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Wow, Allegra!
What a great last post! I love the story of the compost song. It reminds me of an assignment I had in middle school where I had to write a song about the Pythagorean theorem. It was a group project, and I dreaded the entire process. However, these girls didn’t need an assignment prompt or the threat of a due date or even grades as motivation to come up with their song. As you said, Prairie Creek creates an environment to encourage intrinsic motivation. It must be so fulfilling for teachers to work at schools like Prairie Creek and see their students fall in love with and be so excited about the learning material.
However, I agree with your concern about the students’ transition to public school. I went to a Waldorf school called Three Rivers (haha, Prairie Creek, Three Rivers, lots of water!) until third grade when I switched to a more traditional private school. For me, the hardest part about moving schools was leaving my friends. I actually enjoyed having assignments, grades, and more tangible feedback from teachers. However, I think this is only because I was doing well in class, so I really just enjoyed the constant positive reinforcement. Similar to Prairie Creek, my Waldorf school did individual student assessments instead of grades. Also, they didn’t teach reading Three Rivers until third grade. I’ve never experienced “reading” class? I don’t know how people are taught how to read because I never formally was. I think I learned from my mom as she read books to me. However, I believe the reason Three Rivers waited to teach reading was so students didn’t feel like it was forced upon them. Rather, they could ‘discover’ reading at their own pace. In this way, they weren’t frustrated by reading and therefore were more likely to enjoy reading into the future.
Hello Kara!
I love reading about Prairie Creek experiences. It reminds me a bit of my Waldorf school experience from pre-k to 2nd grade. I am so happy to see the students getting active breaks, and I totally agree with you when you wrote, “I love that Prairie Creek embraces and meets this need for bodily movement.” This helps everyone, teachers and students. In my last post, I criticized the public school system and its strict “no movement” policy during the school day; however, I wasn’t able to provide any feasible alternatives to primarily desk work. It’s super exciting to see that Prairie Creek has been accepted by the public school system as a charter school. I think this is a step in the right direction.
I am also curious as to why certain families choose to send their students to this school. What barriers are in place that makes families, especially families of color, hesitant to send their children to this nontraditional school? Whose job is it to dismantle these barriers? I wonder if schools across the US like Prairie Creek normally have white-majority students and staff?
Hello Lauren!
I am really impressed with your insights into the ways the lesson plan seems to be falling short of its goals. It seems like you can make these observations because you have experienced good language classes in the past. Good teachers make good teachers!
I think you’re right to consider the teacher’s approach to be more behaviorist than cognitivist. I am curious if this has been a trend throughout all her classes or maybe this lesson was just especially focused on external motivations. Also, have you noticed any lesson plans where students moved beyond the first level of Bloom’s taxonomy? If so, have there been instances when they reached create? I wonder what the create stage would look like in a language classroom. It seems like maybe the main goal of learning a language is to apply it.
The gecko clap. That is so adorable! And what an obvious example of positive reinforcement. If I knew I would receive a gecko clap from my classmates in my 200-level political science class maybe I would be more eager to contribute.
It’s clear that Mrs. McLaughlin is being very intentional about encouraging good behavior in her students. You listed so many ways in which she is actively motivating her students to accomplish class goals. As you note, this makes sense for younger students. Fourth graders are less likely to question the meaningfulness or importance of the reinforcements they receive. As students get older, they begin to set their own goals. These goals may be different from their teachers, so the teachers’ form of positive reinforcement may have no impact on their motivation to continue. For example, some students may prioritize socializing over their schoolwork, so receiving an A on an assignment may not be enough to motivate them to give a good effort.
I agree that, eventually, students have to learn to motivate themselves independently from external sources. We are going to enter a world where there is no longer an individual in our lives who is going to walk us through each step of our goals. Finding what motivates you and keeps you going even, and especially, when the goal seems far away is the key to accomplishing your life objectives.
Hey Isaac! I really appreciate your observations about how gender is displayed in the classroom. I had a hard time discerning binary gender displays in my classroom because I am still new to this language. Being at Carleton, I sometimes forget that long hair is considered feminine. Hair is hair, right? Your notes on gender constructs in place in your classroom have helped me reflect on the ones in my classroom. Also, what a beautiful picture! And another side note, I love how the classes are called different bird names; that is so cute.
Hey Lauren! I totally identify with being in the moratorium stage. I agree with what you said about grad school; that may be the case for me too. Also, that cartoon is fantastic. I will be sending it to my mom. When you mentioned that you have rarely heard the students speak French, this reminded me of my high school Spanish classes. We almost never spoke Spanish. I remember taking Spanish classes at Carleton and being absolutely amazed at how much I learned. This all came from actually speaking! I am super impressed with the teacher’s transparency with her students. I appreciate that she recognizes their maturity and speaks honestly with them.
Mr. Johnson’s classroom seems very engaging. I am impressed with the mnemonic devices he uses to help the students remember. The teacher in the classroom I am observing says similar things to encourage students to participate. Your example of learning baseball and the zone of proximal development worked really well. I liked how you illustrated the different adjustments that are made to meet the young athletes at their current skill level.
Chisom! I am also in an 8th-grade algebra classroom at Northfield Middle School. Yes, I also got to sit through the standardized testing. I think it is so great that you get to learn algebra (again) alongside your brother. I am still adjusting to middle school-aged students but maybe it’s easier for you because your brother is that age. I will be super curious to see your classroom experience compared to mine since we will be observing the same subject. I hope some of the students don’t cause too much trouble!
