Module 4

Concept 1: Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Summary: “Maslow (1970) suggested that humans have a hierarchy of needs ranging from lower level needs for survival and safety to higher-level needs for knowledge and understanding and finally self-actualization “ (Woolfolk 465). This set of needs range from the lower level like safety and belonging. These lower-level needs must be met first before the higher level ones can be addressed. One of the critics about this theory is that people go back and forth between all these needs throughout their life and don’t necessarily have to hit these needs in order. Self-actualization is the term for self-fulfillment and that you have reached your potential. 

Reflection: I believe that Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs can be very useful in classrooms. Oftentimes in situations with our students they might not be able to verbalize or communicate what they are feeling and as teachers we need to use our skills to figure out what they need. A lot of my current students really struggle with lessons right before lunch and that's because their needs aren’t being met. Why? Because they are hungry. In the text it says, “When children are hungry, they will have trouble focusing on academic learning” (Woolfolk 465). I mean as adults we often get “hangry” and it's the same thing, our needs are not getting met. If we work with younger students or even special needs students who can’t always explain to use what they need we need to be their advocate and help them. As adults we understand a little bit more what they might need so it's our job to help them figure it out. We provide our students with sets of rules for their safety (and ours sometimes) and have to teach them right from wrong. Some of these needs are second nature and our students don’t have to think about things like oxygen and rest but the safety needs we need to teach, as well as esteem needs. I know in my school we teach emotional regulation and how students can safely express their emotions. We teach them it's okay to be mad and sad but it's not okay to be unsafe. We also teach them “why” questions and to ask questions to gain knowledge. It's natural to be curious about the world but how to do it safely. I think Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is great and very useful for individuals and in classrooms. 

Concept 2: Supporting Autonomy

Summary: This section talks about how children spend the majority of their time in schools where people decide what they are going to do. Students often have their schedule laid out for them and are told numerous times to follow it. In an earlier section we learned about self-determination. “..self-determination and a sense of internal locus of causality are crucial to maintaining intrinsic motivation and student engagement” (Woolfolk 493). By providing students with choices it increases engagement and motivation. Teachers need to be aware not to provide too many choices because this can be counterproductive. There is also a bounded choice, this is where you give students a range of options that set valuable tasks for them but also allow them to follow personal interests (Woolfold 493). It is important to find a good balance between the two. 

Reflection: Majority of the time students do not have the ability to make choices in their education. Something I have learned since working in a school and starting my education program is how important it is to provide students with choices whenever possible. Providing students with choices can increase their engagement and motivation This allows them to really make the most out of their strengths, and enable them to meet their individual learning needs. One of the times my students always choose is what they are working for. This is never a discussion and as long as we have that reward they can work for it. Even if we don’t have the reward in our class we will ask other classes if they do because if a student is motivated to WANT to work we want them to earn that reward. But there are times we have to have students learn that change happens and they need to learn that too. We also provide students with choices on where they want to learn sometimes. If we have independent work they may want to change their location. This is not always going to happen but occasionally it does. Also when we have free time we have students choose what they want to do. This could be a sensory bin, a break, coloring, or reading a book. It allows students to use their voice and really think about what they want to do instead of me picking for them. Another thing we have students choose is their lunch, we have them tell us what they want rather than us giving them everything the school provides. It's a way to work on “yes and no” and their choices. Oftentimes they will realize they do or don’t want something so we help them with those corrections. By having choices it not only provides engagement but a sense of independence for our students. 

Concept 3: Formative and Authentic Classroom Assessments

Summary: Formative assessments can help from and support instruction. They provide feedback and don’t necessarily count for a grade. “Informal assessments are ungraded assessments that gather information from multiple sources to help teachers make decisions” (Woolfolk 603). Some informal assessments are exit flips and journals. These are great ways for students to provide feedback for what they learned and to help the teacher in future lessons. Authentic assessments ask students to apply the skills they have learned as they would to real life. An example would be reducing fractions in a recipe. Assessments are a great way to see if students are learning skills and lessons and to provide feedback to the instructor.

Reflection: After reading this section (and learning from my previous classes) some of the assessments I plan to use in my future classrooms are exit slips. I’ve used this a few times in some classes I’ve taken and found them to be pretty productive. They can be used in many ways. The teacher can ask questions you need to answer, you can provide feedback, or jot down a few thoughts. This is a ticket that is used when the lesson is over and needed to leave the classroom. The reason I find this great is because it can help the teacher learn what the students need to work on but also what the teacher needs to work on. It works both ways because both areas might be struggling. In my past class I had to also write what I might start to implicate in my future classrooms. As I’ve stated before I want to teach special education so something I want to use is the “stop light system”. This is a system where students can choose red, yellow, or green to show how they feel about what they’ve just learned green if they feel comfortable, yellow if they feel okay, and red if they are confused. This shows the teacher whose students stand. It also helps because it is a visual aid that is paired with an emotion that helps students understand. I also like the idea of “Think-Pair-Share”. This is a differentiated instruction strategy. You start by asking each student to think about a specific topic or answer a given question. Next, the students pair together to discuss things they found. Finally, each pairing will  share their thoughts with the class. I like this idea because it allows students to work together and really think about what they learned within the lesson. Overall, I believe formative assessments are a great idea to use within the classroom before and after a lesson.