I need to collect data to prove that what I am doing is increasing student engagement. I used parent surveys (several parents said their students aren't motivated) and classroom observations, but I also wanted to see how my students felt.
I gave them one question. What is your motivation level in my class? They had three options. Option one was 'Compliant - I learn because I have to - I'm not really interested but I'm doing what I'm told.' Option two was 'Engaged - I learn because I'm interested in what we are doing.' The third option was 'Empowered - I learn because I want to and the learning is meaningful - I see value in what we are doing and how it relates to my life.'
When I evaluated the students based on classroom observation, I scored 9 students as compliant, 4 as engaged, and 2 as empowered.
When the students evaluated themselves, 4 students said they were compliant, 10 said they were engaged, and 1 said she was empowered.
Clearly, there is room for improvement.
Once the students turned in their answer, I moved them to their new groups. I did my best to arrange them with a balance of Ceramics II/III at each table, a balance of skill level, a balance of ethnicities, and a balance of motivation level. We began the journey.
Everything went pretty well. By the end of class, the students had chosen mythical animals and team names. We did not make it to the website, but I am okay with that. All of the students were actively engaged, and they were also communicating with each other - something that I was very pleased to see, since I broke up most of the groups that had been sitting together all year. They seemed to enjoy doing something different. I can't wait until Monday when we will (hopefully) get to the website.
A section of my spreadsheet at this time:
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