Leveraging Student Motivation through Meaningful Goals and Opportunities

Leveraging Student Motivation
through Meaningful Goals and
Opportunities
Allison Zmuda
zmuda@competentclassroom.com
http://just-startkidsandschools.com/

Act
LearnBuild
Why wait?

Shared wonderment
“We are born natural learners and, given the
right conditions, can always return to that state.
We are never too old, too jaded, too broken, or
too tired; we just need to step in to the space of
endless possibilities once again.”
— Allison Zmuda

Question to ruminate on
How do we design “space” in our
classrooms, our schools, and our homes
to help all children develop and achieve
their dreams?
todaysmeet.com/cpe

Power of long-term goals
worth aiming for
• Mission-centered
• Transferrable skills to
make sense of content
and ideas
• Preparation for the
world our children are
inheriting right now

Reality in many schools
“Educators can easily lose sight of their long-term aims,
and meaningful learning and student motivation are the
casualties. Most students don’t relish a diet of test-prep
teaching, yet all too often that is what the curriculum has
become. The ever present student question, “Why do we
have to learn this?” is generally not answered satisfactorily
by a test-prep curriculum. As Grant Wiggins is fond of
saying “the goal of schooling is not to get good at school.”
The goal of school is to get good at the demands of life and
those are invariably embedded in transfer goals and
related performance tasks.” — Jay McTighe

Out of the mouths of students
• “The only difference between me, the 95%
student, and that guy sitting in the back of the
room, is I have learned how to remember, recall
and regurgitate and he hasn’t, can’t or won’t.”
• “Let me tell you what school is like for me.
Blah blah, blah blah, test Friday.”

Reality in many schools
Our long-term vision
of what we hope for
our students often
does not line up with
the daily work we
assign them.

What our learners are craving
• We want to do work that makes a difference to us and to our
world.
• We don’t want to remember, recall and regurgitate.
• We don’t want to learn for the sake of tests.
• We don’t want learning made easy; rather, we want it to
mean something.
• We want to learn with the media of our times. We want to
do work that is relevant, meaningful and authentic.
• We want to be engaged intellectually. We want stronger
relationships with our teachers, with each other and with
our communities locally, provincially, nationally and globally.

What our learners are craving
• We want teachers to know how we learn, to take into
account what we understand and what we
misunderstand and to use this knowledge as a starting
place to guide our continued learning.
• We want to be able to work with others in the
classroom, online and in our community.
• We want to be able to pick up our information
anywhere, anytime.
• We want in-depth learning. We need feedback in time
to help us learn and in time do something about it.

We need to leave space
for our learners to
Play
Problem solve
Fail
Reflect
Create
Share
Edit
Share

Reconsidering what our diploma means
“At times of change, the
learners will inherit the
world while the knowers
will be beautifully
prepared for a world
that no longer exists.”
— Allistair Smith

So as educators, we may focus on…
• training them to
understand the
complexity of a problem;
• training them to see the
cross-disciplinary nature
grounded in authentic
performance tasks;
• training them to function
as a team; and
• training them to share
often.

… and they will do authentic learning
like this…
K-1 Performance Task: Working in groups,
students will identify the best parking spot in the
school parking lot to keep a car as cool as
possible. Students will justify why the spot they
selected would keep the car cooler than any other
spot using appropriate vocabulary (sun, shadow,
object).

… or this …
Graphic Design Task: You and your partner(s) are a
team of graphic designers hired by a beverage
company to create a soda can label that will get the
attention of American consumers. Using Adobe
Photoshop, design your label to aim at the specific
market you are trying to attract. Your label must be
eye-catching — using the elements and principles of
design, be clear and readable, and contain all
pertinent consumer labeling information.

… or this …
Is buying an electric car worth the money? Your family is thinking
about purchasing a new car. You think it should be an electric car,
but one driver (the one with the checkbook) is not convinced. This
is a big family decision so you want to get your facts right before
your family meeting. First, identify the kind of car for comparison
(i.e. minivan, sedan, truck). Then evaluate 1 representative model
within each fuel category: electric, hybrid, and gasoline.
• Collect and analyze data about electric cars as follows:
• Compare purchase price of the car itself
• Compare fuel efficiency
• Calculate cost to install convenient electric circuit to recharge
• Project the operational cost per month
• Evaluate how long your family would have to keep the car until the initial costs are justified by the savings
• Determine locations of electric charging stations in your area and how long it would take to recharge your car’s battery
• Examine travel patterns to see if it allows adequate recharging (place, time, distance)
• Examine “yes, buts” that you have found either online or by talking to others and see if their claims have merit. One of
the “yes, buts” you need to address is the impact on air quality. Is it really better for the environment?

… or this …
• Stuck between a rock and a hard place. Students pose ethical
dilemmas to a group that require critical thinking, problem solving and
collaboration to devise a workable solution. The dilemma must be
succinct and clearly stated as well as provide students with enough
background context so that they can intelligently engage in problem
solving around it. The group is responsible for developing a response
and articulating the rationale for the decision(s) that they made.
(Note: the dilemmas are not personal ones, but are authentic and
interesting enough that it will inspire immediate conversation).
• Obstacles of mythic proportions. Who are your Sirens? Who is your
Cyclops? Using the obstacles encountered throughout the epic
journey in the Odyssey, students produce a personal narrative, short
story, or scripted dialogue that illustrates the same metaphors in their
own lives.

… and take courses like this …
 The design of a tour of the world’s most holy sites.
 The writing of a Bill of Rights for use in Afghanistan, Iraq, and new
democracies.
 Report on Latin America to the Secretary of State: Policy analysis and
background report on a Latin American country. What should be our current
policy, and how effective has recent policy with that country been?
 Collect and analyze media reports from the Internet on other countries’ views
of US policies in the Middle East. Do we understand the issues?
 Provide a briefing on the AIDS crisis in Africa and how American policy has
helped as well as hurt the situation.
 Take part in a model UN on the issue of terrorism: you will be part of a group
of 2-3, representing a country, and you will try to pass a Security Council
resolution.
 Russia: friend or foe? Provide the Foreign Relations Committee with a briefing
on the current state of Russia, the last century of American-Russian relations,
and future worries and possibilities.
 India and outsourcing: to what extent is the global economy a good thing for
America? India? India’s neighbors?

…and do cornerstones like these…
• Grades K-3: Create a list of instructions that by following
in sequence would ensure the successful completion of
a task.
• Grades 4-8: Create a sequential set of procedures that
uses terminology appropriate to the topic (both task
and subject matter) and test out the effectiveness.
• Grades 9-12: Create procedures, evaluate their
effectiveness based on feedback from others, revise
procedures as necessary, and include ancillary text (i.e.
FAQ’s, illustrations, common mistakes) to further
illuminate procedural explanations.

…and do cornerstones like these…
• Grades K-3: The dentist wants to create a list of instructions to make
sure kids brush their teeth well. She asks you to do it for her since you
are good at knowing how kids talk and how they brush their teeth. You
can prepare to write your instructions by role-playing, storyboarding,
pair-share, or brainstorming. Make sure you test out what you write by
going home and thinking about it when you are brushing your teeth.
• Grades 4-5: Select a musical instrument that you like. (NOTE: For
students with no musical instrument experience, bring instruments
into the classroom such as bells, maracas, tambourine, drum, recorder
OR have the music teacher work on this lesson during the activity
period). Describe to someone who has never touched the instrument
what to do in order to produce sound. (NOTE: A more sophisticated
version would be to describe how to get a range of sounds or to
improve the quality of sound.)

… or do cross-disciplinary experience
like these…
• Problem / Solution
• Inquiry / Investigation
• Source / Comparative
Analysis
• Critique / Self-Analysis
• Debate / Panel / Role-
Play
• Performance / Product
• Modeling / Simulation
• Correspondence /
Interviews
• Persuasive Statement
• Portfolio

… so that authentic learning can be
reframed like this…
Level 1 World Language Class: You have finally arrived at the
airport in (TL country) and are anxious to meet your host family.
Suddenly, a member of your group approaches you frantically
waving her hands. You notice she has bumps all over her face
and arms and yells: “I am having an allergic reaction to
something in the (TL-appropriate food) we had for lunch! I need
help! Within your group, you have 10 minutes to come up with
a minimum of five (5) ways to communicate the problem to TL
speakers who could provide you assistance in this situation. Do
not assume everyone speaks English, they don’t. Be prepared to
share your solution(s) to this problem with the class.

What is authentic learning?
• Mirrors real world
• Personally
relevant
• Significantly
challenging
• Worthwhile

“Busy Work” vs. Authentic Learning
• Myth #3: The point of an
assignment is to get it done
so that it’s off the to-do list.
• Revised statement #3: The
most powerful problems are
the ones with no obvious
solution paths; they help
me learn more deeply
about the subject and
myself.

Powerful moves to unite EDUCATORS
• Create a 21st century skills continuum PreK-12
• Design cornerstone tasks PreK-12 grounded in
subjects or cross-disciplines
• Encourage staff to Play, Problem solve, Fail,
Reflect, Create, Share, Edit, Share
• Provide “space” to Play, Problem solve, Fail,
Reflect, Create, Share, Edit, Share

Powerful moves to unite PARENTS
• Create a shared vision for their children and
design grading and reporting that reflects that
vision
• Create a 21st century skills continuum Pre-K12
• Use parents as experts of their children and
in their fields
• Encourage parents to collaborate and
communicate with school via multiple channels

Powerful moves to unite KIDS
• Include them in the creation of a shared vision and
design grading and reporting that reflects that
vision
• Provide a customized curricular experience where
kids have ownership of the learning
• Provide space where students can pursue
their own ideas with feedback from experts
within and beyond the school walls

For more information and ideas…
Email: zmuda@
competentclassroom.com
Twitter: compclass
Latest book: Breaking Free
from Myths about Teaching
and Learning
Latest project:just-
startkidsandschools.com
28

Question to ruminate on
How do we design “space” in our
classrooms, our schools, and our homes
to help all children develop and achieve
their dreams?

Thanks…
…. for your
engagement, open-
mindedness, and
deep thinking!
31

Leveraging Student Motivation through Meaningful Goals and Opportunities

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