I agree that personal identity, an individual's content knowledge, and past experiences all play a mjor role in whether or not students are motivated in a subject. Some students learn more effectively when they already know something about a content area and when topics in the area mean something to them and to their personal background or culture. When teachers link new information to the student's prior knowledge, they activate the students' intersts and curiosities, and link instruction with a sense of purpose. Students enter a course with many experiences and ideas. It is the teacher's responsibility to tap into students' prior knowledge and experiences and use them to motivate the student to learn. I can personally say that subjects that deal with my personal identity and interests are the ones I do well in. Subjects that I feel does not interest me or I feel does not serve a real purpose to me, such as social studies, I do not do well in.
I think that the math/social studies teacher that I follow in my practicum serves as the best example in relating personal interests and motivating ideas to get his class interested in what he is teaching. To teach one of his lessons in math, he showed the students a clip of Chris Brown discussing the same topic that he was going to discuss. The students loved it, and the clip made them more interested in what he was about to teach. In social studies, he allows the students to dress up, bring in foods, and do research with partners on the topic that he teaches. I feel that activately involving students in the topic being taught is the most efficient way to teach students because they get to feel and experience what is being taught. I think his students feel the same way because all of the students love him and say that his class is their favorite class.
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Aydra, I feel the same way that you do. I always do well in a subject when I am interested in the subject matter. Not only do I need to be interested, I need activities that spark my interest. I do not do well with simple lecture even if the subject is interesting.
ReplyDeletePrior knowledge and motivation are clearly tied together, but my question is, how do we activate prior knowledge on every new content? How can we completely know our students well enough to know their prior knowledge. What about kindergarten students that have not been to preschool and have limited experiences from home? These are just some questions that come to mind when thinking about prior knowledge.
I am so glad that you are able to see examples of teachers engaging learners in your clinicals classroom. I unfortunately have not had that experience this semester. I believe that is essential for teachers to motivate students and activate background knowledge in order to help promote successful learners. How do we as teachers expect students to learn content that we don't even have interest in teaching? If we are not motivated that will be reflected in our teaching and our students will not be motivated. I think showing a video clip was a great idea to link to a math lesson. Especially using a popular idol that students admire and can relate to. What do you think is the best strategy for a teacher to use in order to help activate students prior knowledge? I have observed simple strategies such as discussions and K-W-L charts that seem to be very succesful in engaging learners. It enables them to think critically not only about what they know but things they question and want to learn.
ReplyDeleteHi Aydra,
ReplyDeleteYou sound like you are in a really awesome classroom and I bet that your students really like their teach. They are probably learning a lot. I always love that teacher that goes all out to make learning interesting for his/her students.
I have one question, though. How can activate prior knowledge/motivate on every topic? What if students are learning something completely new, something so foreign they have no prior knowledge? And how about if the topic is dull and there really is no way to make it interesting? Any ideas?