Portfolios and Career Readiness: A Need for New Assessments

Portfolios and Career Readiness
A Need for New Assessments
 

              In the preface of James Popham’s book Classroom Assessment: What Teachers Need to Know, he says, “Eons ago…Pressure to raise our students’ scores on those achievement exams was nonexistent. We taught pretty much as we saw fit. But, of course, the world of education is different today – much different.”  So, my question is, if the world of education is so much different, then why do we continue to assess in the same way?

              One assessment trend that is becoming more popular, and moving away from memorization and regurgitation, is portfolio assessments. Popham defines portfolio assessments as, “…a systematic collection of one’s work” (2017, p.220). The new rise in portfolio assessments, is largely due to their relevance to the real world. Portfolio assessments are fairly new in education but have been used for years in other fields. In fact, many teachers who use portfolios do so because of their transference into career fields. An article by Edutopia called The Power of Portfolios: A Positive Practice, details how secondary schools in Pittsburgh are using portfolios to assess students. The article explained, “The best way to assess a person’s abilities and understanding in these fields is to review samples of their work. That is why professionals in these fields compile portfolios” (1997, p.1).  Those schools and teachers that are implementing portfolio assessments see the task as more meaningful and more insightful than your typical selected and constructed response assessments. The process becomes meaningful in participating in self-reflection and self-assessment. Kathy Howard, one of those Pittsburgh teachers said, “Student reflection opened the door to what was missing in my experience and my knowledge as a writing teacher. There is a shift in the power base from teacher to students. Students start looking at models of good writing and setting their own criteria and standards for good work” (Edutopia, 1997).

              Other schools beyond Pittsburgh have seen success in implementing portfolios. Impact Academy in California reported 70 percent of their students scored proficient or above on the California Standardized Test for Algebra, compared to 36 percent statewide (Lenz, 2014). This report stands out because a lot of our current assessments are used to prepare students for standardized testing. However, the use of portfolios to teach students to become thinkers, not simply test takers, is showing success even on standardized testing.

              So how would a teacher begin to implement portfolios in their classroom. Edutopia published an article by Vicki Davis titled 11 Essentials for Excellent Digital Portfolios. The article suggests ways of implementation, such as, including a variety of content, create a specific timeline, and connecting the portfolio to the coursework. To follow Davis' instructions more in depth, follow the link below.
https://www.edutopia.org/blog/11-essentials-for-excellent-eportfolios-vicki-davis.

Personally, I feel this is a very great starting off point; however, there is one important element that the list is missing, rubrics. If you are to use these portfolios as a form of assessment, then there needs to be guidelines on how to asses them.

              Putting Rubrics to a Test by Heidi L. Andrade, suggests using rubrics because, “…when using as part of a formative, student-centered approach to assessment, rubrics have the potential to help students develop understanding and skill, as well as make dependable judgments about the quality of their own work.” To include an effective rubric, there needs to be three important features:

1.       Evaluative criteria

2.       Descriptions of qualitative differences for all evaluative criteria

3.       An indication of whether a holistic or analytic scoring approach is to be used

(Popham, 2017, p.203)

Even with there being three distinctive things to include, they can be adaptive to the teacher and the student needs. For example, if you want the scoring to be quicker and an overall look at the project, you would employ a holistic approach. However, if you want a more detailed insight into individual components, you can award points to each element, having a more analytic approach.

              My final suggestion for using rubrics to assess portfolios is to be aware of errors in scoring. Popham suggest being aware of three reasons that scoring errors can occur. Those reasons are: scoring instrument flaws (lack of descriptive rigor), procedural flaws (overwhelming number of evaluative criteria), and teacher’s personal-bias errors. Just like any form of assessment, the teacher needs to review their assessment procedures, have a colleague assist, and evaluate for fairness.

              The suggestion to use portfolios as means of assessment comes back to the discussion on why and how we assess students to begin with. Kieran Egan hit the nail on the head when he wrote the article Testing What for What? Egan argues the point that one main purpose of education is socialization. Egan said, “Testing how well students perform on academic tasks is not a good way to determine their future job possibilities and prospects. It does not efficiently promote education’s socializing role, and it undermines the academic role” (p.29). If socialization is a fundamental part of education, then schools such as Pittsburgh, who are implementing portfolios, are ahead of the game. They are preparing students for real world experiences, while assessing them, so that we might continue to help them improve their academic and future career goals.

             

References

Andrade, H. L., Du, Y., & Want, X. (n.d.). Putting Rubrics to the Test: The Effect of a Model, Criteria Generation, and Rubric-Referenced Self-Assessment on Elementary School Students' Writing. University of Albany, SUNY.

Davis, V. (2017, November 17). 11 Essentials for Excellent Digital Portfolios. Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/11-essentials-for-excellent-eportfolios-vicki-davis

Edutopia. (1997, July 01). The Power of Portfolios: A Positive Practice. Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/power-portfolios

Egan, K. (2003). Testing What for What?Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Lenz, B. (2014, April 14). The Power of Performance Assessments. Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/the-power-of-performance-assessments-bob-lenz

Popham, J. W. (2017). Classroom Assessment What Teachers Need to Know(8th ed.). Pearson.

Almost a School Shooter

Almost a School Shooter

One of the most current and controversial conversations in education right now, is that of school shootings. Common media topics revolving around school shootings include gun control, mental health, arming teachers, tougher security, and red flags. Just to name a few. Aaron Stark, who  is known for his TED Talk I Was Almost a School Shooter, commented on the debate of mental health and gun control. He said, “If I had possessed a rifle, I would have been a killer, but if I had known love, I would never have wanted a rifle.” An incredibly important statement on the power of love.

All aspects of this controversial conversation are important, but one aspect that has had more attention than in past years, is the emphasis on mental health. The concept being, if you can help these kids who are struggling with depression and anxiety, among other mental health issues, then you can prevent their final outlet of harming someone else. 

In Aaron Starks TED Talk he describes his moment of wanting to commit a mass shooting. The decision occurred in his darkest moment. He was homeless, a victim of abuse and bullying, and after turning himself into social services for cutting himself, his own mother told him next time she'd buy him the razor blade. What Aaron Stark endured was trauma. There have been multiple studies that prove abuse and trauma affect the brain. For Aaron, he wanted a way out of the pain. He was ready to be done, but first he needed an outlet, and his outlet would be to to hurt as many people as possible. 

So what stopped him? Friendship. Aaron had set up a deal to get a gun within three days, and in those three days Aaron said his friend, "Treated him like a person when he didn't feel like a human." Aaron describes his friend's actions as simple, but having a deep impact. To me, Aaron's message goes even beyond the discussion of gun control and mental health, but to a person's character. His friend's character.

The need for character education goes beyond classroom management and helping create citizens who are equipped for the workforce, it's about creating a society that learns to lift instead of break. A society that can disagree without resorting to violence. A society that can actively listen and work towards understanding and empathy. Aaron Stark stressed, "Love people who you feel least deserve it, because they need it the most." 

I'm not saying that we make education to where students never have to deal with adversity, but in a society where the media, including social media, allow children 24 hour access to hate filled topics and poor examples of how to handle disagreements and approaching differences, we need something in our society to counter balance this. Yet another heavy responsibility for teachers, but when has our job ever been easy?

I am not naive to the difficulties of incorporating another subject into my day. Time constraints is a real struggle. But, there are so many incredible programs, resources, books, videos, and much more, to help support teaching character education. Aaron's story is just one example of how powerful one person's act of kindness can be. We need to be sharing more stories like Aaron. We need to be teaching character education.Our students need it, our society needs it.  

More Marshmallows, Please!

    

I Just Can't Wait

Can you?

       One of the most popular lessons in psychology, besides Pavlov’s dog training and Skinner’s reinforcement theory, is Mischel and Ebbesen’s marshmallow test. For those who are not familiar with the marshmallow test, here is a quick video summarizing their work. 

        The original findings of this test was that young children who showed self-control at a young age, and could wait for the second marshmallow, were more likely to be successful later in life.

Interestingly enough, this study was replicated, with a few changes, but the results were significantly different. The original sample of 90 kids, were enrolled in the Stanford preschool, easy access for a Stanford researcher. The new study, conducted by Tyler W. Watts of New York University, included 900 children, all from different demographics. Another change was Watts cut down the required 15/20-minute wait time of the second marshmallow, to seven minutes. Perhaps a bit more developmentally appropriate for a four-year-old.

Just like Mischel, Watts' followed up with the subset group of children who were able to delay gratification and wait the time for the second marshmallow. However, instead of corroborating the original findings, Watts' found that the ability for the children to wait had very little positive impacts on them later in life. Even more so, “…this effect was nearly obliterated when the children’s backgrounds, home environment, and cognitive ability at age four were accounted for” (Hendricks, 2018, pg.1). Based on the new study, Watts was able to come to the following conclusion, “, "Our results show that once background characteristics of the child and their environment are taken into account, differences in the ability to delay gratification do not necessarily translate into meaningful differences later in life." They also added "We found virtually no correlation between performance on the marshmallow test and a host of adolescent behavioral outcomes. I thought that this was the most surprising finding of the paper” (Hendricks, 2018, pg.1). 

         Even though the study produced new and interesting results, the most intriguing part of the study was a possible connection between those children who waited for the second marshmallow and affluent parents. Even though the ability to delay gratification doesn’t correlate to the child’s ability to be successful later in life, it can be an insight into the child’s economic background. I have a few possible theories to this finding.

1.     It is entirely possible that there is a correlation between children delaying gratification and socioeconomic status. For children of poverty, there might not be a guarantee of food, let alone a treat. For them, there could be a risk in waiting.

2.      If a child is living in poverty, there is a likelihood they are experiencing more than one at risk factor. Poor nutrition, one parent household, lack of parental education. These at risk factors can impact brain development and IQ. Self control is connected to the frontal cortex. Could at risk factors directly relate to the lack of development of the frontal cortex?

3.     The children who were able to delay gratification were able to because of their exposure to different experiences in which they have seen the positive outcomes of waiting. Such as: waiting for a large gift or vacation, their meals end with dessert, or getting an allowance for chores.

       The replication of the study highlighted two important points for me. The first being the strong impact home life can have on a child's future success and opportunities. The study found that the children in similar demographics were in similar places 11 years later. Their socioeconomic status played a bigger role in where they were at age 15, than if they delayed eating the marshmallow. As a teacher, this places even more importance on our education system. We cannot control where our students come from, but we can continue to study and understand how good teaching and safe environments can help counter the effects of an at risk home environment. The second point is the importance of re-evaluating experiments that might not be able to be generalized to a newer population. Without Watts' new study, we would still be teaching to the same marshmallow test. 

     

 I want to end this blog by leaving something to ponder, perhaps a discussion for another day. This video is about the topic of self-control and the frontal cortex. It seems studies, such as the marshmallow test, are focused on our desire to instill self-control in children, but this video addresses the notion that in some cases, a lack of self-control might be a good thing. I found it interesting and thought provoking. Enjoy!

References and Articles

Marshmallows for Everybody! (2019, January 24). Retrieved from https://bigthink.com/mind-brain/new-marshmallow-experiment?rebelltitem=1#rebelltitem1

https://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/a-new-study-says-marshmallow-test-is-awful-at-predicting-which-kids-will-be-successful-but-great-at-identifying-kids-with-rich-parents.html

https://www.psychologicalscience.org/publications/observer/obsonline/a-new-approach-to-the-marshmallow-test-yields-complex-findings.html

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/new-research-marshmallow-test-suggests-delayed-gratification-doesnt-equal-success-180969234/

Unschooling: A Needed Revolution or Ineffective Anarchy

         I don’t think I have come across a topic in grad school that has made me feel so conflicted as unschooling. Instinctively, as a public educator, when I read about parents unschooling, my defenses are automatically up. I have spent years of my life, and thousands of dollars in student loan debt, to be formally educated in the world of teaching. Beyond my knowledge of teaching, my heart is fully dedicated to my job. I believe wholeheartedly that education can be a saving grace for a child’s life and is one of the most important components in a society. Education can be the great equalizer. With that said, when I hear a parent say that their child is better off playing video games all day then in a classroom, I tend to shoot steam out my ears. However, after reading the article We Don’t Need No Education by Ben Hewitt, and watching a documentary Life Is: A Look into the World of Unschooling, I budged a bit on my stance.

         Besides being a teacher, I am also a mother. A mother to a very rambunctious, curious, too smart for his own good, three-year-old boy. I have seen so many amazing outcomes of education, but I’ve also been witness to teachers who are clearly there for the wrong reasons. On top of poor instruction,  I have seen bullying, students being ignored, too much emphasis on testing, and many more short comings. The idea of my son having to be exposed to some of those things makes the momma bear instincts come out. I would be lying if the idea of keeping my son home where he can openly pursue things of his interest in a safe and supportive environment, didn’t sound intriguing. However, just because I want to keep my son safe and happy, doesn’t mean that’s what is best for him in the long run.  

             The benefits of unschooling are pretty obvious. Unschooling capitalizes on learning because you are interested in it. There have been multiple studies that show children are more motivated to learn when they have a personal interest in the topic. Unschooling allows a child to pursue the areas they are curious about.. Unschooling also builds off natural talents. Proponents of unschooling have expressed concerns that traditional schools focus too much on a child’s weaknesses and make them feel inadequate. Unschooling helps compensate for weaknesses by building off the child’s strengths. Overall, the assets of unschooling are the high motivation, the ability to be more active, the real-world learning opportunities, and the focus on what is interesting to the child. These positive factors should not be dismissed.

        The TED Talk above, Unschooling: Making the World Our Classroom, discusses some of the benefits of unschooling, or worldschooling, as they call it. This example is an extreme one, as the parent was able to fully immerse their child in worldly travels. Because of these travels, he was able to become fluent in foreign languages, beyond numerous other skills. One of the mother’s claims was, “My son could learn way more in six weeks of travel, than in a full year of 5^th grade.” She also discussed how unschooling needs to be a partnership between parent and child, with the parent being a facilitator that can help unlock that natural curiosity of being a learner. This is wonderful example of how powerful unschooling can be. However, not all families have the opportunity to take their children on worldly adventures, just as not everyone has the ability to raise their children on 43 acres of Vermont forestry, such as Ben Hewitt. Even still, a dedicated parent who is fully committed to teaching their child, I'm certain, will provide many opportunities for learning.

         As for the weaknesses, the lack of structure and possible social implications later in life, are just a few that come to mind. The documentary I referred to earlier, Life Is: A Look into the World of Unschooling, was produced and narrated by a student of unschooling. 

Although Samuel was very poised and seemed more mature than 18, even he had some criticisms for unschooling. One element  of unschooling is having children learn natural limits through their own mistakes. After living unschooling, Samuel felt there needed to be a more, “middle of the road” approach to limits. He recalls never being forced to brush his teeth, which resulted in painful dental procedures for him and thousands of dollars in bills for his parents. He spoke how his experience was just one example of how unschooling can lack in necessary structure. He said, “It’s okay for a parent to step in and help a child avoid a painful mistake.” Another example of the unstructured nature was one family he interviewed, claimed they had little limits on technology exposure. During the interview, the parents sat to the side as their young child played Grand Theft Auto. Now, I'm not a video game enthusiast, but I do know that GTA includes hookers, armed robbery, violence, and yes, grand theft auto. Not exactly the learning opportunities I would want for a young child. There have been numerous studies on how prolonged exposure to media can be harmful to children. Call it a difference in parenting, but sometimes my job is to say no. Yes, I want my child to learn from his mistakes, but as an adult I understand the importance of bedtimes, good nutrition, limited technology, and good dental hygiene.

        In a blog, I’m Unschooled. Yes, I Can Write, the author is a student of unschooling. Although most of the posts praise the uses and outcomes of unschooling, one post was specifically geared towards the weaknesses. The author spoke about a lack of support. Social interactions, especially for younger children, would need to be organized by the adults. Socialization is a crucial skill for children and without multiple opportunities a child might not form proper social skills. In the documentary, Samuel praised his parents for encouraging him to socialize in multiple settings, but also met children who he admitted, “Should have been pushed more.” They had a hard time holding conversations and participating in anything social, and because part of unschooling is not forcing a child to do something, the parents never helped them overcome their social anxiety. Another downfall discussed in the blog, was the lack of participation in milestone moments, such as graduation. Although the author said this hadn’t negatively affected them, having these celebrations, can have an impact on an individuals identity and be an important right of passage. 

        Additional weaknesses of such education can be creating a lack of respect for authority. If a child has ever been told they don’t have to do something, what is going to occur when that child is now an adult with deadlines and a boss to answer to? As I said before, I would love to keep my son home for him to explore the world based on his heart’s desires; but, I also am a working adult in society and I understand that’s not always how the world is going to work. I want him to be set up for being told no, having to work through things that aren’t necessarily enjoyable, and be able to be presented with multiple opportunities in education, not just the ones I can provide for him. 

         I am glad that I took this opportunity to look further into unschooling. Before I had a very judgmental attitude to the practice, but now, I understand more of the ideas behind the movement. I’m sure that unschooling is the right fit for some families, such as Hewitt, and if the parents are committed to the hard-work unschooling takes, then I’m sure they will create fully educated children. For me, I’m going to continue my faith in the classroom education system. While I was discussing this concept with my husband, who is a lawyer, he summarized my thoughts perfectly. He said, “Just because I think the legal system has flaws, doesn’t mean we should just throw the whole system out.” This is true for our education system. Yes, it isn’t perfect, it needs work, it needs some reinventing, but I’m not going to say we should just get rid of it. I will stick to my schooling, but say good luck to all those who take on the challenge of unschooling.

References

Desmarais, I. (1970, January 01). The Cons of Unschooling. Retrieved from http://yes-i-can-write.blogspot.com/2010/01/cons-of-unschooling.html

Hewitt, B. (2019, April 17). Why You Should Take Your Kids Out of School. Retrieved from https://www.outsideonline.com/1928266/we-dont-need-no-education

Studios, Y. (2019, January 08). Life Is. | A Look Into the World of Unschooling. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gR_Tf56w9Wg&t=2400s

Desmarais, I. (1970, January 01). The Cons of Unschooling. Retrieved from http://yes-i-can-           write.blogspot.com/2010/01/cons-of-unschooling.html

Hewitt, B. (2019, April 17). Why You Should Take Your Kids Out of School. Retrieved from  https://www.outsideonline.com/1928266/we-dont-need-no-education

Studios, Y. (2019, January 08). Life Is. | A Look Into the World of Unschooling. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gR_Tf56w9Wg&t=2400s

Talks, T. (2016, April 21). Unschooling: Making the world our classroom | Lainie Liberti & Miro Siegel | TEDxAmsterdamED. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bH-kQJ10WWo

Identifying Your Identity

As a teacher and a mother of a two year old, I deal with power struggles on a daily basis. I remember reading something about how a toddler's brain is in conflict every two to three minutes. I'm not sure if I've ever heard anything more real in my life. 


To keep my sanity and to make sure that I'm encouraging healthy behaviors in my students and my son, I'm constantly trying to figure out how to build good habits of motivations in kids. In my search for information, I came across an article in Psychology Today by Dr. Michael Mascolo, titled What Really Motivates Kids. The article discussed the ideas of how parents use rewards, punishments, and intrinsic motivation to help influence their children's behavior. Some of the tactics discussed were power assertion, love withdrawal, and value induction. Despite all three of these tactics being useful, the one thing that Dr. Mascolo claimed was the strongest motivating factor, was identity. 

Dr. Mascolo said, "We are, in part, who we think we are.  We are, in part, the mindset through which we view ourselves and the world."

He continued to explain how our motives and motivations come from our own personal identity of who we want to be. 

This idea of identity brought me back to a recent observation of an interaction between my niece and her mother. My niece is five and has been expressing her independent side by insisting on dressing herself. This particular evening we were all going to see a play and her mother did not approve of the outfit my niece picked out. The power struggle ensued as her mother tried to convince her to change. However, my strong willed niece refused. She explained that she had picked out these clothes because she loved them and wanted to wear them out. After some compromising and tears, my niece, and her mother, were content on the outfit. 

I bring up this incident because it was a clear moment when my niece was trying to express who she is. From the outside it seemed like a disobedient child looking for an argument, but in reality it was a child learning the boundaries between pleasing her parents, but holding on to her own identity. 

Mentalhealth.net published an article Early Childhood Emotional and Social Development: Identity and Self Esteem by Angela Oswalt. Oswalt explained that, "By age 3, children have developed their Categorical Self, which is a concrete way of viewing themselves." Although the labels are concrete, this means that by age 3 children are already forming their own identity, and acting upon that identity. 

Elements that can impact a child's development of identity are praise, temperament, the environment, and peers. To help a child build a positive self identity, creating a safe environment to experience successes and failures is very important. 

To further this idea of motivating children based on their identity, Jennifer Nacif spoke on this exact idea in Houston. 

So, my final thought on this idea of motivating my students and my own child, is to know them. Let their identity shine through and openly support that identity. Encourage the best self that they are and allow for expression. Know them. 

Lighting of a Fire

"Education is NOT the filing of a bucket, but the lighting of a fire." - W.B. Yeats

        Big Idea: Intrinsic Motivation

              The big topic I chose to write about was intrinsic motivation. I selected this topic because of how important motivation for student success is, and the impacts classroom management can have on intrinsic motivation.

              I was very intrigued by the article Punished by Rewards by Alfie Kohn. While reading his article my internal dialogue went something like this:

              Oh, I’m doing that. Oh, no!

              I’m already doing that. Great!

              I can do that!

One specific moment of reflection came from Kohn’s comment on praise. One strategy of my classroom management is positive praise for students who are behaving correctly. In my mind, I felt I was correcting undesirable behavior by exemplifying good behavior. However, after reading Kohn’s point on how this can cause an undesirable effect, and how I just turned learning into an, “act of triumph,” I realized that this simple action could be negatively impacting my students intrinsic motivation. With that said, I will no longer be using this strategy. 

              One aspect I felt validated on, was my actions of creating an accepting classroom community. I have never been one that has highly relied on punishment and rewards. Not because I'm up to date on all the recent research, or searched every TED Talk on the harms of extrinsic motivation, but rather because my strength has always been the relationships with my students. I regard my students as my children. I never go a day without saying I love them, I know what pushes them, and I know what makes them tick. I’m sure to some who enter my room, they might see some of my management as too soft. However, my students feel valued and each one can articulate how I show my love for them, and why I love them. My classroom is a safe space and I have rarely raised my voice, singled out a student, or ridiculed a student for poor performance. Kohen states, “…helping kids feel part of a safe environment in which they feel free to ask for help, in which they come to care about one another as opposed to having be manipulated to share or not be mean” (Kohn, 1995, p.1). This 100% solidified my belief in how a classroom MUST be a safe environment for ALL students.

              The final take away from the Kohn article, was the need to offer my students more choice. Currently we are working on research projects of the solar system. We are practicing good note taking habits and I usually offer up the three main ideas to find information on for a particular topic. However, after  reading the article, watching the power point, and doing some research on my own, I now have planned to provide two topics for the students, but the third will be a choice that they are interested in. I am excited to see the topics that they come up with and even more excited to see the increase in the desire to learn. Perhaps I will have to write a follow up to share my findings after implementation.

              Continuing on this journey of how to increase intrinsic motivation in my classroom, I stumbled across an article on informED, titled 25 Ways to Cultivate Intrinsic Motivation by Saga Briggs. I was immediately drawn to the article because it began with a quote by W.B. Yeats. Yeats said, “Education is not the filing of a bucket, but the lighting of a fire.” I immediately attached myself to this quote because all this information came full circle for me. Education is not about validating and praising, which I do plenty of, but rather instilling a desire to learn. Yes, I need to create a safe place, and a room of acceptance, but the overall goal is inquiry.

              The article presented a short video on the topic of motivation in the workplace. The video addressed the concept of rewards as use of motivation, but explained the research behind the fact that rewards only went so far, and in fact, in some cases hindered performance. I appreciated the video because it took me out of the mind frame of a teacher, and allowed me to view my own reasons for motivations as an adult. I am attaching the video to this blog for anyone who is interested. It’s definitely worth the view.

              The other take away from this article was the incredible list of ways to cultivate intrinsic motivation. So many times, research simply points to the notion that intrinsic motivation is better for student success, but the actual suggestions of how to do this is missing. Some of the most prominent suggestions I now have in my teacher toolbox are as follows and how I will implement the suggestions:

1: Atlassian Autonomy: This Australian company does a “Fed Ex” day where the employees get to work on a topic of their choice for 24 hours. They then get to present their findings with their colleges. This is something I am for sure going to do with my students, I just need to figure out the specifics. Once I do, this will definitely be a follow up blog.

2. Make students feel that education is a choice, not a requirement: This comes back to the punishment in the classroom. Focus on the effort, not the mistakes.

3. For management, expect self-direction, not compliance: I cannot gauge learning based on quiet and stillness. I need to gauge it on interest and self-direction.

4. Give accurate and authentic performance feedback: I want to eliminate in the moment praise and focus on individual conferences and feedback.

5. Model intrinsic behavior yourself: Allowing discussion of my own goals and motivations will facilitate discussions between myself and my students on the importance of goals and motivation.  

My final take away from this reflection on intrinsic motivation is there are things that I am already doing that cultivates intrinsic motivations, there are things I need to stop doing so I don’t hinder such motivation, and there are things I can implement to increase intrinsic motivation. This assignment was wonderful in helping me analyze what I am doing as a teacher, and put in place goals to help me create an even healthier learning environment for my students. 

             

References 

Briggs, Sara. “25 Ways to Cultivate Intrinsic Motivation.” InformED, 5 July 2016, www.opencolleges.edu.au/informed/features/intrinsic-motivation/.

Kohn, Alfie. “Punished by Rewards?: A Conversation with Alfie Kohn.” Alfie Kohn, 14 Nov. 2014, www.alfiekohn.org/article/punished-rewards-article/.

Purpose

I can assume, that anyone who goes into teaching for the right reasons, goes into the profession with the desire to make a difference. With the chance of sounding cheesy, true educators, do what they do, because they want to change the world one child at a time.

I know this is what drives me.

On occasion I find myself thinking, what if? What if I had perused Pepperdine (despite the tuition)? What if I had continued perusing a career in acting? What if I decided against spending an extra two years to get my elementary liscensure? Would I be happier? Would I be lost? Would I leave a legacy on this world?

What I do know, is I would have never been blessed with knowing so many wonderful children. My job is not luxurious. In fact, I sometimes think teachers are some of the most unappreciated, not to mention underpaid, people in the world. We bust our butts, way more than 8 hours a day, to either make a parent, administrator or student upset. Everyday you're met with multiple struggles that are exhausting and sometimes disheartening, but despite all the headaches, there's a reason to grin and bear it...those kids.

I have been blessed with an amazing group of kids this year. Don't get me wrong, they have their challenges, but they're good kids, and they have only further proven that I have made the right decision in my career choices.

There's one student in particular that has really made a difference in my life, his name is Gavin, and Gavin is amazing!

When I got my class list this summer, the first thing anyone did was warn me, "You need to be ready for Gavin." "Gavin's going to test you." "Gavin spent almost everyday in the office." "Gavin doesn't trust anyone and no one trusts him."

Now, I understand the warnings, from the sounds of things, he had a rough couple years so far, but his actions, while wrong, were to be expected.

Gavin comes from a horribly broken home. As far as I can conclude from conversations, dad's in jail and has rarely been around. Gavin as 6 half siblings. Last year, him and his siblings were removed from their mother's custody and placed in their aunts house. Bless his aunt, though raising her own kids and working more than one job, has done a great job at taking care of these kids.

Now, although Gavin's mom lost custody, she's still allowed visitation. Of course all visitation is done whenever mom is short on drug money, which she has no problem taking from her children.

I'm not a psychologist, but it seems to me that a child going through so much dysfunction, is probably going to act out.

Well...after a semester, Gavin isn't even the same person. When I met Gavin, I promised myself that I would not label this kid. I was going to let him start fresh. My number one goal was to prove to him that there were adults that were not going to leave him, that actually wanted to fight for him. And fight for him I have.

Gavin has gone from daily office referrals to a whole month without being removed from classes. He has formed friendships with students who used to see him as an annoyance. His grades have gone up and his effort in class has flourished. Most of all, he has learned to trust. He knows that even if he makes a mistake, it doesn't change the fact that I care about him, and under no circumstances am I going to give up on him.

I know that I have made a difference in his life, just as he has changed mine.

This is why I do what I do. This is why I will always be certain that I did something amazing with my life. I know, because of Gavin.

His Christmas card to me.