11 Comments
Aug 31Liked by Dylan Kane

Thanks for this piece, Dylan. It really expresses how I’ve come to view part of my own math teaching practice. And it’s a perspective I don’t see much in professional development or the literature. Keep up the great work!

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Every line here feels true and extremely well observed. Thanks for continuing to share your practice with the world, Dylan.

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Thanks Dan!

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Your last paragraph, if I may expand on it, shows a key part of learning: Review! And often reviewing past work will help students enjoy learning, since they have already "learnt" it, they know where they are going (so are in control) and are confident (mostly) that they will get there. So review, not just 'cos it's relevant, but 'cos it makes future learning enjoyable.

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I agree. And not a month of review to start the year then never reviewing again -- ongoing review, targeted review, lots of feedback and practice. In small chunks on a regular basis it doesn't feel like a drag, and like you said it makes future learning enjoyable.

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Sounds like you also use whiteboards for this?

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I appreciate this post Dylan and I appreciate what a reflective practitioner you are. It's awesome. I agree that feeling good at school helps. I ALSO think relevance helps - and can make students feel good at school because they're actually engaging with learning (not being apathetic). And, when it comes down to it, a factor you didn't mention that is definitely at play is *relationships.* Students are often motivated in school because of their relationship with their teacher. We both know educators whose students were motivated by how much that teacher cared about them. I think it's worth acknowledging the many dimensions that contribute to apathy or motivation.

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I agree, motivation is multifaceted. I think my issue is more with oversimplifying what motivates students. Relevance and relationships are definitely important. Part of what motivated me to write this is that I hear people emphasizing those two all the time. I hear a lot less about the importance of feeling successful in regular everyday class.

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Aug 21·edited Aug 21Liked by Dylan Kane

I agree with the oversimplification issue and I appreciate you raising the importance of students feeling success to support motivation and to counter apathy. And, for what it's worth, I think relevance (and its derivative innovations in student-driven, project based learning, etc) gets A LOT more play than relationships. From my reading, the discourse on relationships is quite limited and, when it happens, almost always comes in the shape of edtech substitutes that purport to "create" real human-to-human connections. So that's just to say "Yes" (and thanks!) to your observations and "And..." I think the value of relationships is ALSO an underplayed feature in student motivation and is nested within your observations about the value of students feeling good at school.

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A little coda on your struggles over the summer…achievement is motivating and getting to the end of the day having not done those things is de-motivating. Nearly all of us need other people to push us to do things and that’s what school is good at for most pupils. Anyway, keep up the good work with the Substack - I love the fact that it is so rooted in actual classroom practice.

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Definitely. I should find some more partners for my projects. And thanks, I'm glad it's helpful!

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