Module 5

Module 5: Flow, Homework, Exit Tickets

Concept 1: Flow

Summary

In chapter 12, page 486, Woolfolk discusses “flow.” She defines flow as “a mental state in which you are fully immersed in a task with deep concentration and focused attention.” You are said to be experiencing flow when you are super concentrated on a very challenging project that you are enjoying. When you are in flow, you are intrinsically motivated, and you usually produce “higher quality, more creative products.” Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi was the first to analyze and define flow. He discovered that when people have “clear goals, immediate feedback, and can apply their skills,” they are more likely to reach this flow state. In schools, finding a good balance between students’ specific interests (differentiation) and the classes’ shared interests (integration) would help to reach “flow” in the classroom. DeLeon Gray likened this idea to teenagers need to stand out, and fit it, at the same time.

 Reflection

Often times we hear people say something like, “don’t bother me now, I’m in the zone.” Hearing this you would know that person was focusing really hard on a project, and making good progress, and they did not want to stop what they were doing and loose the “flow” they were in. However, before reading this chapter, I had never known there was an “official” term set-up for “being in the zone.” I thought it was really interesting to see the idea explained and documented in this chapter. I can honestly say, I can count the number of times that I have actually thought of myself as being “in the zone.” I am more of a person that has trouble focusing and staying on task. My mind wanders, and I constantly have to bring myself back into the “zone,” so I was really interested in reading this section.

I think the key to helping students get into the “flow” is what Csikszentmihalyi found in his studies. As teachers, we need to help students define clear goals that interest them and then work with them to encourage them and help them put all they have into those goals. When students are invested in the task, they will have a much better chance of getting into the “flow.”

As a teacher, I can see how being in tune with the class’ interest as well as the individual students’ interest will help to foster this state of mind. When the teacher gets excited to see students engaged and immersing themselves in their work, the students will be more motivated and excited to continue. If the environment encourages students to find passion in the work, there is a much better chance that the students will find passions and follow thru on the activity. I think this environment can also help the teacher to get into the “flow” because the excitement becomes contagious. As the teacher’s goal to help the students reach their goal comes to life in the classroom, the teacher will get into the “flow” too. I look forward to getting into this type of “flow” with my future students.

Concept 2: Homework

Summary

In chapter 14, page 567, Woolfolk discusses homework. She talks about how the subject of homework has been debated for over 100 years, and how the trends for and against homework come and go. Many studies have been conducted over the past 75 years, and many inconsistencies have been found. There is a group that says “homework does not boost achievement,” and that students will “simply grow weary of learning.” And then there is a group that says “evidence indicates that students in high school who do more homework have higher grades.” There are many issues involved with homework like kids who needs help on an assignment cannot always get help at home, homework interferes with family and community time, and the amount of time it takes one student vs another to complete homework.

 Reflection

As a student, I have never been a fan of homework. I participated in a lot of sports growing up, and practices and games were always after school. By the time I got home from practice or a game, and ate dinner, I was tired. The last thing I felt like doing was homework. A lot of times I would rush through my homework so that I could have a little down time before it was time for bed. I especially did not like when teachers gave us busy work for homework just to say they gave us homework. I would have to agree with Berliner and Glass that “No matter how interesting an activity is, students will eventually get bored with it-so why give them work both in and out of school?”

The one class I can see the value in homework would be in a math class. I never minded having math problems for homework, because I think the repetition and practice in math is important. It did always seem like math teachers only gave a reasonable amount of problems that didn’t take too much time, if you understood the concepts. But, there were several times where I recall being so frustrated with math homework. Our math books used to have the answers to the questions in the back of the textbook. The teachers would tell us to check our answers. Often times, I would think I understood the concepts, but then when I checked my answers, they were not correct. A lot of the problems were “new math” and my parents weren’t able to help me. I can understand the students that Woolfolk mentioned in her book who were getting frustrated when they had questions on their homework and couldn’t complete it because they didn’t have a resource to help them at home.

I know there will be some times where homework will be necessary, but as a whole, I don’t expect I will be a teacher that gives much homework. Social studies is not the type of class like math where there is a lot of skills you can practice at home, or where repetition is beneficial. Maybe when it comes time for research or to do some reading, but overall, I want to be respectful of my students’ time to be with their families, participate in sports or just have a break from school, so I will limit the amount of homework I assign. And, I will definitely never assign homework on weekends or holidays, and I will never assign busy work for the sake of saying I assigned homework.

Concept 3: Informal assessment: Exit Tickets

Summary

In chapter 15, page 603, Woolfolk discusses informal assessments. These informal assessments are “ungraded assessments that gather information from multiple sources to help teachers make decisions.” The two examples Woolfolk describes are exit tickets and journals. Exit tickets are a quick question regarding the teaching for that day that teachers can give to the students at the end of class. The students answer the question on a sheet of paper, and then hand the paper to the teacher as they exit the room for the day. This allows the teacher to see what area of the teaching that the students are not grasping, and then the teacher can plan accordingly to help the students with the concepts the next day. This is not graded, and the students don’t even have to put their names on the paper. The sole purpose is for the teacher to get a pulse on how the students are understanding the concepts that are being taught for that day.  

 Reflection

I really like the concept of exit slips, especially now as I understand them better as a teaching tool. When I was in middle school, I had a teacher who would make the exit ticket seem like a pop quiz. We would be ready to walk out the door, and she would tell everyone to take out a piece of paper, write you name on it, and answer the following question. She would give us a hard question. She never said if she planned to grade it or not, or what she was planning to do with it. She said it was the only way we could exit the class, so it was our exit ticket. This caused a lot of anxiety for us as students. So when I saw the title in the book “exit ticket,” I immediately remembered this class. Once I started reading the “true” definition of exit tickets, I wondered if my teacher had misunderstood this, or had a different definition, or if she just really used them as an informal assessment to help her see what we were not understanding. I never remember her going over any concepts from prior days, but maybe she did, and I just didn’t even realize it.

Now that I know the true purpose of an exit slip, I think it is such a valuable assessment for a teacher to see how the students are grasping the concepts. I also think it is important to give the students full disclosure on what is the purpose of the exit slip. The teachers will get a much more accurate feel for the students’ understanding if they communicate the reason behind the exit slip. I think the idea of not even having the students put their name on the slip is a good idea too. That way students will not be afraid that the teacher will think they are “stupid,” and they will be more likely to answer their question honestly. I really like the idea Woolfolk gives to have the students write down the “’muddiest point’” which is the “idea that was most confusing or unclear” so the teacher knows exactly what the students are struggling with. This way, they can go over those concepts again to help the students get a better grasp of them.

In my future class, I think I will make a habit of using exit slips to see what area the students may be struggling with so that I can provide additional teaching. I will be sure to explain the purpose of the tickets to the students to ensure we get the most benefit out of using the tickets, and to relive any stress they could cause for the students.