Which Classroom Would You Rather Be In

Which Classroom Would You Rather Be In?
Read the descriptions of the classrooms below. Where would you rather be?
Classroom One
When you enter this room you see well-behaved students doing their work quietly at their desks. Occasionally they move to work in groups, editing each other’s work or, if they are young students, reading a story together. Most of the students are on task, but some are clearly bored, uninvolved, and restless…going through the motions.
Classroom Two
When you enter this classroom you are struck by the activity and noise level. You see students debating an issue or calling out vocabulary terms to each other. Some may be fitting puzzle pieces together to solve a brain teaser problem about the topic under study. One student is at the computer checking facts while another is a learning center for extra time activities. The room hums with active students engaged in discovering important information.
In classroom after classroom across the nation, teachers grapple with one of the most complex issues facing educators: how to motivate, encourage, and challenge their students to not just grudging complies with the class rules, policies, and procedures, but to move on to be self-determined about their work. When students are motivated to do their work well, then school is not just successful for students and teachers alike, but fun for everyone.
There are many current theories about educational motivation. Perhaps the most respected voice in the field is Jere Brophy. You can learn more about his theories in his excellent 2004 book, Motivating Students to learn (2nd Edition) published by Lawrence Erlbaum. Brophy, like other credible experts, tell us what experienced practicing teachers have known for years: there is no magic bullet, no one quick fix, no one easy little strategies that will transform our students from uncaring children into avid scholars.
Instead, what we twentieth-century teachers do is simple. We use as many techniques, strategies, tips, and activities as we can to appeal to as many of our students as we can as often as we can. A multi-faceted approach to the complex and challenging problem of reaching and teaching our students is a tactic that works for many of us.
In this issue you’ll find a way to test yourself about the motivation techniques that you use or know about and you’ll find a list of some of the reasons that students may not want to do their work.

Which Classroom Would You Rather Be In

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Notes on slide 1

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