What wakes you up every morning and brings you into the classroom?
If you have lost sight of your why it can be very easy to lose your focus and passion for teaching. It is the same with our students. If they do not have a why or a reason for being in school they lose their motivation and investment in school. In this blog post I am excited to share some insights about student investment strategies that I learned during my first week of summer PD.
In the previous video Eric Thomas shares with football players the importance of the big picture. He shares with these young athletes the power and desire that comes from working towards a goal that is driven by a why. He states that if you do not have a why you are not going to work as hard as someone who's passion and goals are deeply rooted in a why.
As teachers this rings true for our students as well. If the students are not driven by a why it will be very difficult to get them to buy into what we are doing in our classrooms. This is especially true these first few weeks of school. We want our students to get on board as quickly as possible, because we know that investment is crucial for the success of our students.
Teach for America identified six keys to meaningful student investment:
1. "I Can" Succeed
It is very important to emphasis the collective responsibility of the class. Our class mantra should be that everything we do has an impact on our collective group. Take some time to explain individual student roles as well as the collective role of the class. Continually share with students your role as their coach this year. Emphasis to students that they can succeed, and that you are there to help.
2. "I Want"
Once you have established that the students can succeed you want them to want it for themselves. Create big goals and share them with your students. Chunk large goals into smaller goals and scaffolded along the way when needed. Give students authentic tasks that are connected to the community. Show students how these goals connect with goals they have for themselves.
3. Role Models
Utilize students' role models. These can be community role models, pop culture role models, people from history, or other students in the classroom or school community. Invite people from the community into your classroom to make learning real to students. Invest students with the work ethic of their favorite celebrity. Share about a famous person from history. I like to use Ruby Bridges with my third graders. Explain to students how they can be role models in the classroom or school, and make an example of students who rise to the occasion.
4. Reinforce Efforts
Provide students with positive reinforcement when they reach their goals. This should be in the form of intrinsic rather than extrinsic motivation. Get creative! Have students earn a guest speaker or other classroom celebration. Last year my students loved to earn glow stick dance parties for filling up our compliment jar. Get student input to invest students even more. Whatever you select be sure that it is something that you can keep up with and BE CONSISTENT!
5. Welcoming Environment
Open up your classroom for families to visit. I know that this may seem scary to some of us. However, the more families are informed of what is going on the more that they are able to help. Invite parents in for student projects and performances. Parents love these kind of events, and students love their parents to be involved. This leads into the final investment strategy.
6. Invest Families
Make sure that everything you do has a reason, and be sure to communicate that reason to your students and families. Make an effort to be aware of the community in which you teach and be in the community as much as possible. Communicate with parents what is happening in the classroom through newsletters as well as phone calls on a regular basis. There are also several apps available to help you keep in contact with parents.
Finally, invest students to the point that they are so excited they just can't help sharing what they are learning with their family!
What do you do to invest students in their learning?
-Carly
I hope you have found this blog post helpful. To stay connected with Carly and Adam's teaching tips and classroom freebies be sure to follow us on Facebook, Pinterest, Teachers Pay Teachers, and subscribe to our blog!
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