INTASC 5

The teacher uses an understanding of individual and group
motivation and behavior to create a learning environment that
encourages positive social interaction, active engagement in
learning, and self-motivation.

*Reflective Statement*

To me this standard means that the teacher understands that students need to learn how to work well in groups while still being able to do their own individual work.  The teacher must be help students learn these skills by maintaining an equal balance of group work and individual projects in the classroom.  This is an important skill for teachers to master because students need to learn how to work well in groups as well as be able to work on their own and teachers must help students learn how to do this.

*Revised Reflective Statement - Fall 2008*

Educators are posed with the task of instilling knowledge and helping students develop skills that they will need for the rest of their lives.  Team work is one of those very important skill sets that teachers are charged with helping to foster in their students.  The ability to work well with others while maintaining the ability to self-motivate and work independently is a difficult balance for many students to reach.  Teachers should have the experience and the abilities to help students with this difficult challenge by creating classwork, assessments, and homework that caters to both elements.  By carefully balancing individual and group work teachers will help students to foster their abilities to actively engage in positive social interaction as well as self-motivation.  A good way to achieve self-motivation in students, depending upon the grade level and the students abilities, is to give students a classroom syllabus outlining assignments for the course.  This is a great way for students to develop self-discipline and self-motivation in working on their assignments ahead of time or on time and knowing the coursework ahead of time gives them the ability to discuss assignments with other student's, encouraging positive social interactions.  A teacher must have a comprehensive understanding of individual students and how those students are motivated, as well as group motivation to learn the students capabilities and limitations.

*My Personal Experience*

In high school one of my teachers always made us do group projects once a week. At first I didn't like the thought of working with other people because I was always afraid that they would mess up the project of not do it right and we would all get a bad grade. However after the first few group projects I learned that a lot of other people have that similar fear and if you all just work together you can make sure that the project will be good and turn out how everyone wants it to turn out.


*Artifact Rationale*

This artifact is a slideshow presentation that was created as a group project for my Classic Cultures class.  This group project exemplifies INTASC principle 5 very well.  Showing how well students can collaborate to create a useful and informational slideshow presentation.  Having been in this group and working with other students to gather information and create a presentation really taught me the importance of having students work together and encourage positive social interaction.  Throughout my years at Ball State I have learned the vital importance of team work, cooperation within groups, and understanding motivation in students.  This artifact is a great example of the importance of working well in a group as well as creating positive social interactions.  When I first started to work in this group I was frustrated that I had to work with other people, I wanted to do all the work myself and just be done with it.  However, as my group members and myself began to discuss our project, meet in the library for collaborative work sessions, and find information for our presentation my frame of thought began to change.  My other group members had some really inventive and unique ideas and they were willing to work hard in order to achieve a good end result and grade.  I began to look forward to the group sessions just to see what kind of awesome information my group members would bring to the table.  It was also very rewarding to have my group members find my information interesting and give me positive feedback.  After the end of the class I have still kept in touch with some of the members of that group, we continue to discuss classwork with each other, get feedback on class assignments and ideas for presentations.  Having been in a such a wonderful group work situation I can use that knowledge as an educator to encourage and foster such wonderful group work situations for my students.

<>I believe that this presentation exemplifies the importance of positive social interaction, active engagement in learning, and self-motivation.  By encouraging students to creat postive social interactions I am helping them form bonds that they can use later in life in other situations, therefore creating a strong social support network for students.  In creating active engagement in learning I am teaching students to take responsibility for their own education, which will help them later in life when their boss or professors are no longer willing to force them to learn and they must take on the role of self education.  This closely relates to the importance of self-motivation.  Instilling self-motivation in students is vital to their education and development as adults.  These skill sets are vital not only to a student's education but also to their well being and their ability to function in the adult world.



Group Slideshow Presentation

INTASC 1	INTASC 2	INTASC 3	INTASC 4	INTASC 5
INTASC 6	INTASC 7	INTASC 8	INTASC 9	INTASC 10

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