Research Project Update EDLD 5326

I have been working on my research project on motivating low socio-economic learners since November 2012.  In November I met with 3^rd -5^th grade teachers.  I presented an overview of the project to them.  I asked the teachers to identify 5 students in their homerooms that they think would do better if they could motivate them.  I gave them a timeline of the project and told them to bring the names of the students to the next meeting.  In December we discussed different types of motivation that are used in the school and that they use in their classrooms.  Some of the things listed were: candy, extra recess, homework passes, stickers, and making the learning pertain to real life.  We discussed the fact that these incentives work for the short term but not the long run.  In January we met, and I introduced the first strategy.  Based on the research that I have done, I found that making a connection with students is the best way to motivate learners.  We discussed ways to begin to do this with our students.  We decided to try to accept them where they are, find time to meet with them to get to know about their lives outside the classroom.  The teachers also decided to try to do class meetings each Monday with their students.  They will use a Quality Quadrant throughout the week to help guide the meetings.  In February we met to discuss how the strategies are going so far.  Some of the teachers reported having some success with the strategies.  A few of the teachers took the time to attend their students’ sporting events on the weekend.  They reported that the students were more willing to work in the classroom after.  In March we met to discuss a new strategy.  The strategy was goal setting.  We discussed setting short term goals (weekly) in areas that needed improvement.  We also discussed looking at setting some iLEAP and LEAP goals for testing next month.  We have not had any huge jumps in motivation, but have seen some small successes.