The first few chapters of Disrupting Class have resonated with me as a result of some current experiences in my own school as well as connections to other aspects of this class. Ever since I viewed the video remix which showed teachers “flipping their classrooms”, I have been interested in the concept. It seems that Mr. Alvera’s classroom, as described in Disrupting Class, needs to be flipped. Poor Rob just needed a hands-on approach, instead of a lecture, to understand the concept.
In my fourth grade classroom, we just finished a science topic on Forces and Motion. We explored concepts and vocabulary such as velocity, gravity, types of simple machines, and potential and kinetic energy. When discussing the content with an assistant who works at the junior-high, she informed me that the content is the same as what is taught in 8th grade. The difference is that the material is taught to my 4th graders with a much more interactive and exploratory approach. It is through such activities that keep my students intrinsically motivated to learn the information.
I must admit that keeping my students intrinsically motivated is not always as easy as the first chapter in science. I believe some content areas and specific content lends itself to being fun and enjoyable whereas others do not. Thinking forward, this is what I hope to find some more solutions for during this course. How do I keep this motivation of all students when they are all motivated by different things and have different likes and dislikes?
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