Would you say that fostering a love of learning is a legitimate goal for teachers?
What kinds of things could teachers do to encourage students' emotional response to learning?
I definitely believe that we need to foster a love for learning in our students by modeling this love of learning ourselves. We should show our students that we, as adults, learn something new each day. We need to show them how exciting that is!! If you know your students well, it is easy to pick topics that interest them. Sometimes I will make up or embellish a story that goes along with what I am teaching to excite the students about it. You can also build up suspense or end a lesson on a cliff- hanger. Having students actively engaged in their learning, singing songs about what they are learning about, working together on projects, presenting on a topic, and playing games are all ways to help build students' enthusiasm. I also enjoyed the part in this chapter about celebrating learning. My chemistry teacher in high school always called our tests "celebrations of knowledge." Although "real" celebrations are fun, especially with elementary-aged children, I think it's important for students to see that learning in and of itself can be a celebration!!
I definitely agree with Lindsey that we as teachers need to foster a love for learning in our students by modeling a love for learning ourselves. I love sharing with my students new things I have learned and I think my students hearing me talk about learning helps them relate more to me as well. I love getting to know what my students are interested in and then incorporating their interests into lessons. In first grade students are still so excited about learning and when you include their interests as well, they love to learn! This coming year I want to really work on actively engaging engaging students in their learning using songs, group projects, and having celebrations after learning. After my students completed the final drafts of their animal research books this year, we had a small celebration where students left their books on their desk and everyone in the class got to go around and look at each student's book. The students loved this! This year I want to take that idea even further and have students put their writing piece and a blank sheet of paper on their desk so that students can write positive comments. This piece of paper would be something students could keep in their writing folders and look back at when they need encouragement during writing time. I definitely want to include more celebration about learning in my classroom this year. We are so happy as teachers when we see students progress and I want to share that celebration with my students as well.
When reflecting on my childhood, I will always remember by mother and father making an effort to instill a love of learning in me. Weekly trips to the library, nightly bedtime readings, or simply discussing the importance of school are a few of the many things my parents did to excite me about learning. Sadly, children today may not receive this attention at home and come to school lacking excitement and curiosity for learning. This is why it should be teachers’ responsibility to foster a love of learning in our students. The more excited and enthusiastic teachers become about what they’re teaching, the students are more likely to “buy in” to the content and become excited to learn and explore it.
In order to encourage students’ emotional response to learning, teachers must first and foremost become passionate about what they are teaching. Students can sense this feeling and it will become infectious. Also, teachers must always let students know why they are learning something and how it will benefit them. They must constantly relate the content to their students’ lives to engage their emotional response and to access prior knowledge. When students understand the purpose of what they are learning, they will gain a sense of ownership and the material will become meaningful to them. Teachers must also share personal events from their lives. When I do this, my students instantly become engaged and eager to listen. Students need to feel safe in the classroom, and when teachers open up and share personal things from their own lives, it eases the students’ nerves, as they will feel more comfortable to discuss their own lives to the teacher. Teachers need to encourage students to take risks in their learning and that it is ok to make mistakes. When students perform well on assessments, their learning should be celebrated and recognized by not only the teacher, but by the others students as well.
Morgan, I couldn't agree with you more about "teachers must first and foremost become passionate about what they are teaching". That passion will be a positive emotion that our students will see from us and turn it into their positive emotion for the day. No matter what just happened before they entered our room, the positive vibe for learning must be present in our classroom right then and now.
After reading this chapter, I never was proactive about emotions of my students until the meltdowns occurred and then I would handle them. I like how in this chapter practical suggestions are given such as getting personal and purposeful physical rituals. Getting personal in the library can be implemented through book discussions. I will ask two students each class time to share a book they just read by giving what happened at the beginning, in the middle, and one reason they liked the book. I too will model this suggestion. Singing a chant two minutes before class time is over will help student get organized for dismissal and make them chose a book immediately. This follows the purposeful physical ritual suggestion that students can help me chant.
As many have already said times have changed. Children aren't brought up the way we were. Many children do not come from a nurturing, stable home environment. We have to give the best environment we can at school and we usually become the nurturer for these students. If we show students that we have a valid interest in them they will be more willing to "give" to us: their attention, better work habits, etc. We can show that we are passionate about what we teach and we can work the content around things that interest the child. For instance if I have many baseball players in my class one year I would want to incorporate books about baseball if at all possible. If time allows it would be great to go see the students play one game as well. Not only do students like it when we find out what interests them, like Morgan said, they are typically more engaged when we are sharing about our interests too. When we tie our personal lives and interests in to the content students are seeing that we are real.
Being the Behavior Coach, what I took particular notice of in this chapter is that "Recent studies suggest that the threat of violence in the learning environment, whether real or perceived, can have a negative impact on learning. Under violently threatening circumstances, blood flow decreases in various parts of the brain that are linked to cognition." pg.74. I can't help but think about several of my kiddo's last year and how the other students in their classes were affected. I know what's best for my students, but can't help but wonder if it's best for the rest. Several other children were definitely at a disadvantage at having my students in their class. Breaks my heart. I wish I knew the answer.
I also took particular notice of the states of emotions. Most of my kids tend to remain in the Fear/Threat state. on page 72, it says "The brain has 3 choices when confronted with overwhelming threat; We can fight, try to escape, or freeze." That's what my kids tend to do. On page 78, it says that "if a student is not in an appropriate state for the behavior you want, the behavior won't happen until the state is changed. The trick is figuring out how to change states and make that happen in a timely fashion without disrupting the rest of the classes learning. Hum?
While reading this chapter and subsequent chapters that discussed emotional states, I couldn't help but think about specific students in our building who reactivate negative emotional states on a regular basis. When this book was chosen as our school-wide book study, one of my hopes was to change the lives of our students in ways that we never thought we could. The information regarding emotional states and ways to help students monitor and change their own emotional states gives me much hope for those students whose faces I saw when reading. I also thought of some of our terrific teachers who are already implementing practices that help their students control their emotional states. I look forward to seeing how this book study will help change our school so we can change our students for the better!
I couldn't agree more that teachers must foster and share their love of learning in the classroom. When I am excited and passionate about what I am teaching I can definitely see it making a difference with my students. It's so important not only to show my passion as the teacher but also to get them emotionally invested by making the content relatable to the students.
It breaks my heart to read about the effects of emotional states and learning and how many kiddos come to mind that have such a hard time at school because they are so often in distress at home. Unfortunately, I see a lot of these same students feeling the same way at school as they struggle to be successful academically or socially. This just shows how important it is to be nurturing to students and do everything we can with the time we have to help students' emotional states.
I love being able to build relationships with my students for so many reasons and after reading this chapter I want to be even more intentional about it this year. Students don't always let you know how much it means to them and the difference it makes but it certainly does.
I remember one of the "ah-ha" moments I had during my first year of teaching. We were learning about fractions (cutting shapes in halves and fourths) in math, and we were letting the students create their own "sandwiches" and "pizzas" to have a real-life application to the content, but I still had several students not making equal pieces. So, I made up a whole story about how my roommate made my lunch one day, and she didn't know how to make a peanut-butter and jelly sandwich and cut it in equal halves. I addressed the student's misconceptions using a fabricated story, but one that had real and personal connections to my life and theirs. I had so many students ask me throughout the rest of the year if my roommate knew yet how to make a correct peanut butter and jelly sandwich. ;) That lesson was probably one of the most memorable from the whole year! This really showed me the power of what so many others have already mentioned, that bringing in personal connections from our lives really does help students to learn. If we can relate things that happen in our lives to things that are happening in our student's lives (like learning how to make a sandwich!) the impact is doubled. I want to be more intentional this year about having students share their interests with me and the class, so that I can connect their interests with things that we are learning about!
A few ideas... *Incorporating student's names into math word problems or short reading stories *Reading books on topics that students are interested in (like Kim G. mentioned) *Star Student weeks/ days to learn individual student interests *Students sharing interests through writing "author's chair" and other celebrations
I agree with the others that our passion for teaching and our love of learning is needed before we can encourage students' to love learning. We, as teachers, need to lead by example. Students will look to us and can pick up on our attitude about what we are teaching. Similarly, if we are excited then they will be more excited. If we are dreading teaching math, then they will dread math class. I also agree with Kayla that by making the learning more personal, students will take more of an interest and connect with the material on a more personal and emotional level. This will also help our students to retain the information and content being taught.
I agree with everyone's comments. we can never underestimate our responsibility to establish and nurture the love of learning in our students and to provide that positive emotional environment. We know the highly volatile situations some of our students live with on a regular basis and how this affects their ability to learn and the brains ability to make connections. This just highlights how imperative it is that they do get that love of learning from their teachers and that we are able to establish that nurturing emotional bound with our students.
I think teachers have a huge impact on their students' emotional state and their love for learning and should be one of the goals of all of the school staff. I think its extremely important to value all that we ask them to do. I totally agree with Dixie, however, and often wonder about the emotional states of the students that witness some of our most severe behavior issues. Are we setting them back just by association? I also think that this chapter highlights the importance of teaching children emotional intelligence skills. So much of what they learn about their emotions are learned from home so we are constantly fighting an uphill battle with those that haven't had the best teaching. Whether it be their behavior or their misconception of what they are or are not good at. I struggle with the balance of our students' emotional states and their academics constantly. The age old question of "how can they focus on learning after _______ has just happened in their lives?" This, of course, is the extreme end of the spectrum. I think the best things we can do for our student's to teach positive thinking even when the undesirable things happen. It truly is a skill that even we as adults have to practice.
I definitely believe that we need to foster a love for learning in our students by modeling this love of learning ourselves. We should show our students that we, as adults, learn something new each day. We need to show them how exciting that is!! If you know your students well, it is easy to pick topics that interest them. Sometimes I will make up or embellish a story that goes along with what I am teaching to excite the students about it. You can also build up suspense or end a lesson on a cliff- hanger. Having students actively engaged in their learning, singing songs about what they are learning about, working together on projects, presenting on a topic, and playing games are all ways to help build students' enthusiasm. I also enjoyed the part in this chapter about celebrating learning. My chemistry teacher in high school always called our tests "celebrations of knowledge." Although "real" celebrations are fun, especially with elementary-aged children, I think it's important for students to see that learning in and of itself can be a celebration!!
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with Lindsey that we as teachers need to foster a love for learning in our students by modeling a love for learning ourselves. I love sharing with my students new things I have learned and I think my students hearing me talk about learning helps them relate more to me as well. I love getting to know what my students are interested in and then incorporating their interests into lessons. In first grade students are still so excited about learning and when you include their interests as well, they love to learn! This coming year I want to really work on actively engaging engaging students in their learning using songs, group projects, and having celebrations after learning. After my students completed the final drafts of their animal research books this year, we had a small celebration where students left their books on their desk and everyone in the class got to go around and look at each student's book. The students loved this! This year I want to take that idea even further and have students put their writing piece and a blank sheet of paper on their desk so that students can write positive comments. This piece of paper would be something students could keep in their writing folders and look back at when they need encouragement during writing time. I definitely want to include more celebration about learning in my classroom this year. We are so happy as teachers when we see students progress and I want to share that celebration with my students as well.
ReplyDeleteWhen reflecting on my childhood, I will always remember by mother and father making an effort to instill a love of learning in me. Weekly trips to the library, nightly bedtime readings, or simply discussing the importance of school are a few of the many things my parents did to excite me about learning. Sadly, children today may not receive this attention at home and come to school lacking excitement and curiosity for learning. This is why it should be teachers’ responsibility to foster a love of learning in our students. The more excited and enthusiastic teachers become about what they’re teaching, the students are more likely to “buy in” to the content and become excited to learn and explore it.
ReplyDeleteIn order to encourage students’ emotional response to learning, teachers must first and foremost become passionate about what they are teaching. Students can sense this feeling and it will become infectious. Also, teachers must always let students know why they are learning something and how it will benefit them. They must constantly relate the content to their students’ lives to engage their emotional response and to access prior knowledge. When students understand the purpose of what they are learning, they will gain a sense of ownership and the material will become meaningful to them. Teachers must also share personal events from their lives. When I do this, my students instantly become engaged and eager to listen. Students need to feel safe in the classroom, and when teachers open up and share personal things from their own lives, it eases the students’ nerves, as they will feel more comfortable to discuss their own lives to the teacher. Teachers need to encourage students to take risks in their learning and that it is ok to make mistakes. When students perform well on assessments, their learning should be celebrated and recognized by not only the teacher, but by the others students as well.
Morgan, I couldn't agree with you more about "teachers must first and foremost become passionate about what they are teaching". That passion will be a positive emotion that our students will see from us and turn it into their positive emotion for the day. No matter what just happened before they entered our room, the positive vibe for learning must be present in our classroom right then and now.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading this chapter, I never was proactive about emotions of my students until the meltdowns occurred and then I would handle them. I like how in this chapter practical suggestions are given such as getting personal and purposeful physical rituals. Getting personal in the library can be implemented through book discussions. I will ask two students each class time to share a book they just read by giving what happened at the beginning, in the middle, and one reason they liked the book. I too will model this suggestion. Singing a chant two minutes before class time is over will help student get organized for dismissal and make them chose a book immediately. This follows the purposeful physical ritual suggestion that students can help me chant.
As many have already said times have changed. Children aren't brought up the way we were. Many children do not come from a nurturing, stable home environment. We have to give the best environment we can at school and we usually become the nurturer for these students. If we show students that we have a valid interest in them they will be more willing to "give" to us: their attention, better work habits, etc. We can show that we are passionate about what we teach and we can work the content around things that interest the child. For instance if I have many baseball players in my class one year I would want to incorporate books about baseball if at all possible. If time allows it would be great to go see the students play one game as well. Not only do students like it when we find out what interests them, like Morgan said, they are typically more engaged when we are sharing about our interests too. When we tie our personal lives and interests in to the content students are seeing that we are real.
ReplyDeleteBeing the Behavior Coach, what I took particular notice of in this chapter is that "Recent studies suggest that the threat of violence in the learning environment, whether real or perceived, can have a negative impact on learning. Under violently threatening circumstances, blood flow decreases in various parts of the brain that are linked to cognition." pg.74. I can't help but think about several of my kiddo's last year and how the other students in their classes were affected. I know what's best for my students, but can't help but wonder if it's best for the rest. Several other children were definitely at a disadvantage at having my students in their class. Breaks my heart. I wish I knew the answer.
ReplyDeleteI also took particular notice of the states of emotions. Most of my kids tend to remain in the Fear/Threat state. on page 72, it says "The brain has 3 choices when confronted with overwhelming threat; We can fight, try to escape, or freeze." That's what my kids tend to do. On page 78, it says that "if a student is not in an appropriate state for the behavior you want, the behavior won't happen until the state is changed. The trick is figuring out how to change states and make that happen in a timely fashion without disrupting the rest of the classes learning. Hum?
While reading this chapter and subsequent chapters that discussed emotional states, I couldn't help but think about specific students in our building who reactivate negative emotional states on a regular basis. When this book was chosen as our school-wide book study, one of my hopes was to change the lives of our students in ways that we never thought we could. The information regarding emotional states and ways to help students monitor and change their own emotional states gives me much hope for those students whose faces I saw when reading. I also thought of some of our terrific teachers who are already implementing practices that help their students control their emotional states. I look forward to seeing how this book study will help change our school so we can change our students for the better!
ReplyDeleteDixie, definitely a tricky balance on your part.
ReplyDeleteMyria, I LOVE the idea of having students share their books to make personal connections. :0)
I couldn't agree more that teachers must foster and share their love of learning in the classroom. When I am excited and passionate about what I am teaching I can definitely see it making a difference with my students. It's so important not only to show my passion as the teacher but also to get them emotionally invested by making the content relatable to the students.
ReplyDeleteIt breaks my heart to read about the effects of emotional states and learning and how many kiddos come to mind that have such a hard time at school because they are so often in distress at home. Unfortunately, I see a lot of these same students feeling the same way at school as they struggle to be successful academically or socially. This just shows how important it is to be nurturing to students and do everything we can with the time we have to help students' emotional states.
I love being able to build relationships with my students for so many reasons and after reading this chapter I want to be even more intentional about it this year. Students don't always let you know how much it means to them and the difference it makes but it certainly does.
I remember one of the "ah-ha" moments I had during my first year of teaching. We were learning about fractions (cutting shapes in halves and fourths) in math, and we were letting the students create their own "sandwiches" and "pizzas" to have a real-life application to the content, but I still had several students not making equal pieces. So, I made up a whole story about how my roommate made my lunch one day, and she didn't know how to make a peanut-butter and jelly sandwich and cut it in equal halves. I addressed the student's misconceptions using a fabricated story, but one that had real and personal connections to my life and theirs. I had so many students ask me throughout the rest of the year if my roommate knew yet how to make a correct peanut butter and jelly sandwich. ;) That lesson was probably one of the most memorable from the whole year! This really showed me the power of what so many others have already mentioned, that bringing in personal connections from our lives really does help students to learn. If we can relate things that happen in our lives to things that are happening in our student's lives (like learning how to make a sandwich!) the impact is doubled. I want to be more intentional this year about having students share their interests with me and the class, so that I can connect their interests with things that we are learning about!
ReplyDeleteA few ideas...
*Incorporating student's names into math word problems or short reading stories
*Reading books on topics that students are interested in (like Kim G. mentioned)
*Star Student weeks/ days to learn individual student interests
*Students sharing interests through writing "author's chair" and other celebrations
I agree with the others that our passion for teaching and our love of learning is needed before we can encourage students' to love learning. We, as teachers, need to lead by example. Students will look to us and can pick up on our attitude about what we are teaching. Similarly, if we are excited then they will be more excited. If we are dreading teaching math, then they will dread math class. I also agree with Kayla that by making the learning more personal, students will take more of an interest and connect with the material on a more personal and emotional level. This will also help our students to retain the information and content being taught.
ReplyDeleteI agree with everyone's comments. we can never underestimate our responsibility to establish and nurture the love of learning in our students and to provide that positive emotional environment. We know the highly volatile situations some of our students live with on a regular basis and how this affects their ability to learn and the brains ability to make connections. This just highlights how imperative it is that they do get that love of learning from their teachers and that we are able to establish that nurturing emotional bound with our students.
ReplyDeleteI think teachers have a huge impact on their students' emotional state and their love for learning and should be one of the goals of all of the school staff. I think its extremely important to value all that we ask them to do. I totally agree with Dixie, however, and often wonder about the emotional states of the students that witness some of our most severe behavior issues. Are we setting them back just by association?
ReplyDeleteI also think that this chapter highlights the importance of teaching children emotional intelligence skills. So much of what they learn about their emotions are learned from home so we are constantly fighting an uphill battle with those that haven't had the best teaching. Whether it be their behavior or their misconception of what they are or are not good at. I struggle with the balance of our students' emotional states and their academics constantly. The age old question of "how can they focus on learning after _______ has just happened in their lives?" This, of course, is the extreme end of the spectrum. I think the best things we can do for our student's to teach positive thinking even when the undesirable things happen. It truly is a skill that even we as adults have to practice.