Classroom Interventions that Rescue the Discouraged

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Classroom Interventions that Rescue the
Discouraged

• How Technology Can Help

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Discouraged Learner?

• Lacks Confidence
• Feels Hopeless
• Chooses to fail

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Questions

• Where does this discouragement come from?
• How do we recognize it?
• How do we as educators respond?

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One Discouraged Learner

• Jarens Story
• ---Please remember that this story is about one
  group of discouraged, but the whole concept may
  be applied to multiple groups!

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Rescue - Examination

• Pacific Ocean ----- Atlantic Ocean

Why is it important to self-examine before
you begin the process of rescue? You need to
know where you are before you can be in place to
rescue someone else! One can not stand by the
Atlantic Ocean hoping to rescue the person
drowning in the Pacific Ocean!
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Cognitive Dissonance
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• Whenever our attitude and behavior are in
  conflict, we experience heightened levels of
  anxiety and stress.
• It maps out this way Attitude X Behavior in
  Conflict (dissent) Stress.

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A recent example

• Cognitive Dissonance
• Notice the faces of the judges and the audience!

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• Number your paper from 1 4. beside each number
  write your reaction to each statement ranging
  from (1) meaning strongly disagree to (5) meaning
  strongly agree.
• 1) World hunger is a serious problem that needs
  attention.

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• Number your paper from 1 4. beside each number
  write your reaction to each statement ranging
  from (1) meaning strongly disagree to (5) meaning
  strongly agree.
• 2) Our country needs to address the growing
  number of homeless.

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• Number your paper from 1 4. beside each number
  write your reaction to each statement ranging
  from (1) meaning strongly disagree to (5) meaning
  strongly agree.
• 3) The right to vote is one of the most valuable
  rights of American citizens.

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• Number your paper from 1 4. beside each number
  write your reaction to each statement ranging
  from (1) meaning strongly disagree to (5) meaning
  strongly agree.
• 4) Our government should spend less money on
  nuclear weapons and more on helping citizens
  better their lives.

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Yes
No

• Turn your paper over number your paper from 1-4.
  Respond to each statement with a yes or no.
• 1. Do you personally do anything to lessen world
  hunger (e.g., donate money or food or write your
  representative)?

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Yes
No

• Turn your paper over number your paper from 1-4.
  Respond to each statement with a yes or no.
• 2. Do you personally do anything to help the
  homeless (e.g., volunteer at a homeless shelter
  or donate money)?

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Yes
No

• Turn your paper over number your paper from 1-4.
  Respond to each statement with a yes or no.
• 3. Did you vote in the last election for which
  you were eligible?

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Yes
No

• Turn your paper over number your paper from 1-4.
  Respond to each statement with a yes or no.
• 4. Do you personally convey your feelings to the
  government (e.g., by writing your representative
  or by participating in protests/marches)?

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Now Compare
1. World hunger is a serious problem that needs attention. 1. Do you personally do anything to lessen world hunger (e.g., donate money or food or write your representative)?
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Now Compare
2. Our country needs to address the growing number of homeless. 2. Do you personally do anything to help the homeless (e.g., volunteer at a homeless shelter or donate money)?
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Now Compare
3. The right to vote is one of the most valuable rights of American citizens. 3. Did you vote in the last election for which you were eligible?
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Now Compare
4. Our government should spend less money on nuclear weapons and more on helping citizens better their lives. 4. Do you personally convey your feelings to the government (e.g., by writing your representative or by participating in protests/marches)?
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Cognitive Dissonance

• Did you feel anything within yourself that was
  unsettling or uncomfortable as you compared your
  first answers to your second set of answers?

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In Your Classroom

• Have you seen cognitive dissonance at work within
  students in your classroom?

Which child has internal conflict between his/her
actions vs. what he/she knows is the right thing?
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Compare the Student Characteristics

• How could your purposeful creation of cognitive
  dissonance within the student have caused
  positive outcomes for your student destined to
  fail?

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Test Time (Questions)
Designed to bring thought to the concept that
everyone has the opportunity for discouragement.
We each handle discouragement according to the
situation, and according to our own methods.
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Discouragement

• No one is immune.
• Knowing the signs, and reshaping is the
  educators challenge.
• Richard Sagors Characteristics of the
  discouraged learner

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Discouragement

• Richard Sagors Characteristics of the
  discouraged learner
• Low self-confidence

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Discouragement

• Richard Sagors Characteristics of the
  discouraged learner
• Avoidance of school and confrontation because of
  the low self-confidence

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Discouragement

• Richard Sagors Characteristics of the
  discouraged learner
• Limited notion of the future

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Discouragement

• Richard Sagors Characteristics of the
  discouraged learner
• Tend to come from fragile homes

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Discouragement

• Richard Sagors Characteristics of the
  discouraged learner
• Do not see the relationship between effort and
  achievement

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Needs of At-Risk Youth

• Richard Sagor
• Competence
• Belonging
• Usefulness
• Potency
• Optimism

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How do we foster each need?

• Competence four variables
• Motivation helping the student to see the
  rationale behind the lesson.
• Prerequisite Skills begin sure that the
  foundation is in place for success
• Quality Instruction ask questions of your
  group keep the students engaged
• Adequate time
• Technology Implications? Student Response
  Systems cell phone response systems resources
  for research

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How do we foster each need?

• Belonging
• Multiculturalism extending membership to all
• Value students by valuing their interests
• Check teacher expectation
• Technology implications?

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How do we foster each need?

• Usefulness
• Problem based learning
• Cooperative learning
• Community Service
•  
• Technology implications?

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How do we foster each need?

• Potency
• Potency Kay Alderman lists four factors that
  are regarded as the route to internal locus of
  control (p. 169) Four Links to Success
• Proximal Goals goals are immediate and
  attainable
• Learning Strategies strategies are appropriate
  neither too difficult nor too easy
• Successful experience classroom is organized
  for mastery making success predictable
• Attribution for success students likely to
  credit themselves for eventual success.
• Technology implications?

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Delving Deeper - take five

• Think of something you truly enjoy and have a
  certain degree of expertise with.
• How did you first become interested
• Were you stimulated by something you read or
  heard about?
• Was it through an experience trying something
  out, going someplace, doing something?
• How did you build your knowledge about this
  concept?
• share?

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Academic Needs of Students

• Sagor talks about Student Academic Needs and
  lists them as follows
• To understand the teachers goals
• To be actively involved in the learning process
• To relate subject matter to their own lives
• To follow their own interests
• To receive realistic and immediate feedback
• What aspects of technology may we use to meet
  these needs?

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Almost there!

• Technology is a tool that can be used to
  facilitate change. Our students are native to
  its use.
• Example of who you have coming your way
• When he gets to kindergarten, what world will he
  encounter? Are we finding creative ways via
  technology to keep him engaged, and reclaim our
  lost?
• When we consider students who challenge us, our
  goal is to work to help students derive authentic
  feelings of competence, belonging, usefulness,
  potency and optimism.

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Online Resources

• http//tinyurl.com/3uzujrj

This resource is there help you shape your
learning experience. Rather than pouring the
knowledge into you, this session was for the
purpose of planting a seed of thought, in hopes
that you will use the information to delve more
deeply. Please keep me informed of your
progress. jnicholswilson_at_dpi.state.nc.us Julian