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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.
 * Standard 5**
 * Teachers know how to manage a classroom. **

Evidence 1: ( EDT652: Innovations in Education) Wikis Astronomy Class Wiki

Rationale 1: One of my favorite 2.0 tools is the Wiki. Many traditional lesson plans tend to pigeonhole students by forcing them down a narrow, predetermined curriculum. Interactive activities such as a class Wiki gives students the freedom to direct and shape their own learning and allows teachers to be mentors.

Every year I break my astronomy class into several small groups and assign each group a portion of the solar system to investigate. They use information from class projects and the internet to build an online multimedia presentation. At the end of the quarter each group presents their material to the rest of the class. The students rate each presentation using a detailed rubric and awards are given out in a fashion somewhat like the Oscars. This project always captures the imagination of my students and generates a great product to show to the community.

KSD 5.K.5 The teacher recognizes factors and situations that are likely to promote or diminish intrinsic motivation, and knows how to help students become self-motivated. A Wiki has many advantages over more traditional assessments. For one it gives students the freedom to shape the project to suit their specific interests. Students are free to make choices about content, format, and topic. This type of freedom takes advantage of the student’s intrinsic motivation and generates a natural enthusiasm among the participants.

5.S.2 The teacher engages students in individual and cooperative learning activities to develop motivation to achieve, by (for example) relating lessons to students ‘personal interests, allowing students to have choices in their learning, and leading students to ask questions and pursue problems that are meaningful to them. Students working on the astronomy Wiki choose from a broad selection of loosely defined topics. My goal is to promote independent thinking and allow the student’s natural curiosity to guide the activity. Students are free to pursue areas that are meaningful to them.

5.D.3 The teacher values the role of students in promoting each other’s learning and recognizes the importance of peer relationships in establishing a climate for learning. The Wiki project that I used in astronomy takes advantage of two important peer relationships: cooperation and competition. Students in this project work cooperatively in organizing and presenting their topic. At the same time each group is competing to create the best presentation. These two forces produce an ideal learning environment.