Weinstein Ch. 9-11

Ch. 9-

I think this was probably my favorite chapter so far becuase it is about something I find myself really struggling with, increasing students' motivation. On some days, I kind of feel like there is no absolute way I can make this student WANT to learn, thus he wont. If students are self-motivated most things jsut follow. Some ideas on how to increase this, given by the chapter is increasing praise, giving students a choice, and relating content to students lives. If a student can find some kind of motivation, then learning will come so much easier. This is something I want to strive to keep in mind when I am an educator.

Ch. 10-

This chapter was mainly about managing effective independant work. the chapter described ways to manage this by giving clear expectations, asking open ended questions to increase conversation, and monitoring behavior. This is something I have had the chance to first-hand see a non-effective way to facilitate independant work in my current classroom. Because students are not given clear expectations, they basically just do the minimum work with little to no effort.

Ch. 11-

This chapter moved onto managing small group work which has also been something I've seen in my current classroom that has not been so effective. It is simple things that the chapter descirbed as increased engagement, that would be beneficial to the learning environment. I am a huge fan of group work, as I feel like it makes learning more engaging when students are able to talk and collaborate with other students. his will definitely be somehting that I use in my classroom.

Reference: Weinstein, C. S., Romano, M. E., & Mignano, A. J. (2011). Elementary classroom management:Lessons from research and practice, (5th Ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.