Hi everyone,
I see a behaviorist framework in reinforcement activities and homework. Essentially, students work at these activities to achieve mastery—they try something until they achieve a desired outcome. One of the challenges I face with these activities is students’ reluctance to complete them. Often, students don’t recognize the value or importance in practice as an avenue to skill development. For example, I know many people who want to play a musical instrument, but they aren’t motivated to practice the scales or chords enough to achieve automaticity—so they don’t necessarily enjoy the ability to play effortlessly and move to the next step on the expert-novice continuum.To increase motivation, I try to ground reinforcement and skill development activities in games—technology provides a lot of great options in the form of computer games. Students get the practice they need and they have fun while doing so, so they are willing to practice with increased commitment.
Sometimes including a collaborative aspect to an activity can encourage interest. Connecting the activity to something a student is excited about or has a personal interest in can also help jumpstart motivation.
Finally, some students have difficulty with the management of tasks—they see a homework assignment as daunting so they put it off until there is very little time to complete it and if they do complete it, the effort is lacking. Helping students to break down activities into manageable goals can give them more confidence to complete work—a collaborative option can also foster interest and commitment to the task.
I look forward to everyone’s thoughts on this.
Susan
Susan~I have such a hard time with homework. I agree that the students do the see the importance of it, however, I think it is good practice. In my classroom, if the students do not get their work done in class, they are to take it home. I did just start a writing a ssignment also that they have 7 days to finish. I have many students ask in everything we do if it is for a grade. If I tell them it is not for a grade, but for practice, students do not turn their stuff in. It can be for a grade and I they do not turn it in. I like the different ideas about incorporating technology into what we do in order to get their attention; however, I find that hard to do for everything. I also see classroom work as preparing them for high school and life beyond that- good work ethic. Any suggestions?
ReplyDeleteGina Dewey
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ReplyDeleteI think we make homework so boring especially when there are so many intriguing, interactive, fun-filled activities one can accomplish after school. In math, one approach to an assignment is to not give the rote drill and practice. Instead, have the students come up with story problems for homework. The next day pick some students to present their problems to review with the class, like they are the teacher. You can also use some of the word problems on tests and quizzes.
ReplyDeleteI agree that students do well when they work collaboratively. After teaching a math lesson, I always make the students do their math journal pages with a partner. I realize the importance of peer "tutoring" and sometimes students learn better from their peers. Earlier I would insist on a quiet class when they did their assignments. The noise level gets loud at time but when I roam around the classroom, I hear students discussing math strategies.
ReplyDeleteI just have to find an interesting way for the students to do their homework. When my students have blog, homework they do it promptly as compared to paper pencil homework. For this reason, I make sure I have loads of stuff for them to do on the blog.
Hi Jeremie and Preeti--that is an excellent point--if homework is boring students just aren't going to want to do it--there are ways to infuse interest and excitement into a homework activity. Adding a collaborative component--a blog--wiki--when they can draw on a personal experience, the activity comes to life for students.
ReplyDeleteWhen I used to teach math to younger students, I would work with them to create story problems too--they could use favorite TV characters or friends to write about--and the engagement level instantly changed--additionally, since the students created the problems, they understood the goals--represented the problems correctly--one of the most important aspects of problem solving.
Thank you both for posting to my blog.
Susan
Hi Gina,
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean--it can be so challenging to get students to complete homework--I have found myself drawing on incentives with my own children--promising them computer games or other prizes for finishing something they are dragging their feet with--but I always wish there was a way to get them motivated by the satisfaction of completing a task and learning from it.
My experience has been that if I can get students to persevere, once they enjoy success, then they develop a greater degree of self-directedness--the activity becomes easier with practice and more enjoyable.
One thought I had was to keep homework manageable and to emphasize time management skills. If a student perceives homework as very do-able--that won't take that long--he/she may be more inclined to work on it. Unfortunately students don't recognize the importance of time management--and of breaking up a task into manageable sub-goals and working on them a little at a time. I think a lot of students need direct instruction in how to approach tasks--working on them a little bit every day--and completely them as manageable small blocks--rather than saving it up until it appears insurmountable.
I wonder what suggestions others will have?
Thank you for posting to my blog.
Susan,
ReplyDeleteBeginning musician’s benefit from collaboration. They should practice together often. Their focus on those basic skills is greatly elevated when perform for a friend. Everyone really wants to perform well for his or her peer.
It is difficult for music students to drill basic skills over and over. Boredom and interest quickly become a problem. Many method books now have accompaniment tracks included. These tracks help transform a basic skill into a meaningful activity. Smart Music technology expands this accompaniment concept into an interactive event using computer hardware and software. Feedback on a skill or excerpt performed is instant. It shows correct notes and rhythm in green and incorrect ones in red. In addition, it calculates a grade for your performance. Assignments can be recorded at home and sent to the teacher for evaluation.
David Vickery
I completely agree that students need a motivation to learn. Students minds work so quickly and for them to sit still and listen to a teacher talk means they are not learning. Learning needs to be made fun and interesting to capture their attention. I work with Kindergarten, so this is really true with my grade level. We are constantly moving and changing activities. My students love playing educational games on the computer.
ReplyDeleteHi David,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing about Smart Music. I know what you mean about beginning music skill development being dull--I recall having instruction to play scales and songs I didn't really like and how quickly I lost interest (and my children lost interest even more quickly than I did.)
I love the idea of collaboration for beginners. When you can play along with someone (or a technology tool) you can a sense of what the goal is--you have a more authentic experience.
I have a nice tool my husband bought me recently--it allows you to download an mp3 to it and adjust the speed and filter out certain aspects of the song so you can play along. My son and I enjoy this--it is a chance to play along with a favorite artist.
Thanks for posting to my blog.
Susan
Hi Carri,
ReplyDeleteI think technology can be wonderful with young students. Not only does it give them a nice foundation with technology tools, but there are great sites and software packages to help them develop basic skills. They offer a chance for an interactive, multimedia experience that is typically very meaningful and memorable.
Thank you for posting to my blog.
Susan
Susan,
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean about student's who are unmotivated to complete homework.
My district has a grading policy that limits the lowest grade one can get on a particular assignment to 50%. So students by the time they reach the 8th grade are fully aware that if they do not complete something it will only be "punished" by a 50%. This leads to apathy that really necessitates teachers coming up with fun and engaging homework such as those mentioned by the other commentators.
(And incidentally, I fall under your category of wanting to become proficient with an instrument but lack the desire to practice.)
Hi Michael,
ReplyDeleteThat policy does sound like it has potential to undermine motivation in some students.
Hopefully students will find enjoyment, value, and a sense of pride in accomplishment that helps them see the value of perseverence with homework.
For musical instruments--the novice part is the hardest--once you get over that hurdle practice becomes fun.
PS: My son is also a butterfinger addict. :-)
Susan