Task 5 Domain 2 - Subgroup A

I hope I have done this assignment correctly.. ha ha ha!

I began my research on Classroom Management and Student Motivation by visiting Edutopia.com. Here I found an article titled Connecting to the 21st Century. What a fun article to read! In the elementary classroom, even my students know more than I do about texting, websites, Facebook, MySpace, and video games. I can often learn from them about the technology we have around. But this also means, as a teacher, we are constantly competing with the bright lights and booming sounds of television and video games. When thinking about technology in the classroom, I know this is a way to motivate those "unmotivated" students in my classroom. Those students who have the "I don't care" attitude need stimulation from things they are interested in such as television and video games. If teachers can utilize these teaching tools, classroom management would not be an issue. The students would be interested, and behavioral issues would not be as predominant and teachers would then be able to motivate through instruction with those tools.

As I continued my research, I found a video that I just couldn't pass up. The video was found through a yahoo search, and it was about Power Teaching. What an upbeat and powerful way to motivate student learning through movement and peer teaching. You have to see the video. In my classroom, at the Kindergarten level, these style of instruction would be very motivating to the students. They see me do it, hear me say it, then they try it, then they teach to their peers. What a great way to get everyone involved. So, perhaps peer teaching would be an instructional method that could motivate learning and help with classroom management.

Searching through blogs, I was also able to find a blog that sounded very interesting. It was titled, Motivating Students Through Self Goal Setting. As reading through, I was trying to see how I could get kindergarten students to set goals for themselves. At this early age, it is important that I teach them what goals are and what goal setting means. Encouraging this at an early age will hopefully motivate them throughout their career. It is amazing what a little bit of self worth does for a student. Making them responsible for their successes and not just what they do wrong, is extremely motivating. I think what I am interested in learning more about, is helping elementary students (even as young as kindergarten) reflect on their own behavior and what they can do to motivate themselves.