Answers to EDPY Exam 3 Essays

Describe three ways teachers can foster learning using positive affect in the classroom.  Be sure to include concrete examples of your strategies.

Positive affect is the concept explaining that connecting positive emotions to the learning experience can lead to desirable outcomes.  Perhaps the most important way for a teacher to promote positive affect is by utilizing the power of empathy.  When a teacher is excited about the material and in a good mood, students are likely to follow.  Of course the downside is that if a teacher is apathetic, the students will pick up on this and be more likely to zone out.  This can be taken advantage of by putting a big focus on behaving excitedly when teaching a subject or concept notorious for being “boring” to students or a concept for which few people see practical application. 

It is also important to avoid negative affect in order to promote positive affect.  Teachers need to build a nurturing learning environment in which students feel safe (and even good about) sharing their ideas and giving answers.  Foster a classroom in which it is unacceptable to put down other people’s ideas.  If a student feels comfortable sharing an idea (especially an unusual one) positive affect is most likely to be experienced.  Sharing is an important part of any classroom and this is one of the best ways to foster that.  Including students in making rules about discussions is a good way to do this.  Talk about “Golden Rule”-like ideas.  “How would you feel if someone thought you asked a silly question?”  Promoting active listening and fearless participation is key for all students.

Getting the students excited and interested in a topic is also a good way to promote positive affect.  This can be done by allowing them some autonomy when it comes to choosing topics for papers or research projects.  Personal interests can also be worked into common lessons.  My physics instructor would work funny stories and scenarios into his exams.  While physics was difficult for me, coupling this exam method with his engaging lecture style gave me good feelings about his class and in connection, the material.  If a student has good emotions to couple with material, they are very likely to perform better when asked about the material.

Ms. Gomez is ready to start today's lesson with her seventh-grade honors algebra class. As the students loudly enter the classroom and find their seats, she notices that Alyssa, a gifted student who always outperforms the rest of the class, is unusually quiet. Although Alyssa actively participated in all class discussions and group projects during the first weeks of class, Ms. Gomez has observed that her enthusiasm has been slowly dropping.

 

“All right everyone, get your journals out and start answering the question on the board individually. In five minutes you will need to get in pairs to discuss your answers,” Ms. Gomez says. In the meantime, Rebecca and Cat are whispering. “Yeah, she is so stupid. She is always acting like she knows everything,” says Rebecca. “Like she is so… smart.”

 

“We should do something to make her know how much we hate her,” Cat reacts. “Maybe we should do something to her locker.”

 

The five minutes are over, and Ms. Gomez starts walking around the paired students. She notices that Alyssa, Rebecca, and Cat have not written anything in their journals. When questioned why her paper is blank, Rebecca responds, “I just didn't get to it; I had something important to take care of first.” Ms. Gomez then moves to Alyssa. “What's going on with you, Alyssa?”

 

“I just can't think of an answer to the question,” answers Alyssa.

 

“What, the ‘smarter than everyone else Alyssa’ doesn't have an answer?” Cat asks ironically. “Did you take a stupid pill at lunch, smarty?”

 

“Cat, please turn to your partner and start working. We have a lot to do today,” Ms. Gomez says.

 

If you were mentoring Ms. Gomez, and she brought this scenario to you as an example of issues she is having motivating her students to learn what advice would you give her?  Be sure to keep your answer to strategies addressing motivation to learn.  Please address strategies for Alyssa, Cat and Rebecca separately, as they are individual students with individual motivations driving their behavior. 

Alyssa appears to be looking for something to occupy her time.  She is the first to comment out of her and Cat.  Cat seems to jump on board and overdo it by appealing to the topic Alyssa has chosen to distract her from the assignment.  The only thing which distracts from this theory is that Rebecca started off dejected before these comments started which implies that this has been going on for a while.  I would suggest that it is an ongoing trend that Alyssa is bored with school and Cat seeks Alyssa’s approval.  The two of them have made Rebecca the target of their en oui.  This has made Rebecca be on edge and unable to focus on her work.

For Alyssa I would suggest making school more interesting to motivate her.  Perhaps include more of her interests so that she feels willing to be involved in the work instead of feeling a need to distract.   Asking Alyssa what she would like in her lessons (or doing a general “pick your topic” assignment) would work well.  Cat is looking for acceptance from fellow students.  Perhaps Ms. Gomez could try to pair her with a compatible person for projects who would hopefully be a better influence and provide that sense of belonging Cat is looking for.  This would also be a good reason to work on the entire classroom to create an environment where there is a sense of teamwork and belonging for the whole class.  Rebecca is suffering from the torment of Alyssa and Cat.  According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, Rebecca is so concerned with her well-being (in this case emotional and mental) to be able to focus on the school work.  Gaining Alyssa’s interest and aiding Cat’s need for social acceptance would alleviate the stress being put on Rebecca.