T.I.P.R.- Motivation

Now that I've been observing the class regularly for over a month, I've seen a development in the relationship between this teacher and his students. This class meets after lunch time and the students are often high energy when class begins. As far as I've observed, it doesn't appear that any of the students have gone hungry during lunch. It could be a possibility, but from my observations, the students look and feel happy. I have not seen any type of physical threats between any of the students, but the teacher did take about 15 minutes in one of the class periods to talk about cyber bullying. I don't know if it was initiated by the school administration, or if the teacher took it upon himself to address the issue.

The discussion went really well with the students participating and giving good feedback and ideas to the teacher. A couple students shared personal experiences and even got a little emotional. This teacher did a wonderful job in trying to promote kindness in his classroom. He encouraged the students in the class to think of each other as a family and to look out for one another. He extended the invitation to the students to think of the entire school as one big community.

From the comments and experiences that were shared in the class, I got a real sense that this teacher has created a very safe classroom for his students. They feel comfortable enough to share with the teacher and their peers. It is obvious that they belong to different circles of friends, but in this class, they worked together. When they participate in group work, there is a great mix of students, and it is great to watch the social interactions between all of them.

I asked this teacher how he has been able to achieve this within the class. He laughed and mentioned that for some reason, this particular class period has really caught on to what he is trying to do. It doesn't always work out as beautifully, but when it does, it encourages him to keep at it, year after year.

I've been able to observe this teacher meeting one on one with a few of the students. They were actually reviewing an exam and how they performed. I noticed that one of the students really had a desire to do much better, and the teacher gave each student the opportunity to re-take the test if they wanted to, with certain criteria to meet. I was curious and asked the teacher after class if this was something he had always done. He said he started doing this 4 years ago, and started to see that students would take the opportunity to do better. As long as they met the criteria, and stipulations he had set in order to re-take the test. He loved the fact that students would take advantage of this opportunity to do better. This was a great example of Self-Actualization to me. The students desired to be the best that they can be.

Self Actualization  can only come in the classroom when the students basic needs have been met. With Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, the students Physiological Needs, Safety Needs along with their sense of Love and Belonging, have all built their Self- Esteem, which in turn has led them to Self Actualization!