Chapter 15: Making it Matter Through the Power of Inquiry

The opening to this chapter was not all that surprising. I always find that girls in my classroom were better readers than boys. Now that doesn't mean that none of my boys were great readers because I have had some very strong boy readers. It is essential to make sure that all students are motivated and engaged in literacy. Without that component, students are going to struggle in literacy. They don't have interest in it. The book says that student motivation is the primary challenge face teachers. I would agree with this. Sometimes I feel that no matter what I do my students are just not motivated in certain topics. I like the part in the book that discussed the lesson on the Plague. Many students would not be engaged in this topic, but the teacher allowed students to use their prior knowledge and become interested in the topic. The teacher used up-to-date information that students could relate to. When students can relate to a topic, their motivation increases. There are so many different resources out there that will help in student motivation. One thing that teachers can try is electronic texts. There is a big push towards electronic text, whether that is using iPads, iPods, kindle, nooks, etc, but one electronic text that many teachers don't think about is video games. Video games involve a lot of reading, involve characters, and are embedded in an overachieving narrative. They offer interesting and engaging experiences that always involve problem solving and offer real-life issues. Teachers can incorporate video games into the classroom to help motivate students in literacy. One part of the book that I found very interesting was the story about the girl who didn't think she was good at history because she got a B. It made me really think back to my class. I bet a lot of students feel this way that if they don't get an A then they are not good at that subject. I remember back when I was in college, I had the same situation with American History. I didn't like it because I wasn't good at it. I got A's  on all my other topics, but History. What does an A even mean? We are moving to standard based grading, which may help students not feel that they are as "not smart" as they thought. Children need to know they can succeed, but they also need to be motivated in learning.