Case: Polly want a carrot?

Case Introduction/Commentary

A little encouragement can go a long way in any educational setting. A case of low self-efficacy, low self-esteem, lack of motivation, or a negative self-fulfilling prophecy can be addressed by a teacher who is willing to make the effort to give his/her students some needed support and encouragement. An effective teacher knows that hesitancy can stand in the way of student achievement and motivation. The following case illustrates what can result when a teacher chooses not to give in to her students' concerns and complaints and instead gives her students the encouragement they need to complete a tough assignment.

Case from Preservice Teacher

I am currently observing in a 6th grade Language Arts class. I am extremely impressed with the teacher and would like to applaud her use of encouragement. I also applaud the students for using the encouragement as a motivator for achievement. Let me illustrate one example of this process in action.

Last Thursday, the class was working on plural and singular possessive nouns. Mrs. Talson went around the room and gave each student an "Enrichment" worksheet. This worksheet contained a series of ten riddles. For example, the first one was "the vegetables of a talking bird." The students were supposed to come up with the answer: "parrot's carrots." Initially, all of the students turned up their nose at the worksheet and made comments such as "this is too hard" and "I can't do this." I myself felt that the activity was too hard for the students. When I first looked at the riddles I was even concerned about my own ability to complete the worksheet. I was sympathetic to the students who were proclaiming, "It's too hard Mrs. Talson."

Mrs. Talson maintained her composure and simply encouraged the students to give the worksheet a try and that she felt that they could do it. She allowed them to get into groups of their choice to work on the assignment.

As I walked around the classroom, I was a little embarrassed to see that the students were doing better than I could have on my own. After a couple minutes, they were answering the riddles left and right. There were only a few students that could not answer the riddles on their own. It was amazing how far a little encouragement from the teacher went. It isn't very hard to figure out why Mrs. Talson is a former "teacher of the year" award winner.

Case Questions

1. Why was Mrs. Talson successful at getting the students motivated to start and complete the assignment? Provide examples from the case to support your answer.
   
   
2. Why is it important for teachers to maintain high expectations for their students? What must the teacher do to make sure that the expectations are not too high?
   
   
3. How could Mrs. Talson use this class session as an opportunity to teach her students about persistence and achievement?
   
   
4. How should Mrs. Talson address the few students who could not complete the assignment so that their sense of efficacy and their motivation are not negatively affected?