning in my class I use and encourage students to use a variety of technological resources. Students make movies, powerpoints, slideshows, podcasts or even songs. I want students to be comfortable in the classroom and to have all of the cognitive and technical resources they need to challenge themselves and grow in their learning.



If the time and lesson is appropriate I want to offer students different learning settings. I want to encourage students to think "outside the classroom" and so sometimes that takes getting out of the classroom.



In regards to assessing students I feel like my comments on essays (below) are an important part of student learning in my class. I take my time with each student's writing and really get to know their style and what they should be working. I offer up a lot of positive comments and constructive criticisms for each paper. It is my hope that students will have time to read over the comments and revisit them before they write future essays. I want my efforts in marking up their papers to be something that they can rely on to be a concrete example of how they can improve in class. I want them to see they are doing things right and that they have what it takes to get that A in the class.





This year was also the first year I lead a rock band elective at the school. This was a very rewarding and challenging class to teach. The students all were very energetic and excited. This being the first time I had ever had the opportunity to teach this class I spent a lot of time working out the structure of the class. It was a challenge to keep every student involved and participating since there was a variety of skill levels. By the end of the quarter I had an epiphany about this class. I had to let the music make itself, to allow the kids to just find some chords they want to play and then not force the others to play but just encourage to join in on whatever instrument they wanted when they wanted. The students ended up playing one song for 20 minutes straight, adapting, changing and rocking out a song with all students involved. We left the practice room that day with sweat on our brows and wishing there had been more time in the class that day. That to me was meaningful learning. The students motivated themselves and found their groove and really came together exactly as I had hoped they would in the class. I can't wait for next year when the class goes for a whole semester!!