Know Your Students
Hello
again, I am back for round number two! Last time my blog was discussing
curriculum in the current education system and the impact it had on the lives
of those involved within that curriculum. Today I would like to go more in depth
on the people it affects… the students themselves! Now as an educator it is
important to note that curriculum can be relevant only when it connects to
students’ interests and experiences. This is an important piece of information
for an educator to have because without it they can experience some serious
difficulties motivating their students.
In
order to avoid any difficulties it is suggested that teachers should get to
know their students before meeting them by viewing student records, individual
education plans and portfolios from previous years. This will allow the teacher
to have a basic background on the student and can help them gear lessons
towards their specific needs and interests during the year. Of course reading a
piece of paper in order to get to know someone doesn’t always work because you
learn so much more about somebody by directly interacting with them.
Teachers
can further get a grasp on who their students are by learning from the students
themselves. Getting involved in extracurricular activities with the students
and asking them why they are interested in these activities shows them that you
have an interest in them and their lives. Having basic informal conversations like
this can really help you get an understanding of their motives and what gets
them involved. Using in class personality forms or playing icebreaker games is
also an ideal way to make the students feel more comfortable in the class. Perhaps
starting off by telling them a bit about your personal likes and interests will
relax them enough to tell you about theirs in return.
Once
the year begins to progress a little bit it is important to try and understand
where the students are coming from and perhaps figuring out their social,
cultural and socio-economic backgrounds would be beneficial. This could help
the educator understand why certain students might not have the same motivation
towards certain subjects than others. Having this information could help you
gear lessons towards topics that are more personally related to the culture
that these students come from. It would help them directly relate to the
material and would hopefully give them an external or personal motivation to be
involved in the topic discussions.
One
personal experience I’ve had involved an assignment my placement teacher gave
to her grade eight history class. The overall theme was World War One, which
was clearly found in the curricular expectations for the age-group, but the way
she allowed choice and flexibility on the project gave students the ability to
become self-motivated. The assignment I’m talking about was very vague and
simply involved researching and then presenting on a subject matter that held
any relevance to you (as a student) or held any interest to you (as a student) as
long as it directly related to World War One. The students were so excited that
they had the option to combine the curriculum with their personal interests and
experiences that they immediately began researching on all the different aspect
of World War One that pleased them. Some examples included tanks used during
World War One, women helping from home during the war, medics during World War
One and some did specific battles that interested them.
The
entire process from beginning to end was absolutely flawless and exciting to
see as a future educator because the students quite clearly WANTED to learn.
They were so eager to complete the project that it was as if they didn’t even
notice that they were doing ‘work’. As is proven in most subject areas if there
is internal motivator the result tends to skyrocket upwards. This was a perfect
example of implementing students personal interest and experience to the
curriculum in order to initiate intrinsic motivation.
Not
only did the teacher successfully motivate students but she also found out
about their personal interests and their specific learning styles. This
information helped her shape future lessons towards the specific information
she learned on each students needs.
I’m
nearing the end of my blog here and I hope that as an educator or future
educator this blog gives you some insight and ideas that you could use in your
classroom to combine the curriculum with students’ interests and experiences. At
the end of the day the goal of all educators should be to instill the need and
want to learn. The best way to achieve this ultimate goal is by getting to know
your students and understanding how to intrinsically motivate them.
This is my second good-bye but also my second speak to you
again!
