Mack Motivation

I believe that I am proficient in establishing a classroom setting that calls upon the students to learn in an individual and collaborative manner. I believe that I have sufficiently encouraged positive social interaction, active engagement in learning, and self motivation. I have shown this in learning activities that have been presented to the students. An example of this would be with the placard assignment, which had the students fill out a sheet that corresponded to four maps to help them figure out what artifacts certain cultural regions would use. During this learning segment, students would have to be self directed after the directions were given, the students would have to use collaborative skills, and they were all engaged during

In “Sponsors of Literacy,” Deborah Brandt explains how all of us are the beneficiaries-individuals, institutions, events, and ideas that make it possible for us to gain literacy or allow our access to literacy. Brandt’s main claim is that a person’s access to literacy is largely dependent on socioeconomic factors. Supporting that main claim, she introduces three sub claims: the first being that there exists a stratification of opportunity; those with wealth and social status; and those who are rich are more likely to be the beneficiaries of literacy development. On the other hand, those of a lower socioeconomic status, those who are ethnically or racially non-white, are less likely to receive the advantages of literacy development. Another

It is unsettling to imagine what my life would be like if my father was not fortunate enough to receive the education and guidance that he had. Maybe my parents would not have left the crime-ridden streets of Johannesburg to seek safer lives. I probably would have followed in my grandfather’s footsteps and worked in the grim conditions of a South African gold mine. Perhaps I would become a discouraged alcoholic like my uncle, working as an underpaid, over-scheduled steel mill welder. It is not possible to know, but in most likelihood, I would not be in the fortunate position I am now. Education is a necessity to attain a prosperous life. A strong educational foundation must concentrate on the skills of reading and writing. Often a quality education is not accessible to lower socioeconomic class citizens, which results in those people remaining stagnant in their current class. In Sherman Alexie’s essay, “The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me”, it is clear that individuals of lower class designations must seek alternate methods to become literate to compensate for the limited opportunities they have due to stereotypes that obstruct access to effective education.

(Woolfolk, 2013) talks about Cooperative learning, which is learning by working and talking to others. This allows participants to engage in discussion, elaborate, question and expand on their knowledge with each other. This can take place within group work, paired work and between teacher and pupil. Vygotsky’s theory suggest that for learning to be successful during social interaction; reasoning, comprehension, critical thinking takes place and then is internalised. Cooperative learning provides the purposes for scaffolding to take place to help advance learning. (Woolfolk,

I approach collaboration as a team player, and I believe students need more than one person to guide them to their full educational potential. Also, active and prepared participation of weekly PLC meetings with the teachers of my special education students to plan collaborative curriculum have increased results in math and reading substantially. Participating in co-teaching furthers my repertoire of knowledge to assist my students. I have learned a vast amount from sharing and consulting with colleagues regarding students, observing mentoring teachers, and planning activities to ensure growth in students.

The beginning of the chapter two included a section that discussed the dilemma of trying to introduce what is learned in the classroom in the work place. I recently just experience the difficultly of trying to utilize material I am currently learning in my EDPH 502 Individual Learning Differences course, at my fieldwork site. I tried to give feedback to my supervisor of how to improve the Puente program and was given a practical response of the program lacking the resources and a full time staff to monitor sections of the program can be improved at the moment. Collaboration was another topic in Chapter two that connected to me at my current employment as a Student Program Advisor for the USC Trio Educational Talent Search (ETS) Program. Ardoin (2014) mentions how an individual has to be patient when searching for a collaborative project. At the moment I am working on assignments that were given to me, but it was only a few months ago that I was asked to collaborate with other colleagues of mine on a project. The inclusion of being asked to assist with a group project allowed my opinion matter and

Collaboration supports children to engage meaningfully with each other. When children collaborate with their teachers and peers, they effectively combine together to join in a deep and wilful desire to co-labour or unpack a series of events on topics of interest and importance. Collaboration has the capacity to provide rich learning environments for children with diverse, corresponding motivations and learning practices. It also produces new engaging challenges and opportunities for children to express their thoughts and feelings. These combine to enrich and transform the relationships children have with the subject material and enhance their relationships with peers and

“Educators have known for quite some time that building a collaborative culture in which people work together interdependently to fulfill their shared purpose and achieve their common goals is an essential strategy for sustained school improvement,” (DuFour & DuFour, 2008, p. 173). ISLLC Standard 1, working toward a shared vision is an exemplified in this process; and Sorenson & Goldsmith note that encouraging people to collaborate is a one of the ten most wanted strategies for school a positive school culture (p.

Collaborative learning stems from the theory of Vygotsky’s conception of Zone of proximal development. The thought is that children learn best with “help and guidance” (Ormrod, 2012). In transitioning this zone to a collaborative learning experience, children work with their peers in broadening their learning experience, allowing small groups of students to work together to share knowledge, exchange ideas, problem solve, and more. These classroom environments help to create durable abilities in students and aid in producing a “smoother integration into adult society when the activities resemble real-world tasks” (Ormrod, 2012). As students work with peers and adults, they adopt some of the learning strategies demonstrated and develop more skills in problem solving. This scaffolding creates a trickle-down effect of knowledge construction. In collaborative learning, students are afforded a myriad of enriching opportunities to explore perspectives that may differ from their own. These activities serve to create a self-awareness in the student of their responsibilities to a group, requiring them to self-monitor their activity (Lee, Tsai, Chai, & Koh, 2014).

In Scenario 2, Mr. Collet’s homework policy promotes best practices with positive social interaction because he permits his students to develop the homework assignments during class which encourages collaboration and peer-sharing among the students. According to research collaboration promotes a deeper understanding of homework content and inspires a higher motivation to remain on task (Wnet Education, 2004). Students have an opportunity to connect with their teacher and colleagues by asking questions, providing input, or requesting clarification. This policy would also prove beneficial to students who struggle with interpersonal communication because they may benefit from the controlled and structured environment that collaboration provides.

Collaboration between students is part of the learning process, in fact collaboration "…fosters effective learning and community building," according to Andrea Cottrell with California State University in Sacramento. In a classroom situation, collaboration with peers helps students be comfortable with each other, and from a teaching aspect peer-review collaboration "gain proficiency" in their written narratives, and it gives more responsibility to the students taking some pressure off of the instructor (Cottrell, 2007, p. 3).

Once literacy is assumed as a multifaceted social practice, literacy education is observed as teaching students into the dissertations and social performances of the literate groups. To achieve this, both a communication method of filling students with evidence and truths, and a drill method of teaching them in isolated decoding abilities, become similarly flawed.

“Through collaboration, ideas can be shared, new and better strategies can be developed, problems can be solved, students’ progresses can be better monitored, and their outcomes are evaluated effectively.”¬ (Lee, 1996).

"Collaboration is something that we must continuously work on, not just professionally, but as an important life skill. One thing that we must remember is that children learn from adult interactions. What are we teaching them about respect, communication, and cooperation?"

Fundamentally the role of the classroom teacher is to implement strategies to support, engage and extend the learning of all individuals. In order for this to occur we need to also consider how we involve, collaborate and communicate with parents, fellow colleagues and specialised teachers. Ashman and Elkins (2008) state that teachers need to make themselves aware of the support systems they can access or create to support the needs of all students. This in turn will ultimately enhance teaching potential allowing teachers to fully maximise learning for all. I personally believe that collaboration is not only essential to the professional growth of teachers (Cramer & Stivers, 2007), but a vital key when acting in the best interest of the students and their families.