Sunday Night Synthesis - Week 3 - Buckmiller
Two common themes expressed by all the material presented this week are, that we need to develop a relationship with our students in order to motivate them, and second, we as educators have to show true enthusiasm for what we are teaching. In chapter two of Meet in the Middle, Dr. Wormeli gives seventeen suggestions of ways to keep students motivated. Though all these are relevant, there were two that I related to the most. First is Meeting Learning Needs. In this section Dr. Wormeli talks about how he used the Dunn and Dunn Learning Style Inventory to determine the individual needs of his students. Once having done this, Dr. Wormeli would send a letter home to the students with his assessment results and also with a key last paragraph that stated that these learning needs were neither wrong nor
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One idea that this weeks material generated was realizing that not all sections of a lesson may appeal to all students and to not only focus on the students who are struggling but also to allow the students who enjoyed or did well in the section to do additional work. Encouraging the student to take the assignment up a level on their own will add self-guided learning. My idea then would be to allow the student to apply those extra efforts to an assignment in which they may have earned a poor grade or for students who are very involved whether in athletics or in other academic obligations to also use those extra assignments in weeks when they may not have had the time to complete something to the best of their standard ability. This would reward them for going above and beyond the regular assignment, giving them an ace in the hole or a homework pass. One thing I have noticed about the kids as I have taken the time to build relationships with them is that they are much more involved and have very busy lives compared to when I was in high