The reading provided some insight, affirmation and clarity on things. After reading the assigned chapters, it occurred to me that teaching skills such as problem solving, story boarding, etc.. bridge what was implied in the text. We see only what were programmed to see and thinking outside the box.
In the spirit of the cliché “the glass is half full’ and looking at the bright side. The author spoke of “speaking to the passion” as a motivation for the student. In today’s educational system with the broad spectrum of learning styles, differential instruction is geared toward the passion of how a student learns. The use of Auditory and visual materials fulfills the passion aspect of learning.
The time I heard the idea of giving and “A” up front was from the movie “Dangerous Minds” when the teacher gave them all an “A” in the beginning of the course. Their job was to keep it by doing their assignments. There is a scene where the student stated it was the first time he ever had an “A” and didn’t want to lose it.
The “A” held great value to him and was a big motivator. However, the support of the teacher in various ways in mentoring him to keep it was also important. It’s balance that must be aligned and maintained over time to succeed.
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I don't think I've seen the whole movie, but I do love the scene where after she tells them they have an automatic-A, when one student started to act-up another student told the first to shut up saying "I've never gotten an A, I don't want anything to blow this for me." I taught 8th graders beginning word processing and literally had students say this to each other when I made it clear that I was going to give them an A for work they were clearly capable of doing.
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