Glassers Choice

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Glassers Choice

• What motivates my students?

Linda Segars GA TAPP
NW GA RESA
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The Brain Seeks Two Things

• Emotion
• This is the hook to get students attention and
  peak interest.

• Meaning
• This how the brain can make sense of the
  information coming inand anchor it to something
  it already knows.

• (These are the reasons for using Activating
  Strategiesthey hook the students in emotionally
  and then link the new learning to what they
  already know or have experienced so the brain can
  create meaning.)

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Research Quotes

• Information stays in short-term memory only
  briefly. It moves from short-term to long-term
  memory only if there a compelling reason to
  remember the informationa WHY.
• More than ninety percent of our reasons (the
  whys) for taking action and remembering occur
  in the unconscious mind.
• The part of the brain that determines what we
  remember resides in the same area as emotions.
  Therefore, if the why to remember something is
  linked to emotions, it is more likely to be
  retained longer than if it is not. ALL LEARNING
  IS LINKED TO EMOTIONS.

Continued in next slide
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Research Quotes(Continued from previous slide.)

• Students come to school with their own
  whysemotional reasons for being there. These
  whys are basic needs to survive, to belong and
  love, to gain power, to be free, and to have fun.
• Students possessing negative attitudes toward
  learning are limited in their ability to transfer
  their knowledge to new learning situations.
• Teachers can aid students desire to learn,
  affecting their emotions and attitudes, by
  addressing students basic needs through what
  they say and what they do in the classroom.

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William GlassersChoice Theory

• We all make choices according to basic needs that
  come from within ourselves. The needs drive our
  choices and influence how we behave in those
  choices.

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Motivation for Choices

• William Glasser, MD, in his Control Theory in the
  Classroom, explains that too many capable
  students make little or no effort to learn.
• He explains that all of us, not just students,
  make choices according to basic needs that come
  from within ourselves.
• These needs drive why we choose and how we behave
  in those choices.
• This hierarchy of motivators are similar to
  Maslows hierarchy of needs, but have more to do
  with the REASONS OR MOTIVATIONS for the choices
  we make.
• (He has since changed his CONTROL THEORY to
  CHOICE THEORY.)

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Glassers Choice and Portfolios

• Your portfolios are a compilation of evidence of
  your abilities to plan and implement effective
  instructional and professional practices.
• You are required to include evidence that you are
  incorporating Glassers Choice in your classroom.
  

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5 Basic Needs(according to Glasser)

• Fun
• Freedom
• Power
• Belonging
• Survival

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Ask yourself

• What would ______ look like? Sound like?
• Fun
• Freedom
• Power
• Belonging
• Survival
• in my classroom?

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Fun

• The need for pleasure
• To play
• To laugh
• Naturally motivating
• No one has to bribe you to do these things
• Play is a childs work
• Try to imagine life without fun

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What does FUN look like? Sound like?

• Laughter
• Humor (not at anyones expense)
• Enthusiasm
• Learning games
• Review games

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Freedom

• The need for independence
• For autonomy
• For control over ones own life
• For choice

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Freedom Choice

• We all prefer to have a say-so in what happens in
  our lives.
• Be aware that some students have had little
  experience with choice and will need to practice
  in small steps.

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Choice

• As the teacher, you must decide when and how much
  choice to give.
• What happens when you tell a young child he/she
  can wear anything he/she wants?
• A parent must give the child limited choices.
  (Choose between these two outfits)
• Giving options, WHEN YOU CAN, teaches students to
  make decisions and they feel as though they have
  some independence and freedom to choose.

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What does Freedom look like in the classroom?

• Choice in
• Assignments
• Working partner
• Homework
• Assessments
• Seating assignment

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Power

• Empowerment
• The need to achieve
• To be recognized for achievement/skills
• To have a sense of self-worth
• To contribute
• Makes your students feel valued (will not be the
  same for all students)
• Glasser asserts that 95 of all discipline
  problems are misguided efforts of children trying
  to achieve power.

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Power Value

• What makes your students feel valued? (You must
  know your students to understand what makes them
  feel valued.)
• What makes one student feel valued may not be of
  value to another

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What occurs in your classroom to allow students
need for power to be met?

• Duties
• Display of student work
• Student input in class rules
• Positive notes
• Positive calls
• Recognition

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Belonging

• The need for love
• For relationships
• Social connection
• Part of a group
• One of the strongest motivators
• Main reason people join gangs and cults
• In schools, we must work to make students
  (parents, teachers) feel they belong

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What does Belonging look like? Sound like?

• Group work
• Class motto/mascot
• School mascot/t-shirts, etc
• Established culture/sense of community
• No students isolated

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Survival

• Physiological
• The need for food, shelter, safety
• (Physical AND Emotional Safety!)
• Safe from bullying
• Schools should be a safe environment from bodily
  harm, mental or physical intimidation, abuse.

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Survival

• Schools have made changes to ensure physical
  safety and to meet the physical needs of
  students.
• School lunch programs
• School breakfast programs
• School nurse
• Schools must work to make schools emotionally
  safe as well.

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What does your classroom look like and sound like
when the need for survivalis being met?

• Classroom rules
• Sense of community with no name-calling,
  intimidation, etcfrom other students AND the
  teacher.
• Atmosphere of help and support

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Characteristics of the 5 basic needs

• Universal
• Innate
• Overlapping
• Satisfied from moment to moment
• Conflict with others needs
• We all share the same basic human needs, but we
  differ in the amount of each we require.

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ALL BEHAVIOR IS PURPOSEFUL!

• It is our best attempt,
• at the time,
• given our current knowledge and skills,
• (motivated by the need) to meet one or more of
  our basic human needs.
• 
  Dr. William Glasser

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What motivates you to do some of the things you
need to do but really do not feel like doing?

• Pay check (get out of bedgo to work)
• So the health department does not close down your
  home (clean bathrooms, house)
• Fulfill physical need (eat, sleep, etc)
• You choose to do something (even if
  unpleasant) if you have a good enough reason

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A Compelling Why

• is a term used for an emotionally-linked reason
  or motive that drives a person to make a choice.
  
• compels us to want to learn something, commit
  information to long-term memory, and to recall it
  when desired.
• is the reason/need that motivates you to do the
  things you do.

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So, what does that have to do with your
classroom?

• As teachers we can orchestrate our learning
  activities, our policies and procedures, as well
  as what we say and do, to appeal to the basic
  needs of our students.
• When teachers intentionally create conditions for
  students to meet their basic needs, behavior
  problems are minimized.

Continued in next slide
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So, what does that have to do with your
classroom?

• Most students can handle not having their
  emotional needs/motivators addressed (most of the
  time) but considering/applying Glassers Choice
  is especially important for those more fragile
  studentsmany of whom create the behavior
  problems in your class.
• We must provide a reason or COMPELLING WHY (based
  on one or more of the basic needs) to get the
  students to do the things they need to do.

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Resources for Glassers Choice Theory and
Motivating Students

• http//www.wglasser.com/
• http//www.angelfire.com/ab/brightminds/tReality.h
  tmlbasic
• http//www.choicetheory.com/ct.htm
• http//teaching.berkeley.edu/bgd/motivate.html
• http//www.virtualsalt.com/motivate.htm
• http//honolulu.hawaii.edu/intranet/committees/Fac
  DevCom/guidebk/teachtip/motivate.htm
• http//honolulu.hawaii.edu/intranet/committees/Fac
  DevCom/guidebk/teachtip/motiv8rules.htm
• http//honolulu.hawaii.edu/intranet/committees/Fac
  DevCom/guidebk/teachtip/unmotiva.htm