Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Moving Along
As my Action Research Project progresses, I feel inspired to continue learning about my topic, underachievement. It is very interesting to watch my students with this topic in mind. I have discovered throughout the day, each student underachieves in their own way. It may be goofing around with their tablemates, or playing with their hair, or messing around in their desk when I am teaching. I never thought about it in this way, but there it is. They are not working to their potential when they are absentmindedly poking around in their desk! As I observe students and make notes, I constantly find ways in which they are unmotivated. Unless it is direct- constantly supervised- instruction, I find underachievement.
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3 comments:
I would have to agree that most underachievers need constant redirection, and direct supervision, not all, but many students are this way, why is that? Are they disinterested? Or do they simply not care about their work? Is it the attention that they are seeking? What have you found so far that helps these students?
I just recently attended a conference that cited students today tend to be more dis-engaged in the classroom because they are used to multi-tasking and making decisions at a faster pace (due to technology) than students of years ago. I have wondered about this in my own classroom. Is my pacing fast-paced enough?, How many differentiated instruction strategies am I using? Are my lessons challenging/stimulating enough to give students reason to participate? Maybe these are thoughts to keep in mind while you observe underachievement. I'm very interested in seeing what you come up with. Forge ahead!!!
I think I was probably a classic underachiever until about 10th grade. I liked school well enough but saw no reason to go above and beyond. And then I had one really encouraging teacher. That changed everything. I think at this point I've swung all the way over to the overachieving side. The result is a husband that often has to say, "When are you going to stop paying attention to the computer, and pay attention to me?"
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