Motivating Students to Work Independently

 

Excited Students Watching Robot Vehicle Move After Coding Lesson In Computer Programing Class. Stock Photo. Clipart.com School Edition, Vital Imagery Ltd., 05-08-2019, https://schools.clipart.com/download.php?iid=1646622&tl=photos. Accessed 12-09-2021

SMART GOAL: I will learn about and implement strategies to motivate students to work productively and assume responsibility for their own learning during group work through SEMBH and academic rubrics in order to produce an improved classroom environment which will lead to better classroom management.

What are you wanting to change about your practice and how will that impact student learning?

Science and social studies are subjects that lend themselves well to group work.  Often students work on experiments or projects with a partner or multiple students to learn.  I want to be able to not only facilitate group work well for students, but also help students take responsibility for their own learning when working with others or individually.  

What do you see as your topic for research?

My topic for research revolves around both classroom management and group work.  I believe these topics are very fitting because many of my students have trouble managing their time well and also completing assignments when working with others.  Through rubrics and self-assessments I hope to help students in their ability to work responsibly and complete their work successfully. 

Where will you look for resources on this topic?

I plan to not only talk to other teachers about the work they are doing or have done in the past, but I also plan to find resources in a book study that staff members are doing this year - “Improve Every Lesson Plan with SEL” by Jeffrey Benson.

How will you know you improved in this area? What evidence will you have?

In order to note improvement or lack thereof, I plan to use rubrics for both SEBMH concepts and academic concepts.  These rubrics will include both self-assessment and the assessment of others.  In general, I hope that grades would provide a good indication of student work, as well.

Submitted by: Leah Piper