Clock Watchers: Six Steps to Motivating and Engaging Disengaged Students Across Content Areas

188 Pages·2009·1.57 MB·English

by  Stephanie J. Quate

STEVI QUATE
JOHN McDERMOTT
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Six Steps to Motivating and Engaging Disengaged Students Across Content Areas
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Clock Watchers
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Artwork by Shaun Armour
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Clock Watchers
Six Steps to Motivating and Engaging
Disengaged Students Across Content Areas
Stevi Quate
John McDermott
HEINEMANN • PORTSMOUTH, NH
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Heinemann
361 Hanover Street
Portsmouth, NH 03801–3912
www.heinemann.com
Offices and agents throughout the world
© 2009 by Stephanie J. Quate and John McDermott
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or
mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in
writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review, with
the exception of reproducible pages, which are identified by the Clock Watchers copyright line
and can be photocopied for classroom use only.
“Dedicated to Teachers” is a trademark of Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Quate, Stevi.
Clock watchers : six steps to motivating and engaging disengaged students across content
areas / Stevi Quate, John McDermott.
p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN-13: 978-0-325-02169-0

ISBN-10: 0-325-02169-4

1. Motivation in education—United States. 2. Effective teaching—United States.
3. Learning, Psychology of. I. McDermott, John, 1951 June 22– II. Title.
LB1065.Q37 2009
370.15'4—dc22 2009013287
Editor: Lisa Luedeke
Production: Elizabeth Valway
Cover design: Night & Day Design
Composition: Kim Arney
Manufacturing: Steve Bernier
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper
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To my loving husband, Jim, who always believes in me;

to my grandchildren, who deserve to learn in motivating

and engaging classrooms; and to all my former students,

who taught me about teaching and learning.

—Stevi
To my soul mate, Pat, who motivates me
to learn and engages me in life.
—John
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CONTENTS

Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix

Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiii

1 Do We Have Time for Motivation and Engagement? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

Stevi’s Story 1

John’s Story 3

Why This Book at This Time? What’s the Urgency? 4

What Does a Teacher Need to Know? 7

The Six Cs: Creating a Context That Motivates Students and Nurtures Engagement 8

Why Create a Context That Motivates Students and Nurtures Engagement? 9

2 Caring Classroom Community . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12

A Classroom Snapshot 12

Emotions and Learning 13

A Classroom Community 14

A Step into John and Karen’s Classroom 16

What Happened? 17

Monitoring Yourself 27

For More Information 28

3 Checking In and Checking Out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30

Assessment: Unlived Potential? 31

How Does Assessment Motivate and Engage? 33

Pictures of Practice 34

Plan! Plan! And Plan Some More! 36

Pre- and Post-assessments 38

When It Works, When It Doesn’t 39

Tips for Thinking About Pre- and Post-assessments 41

Ongoing Checking In: Providing Feedback 44

Assessing Your Assessment Practices 48

4 Choice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Ignite Student Passion 49

Choice and Motivation 51

Laying the Foundation 52

Lesson Examples 57

Routines and Rituals: Homework 66

Culture of Choice: Extending Beyond the Classroom 67

Why Not Offer Choice? 70

For More Information 71
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5 Collaboration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

Introducing Collaboration: Andrea’s Story 72

Why Go Through the Trouble? 75

Types of Groups 77

Monitoring the Groups 82

Designing the Work of the Group 85

The Class as a Collaborative Community 91

Putting It All Together 92

For More Information 94

6 Challenge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

Tina’s Story 95

Challenge and Engagement 96

In the Zone 98

George’s Story 99

Why Did Adam Succeed? 101

Believing in Possibilities 105

For More Information 106

7 Celebration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

The Poetry Slam 107

Why Take the Time? 108

Teacher Stance 111

Ways to Celebrate 115

This Is Your Celebration 122

8 Putting It All Together: The Six Cs as a Braided River . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .123

The Evolution of Practice 124

The Rivers Intertwine 125

Making Time to Motivate and Engage 136

Appendix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

Study Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155

Works Cited . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

viii � CONTENTS
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

W
hen John and I ran into each other at a conference, little did we know
that our casual conversation would lead to a book. In the lobby of the con­
ference hotel, we picked up the threads of conversations that we’d begun
years before when we taught together. Once again John argued that motivation was
the biggest challenge teachers faced while I shook my head and insisted that it was
engagement. From that exchange we started our journey together to discover how
students learn deeply and passionately. We studied the research on motivation
and engagement, worked in classrooms across our state, and interviewed teach­
ers and students from a variety of settings. To our surprise, that journey finally
ended up in this book. We owe a multitude of people our mutual gratitude! In
particular, both of us want to send our heartfelt thanks to the following:
• Susan Sparks, for inviting the two of us to the conference that began this
journey
• Marjorie Larner, who encouraged us to submit a proposal to Heinemann
and introduced us to Leigh Peake
• Lisa Luedeke, our gracious and patient editor, who encouraged us and

didn’t laugh at our novice mistakes

• All our former students who sat in our classrooms at Meritt Hutton Mid­
dle and High, St. Mary’s Elementary, MacDonnel Central High, North­
glenn Junior High, Thornton High, and Horizon High—your vibrancy and
honesty taught us important lessons about honoring your thinking and lis­
tening carefully to your ideas
• Teacher candidates whose early teaching we continually learned from:
Annie Fisher, Andrea Rodriquez, Olivia Bridges, Dave Carr, Jennifer Rike,
and all of the rest of you
• All the administrators and coaches who welcomed us in your schools to
think about motivation and engagement, especially Joan Watson, Robert
Bishop, Beth Hayes, Beth Lombardi, and Karstin Sutton
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• Kathleen Wilson, for believing in us from the get-go and for inviting us to
work with teachers in southern Colorado
• More teachers than we can list here: Karen Hartman, Kara Kurtz, Nancy
Steinke, Martha McFarland, Shaun Armour, Karen Pacheco, Cindy
Calder, David Singer, Marne Gulley, Shereen AsaBueed, Matt Brothers,
Pam Newman, Scott Murphy, Noreen Miller, and Katherine Keyes
• Steve Lash and Lou Ann Nelson—you’re amazing teachers and it was an
honor learning from and with you
Each of us has a long list of people we want to personally acknowledge, a list
longer than space will allow. So among many others, John wants to especially
thank
• My parents, Joe and Gladys McDermott, who taught me to respect and

care for others

• Joe, Ray, Jim, and Margie, who taught me to collaborate
• My daughters, Katie and Maggie, who challenge me to excel
• After thirty-one exhilarating years of marriage, my wife, Pat, for every glo­
rious day together
Stevi would like to add special thanks to
• My higher ed Critical Friends Group, who listened to me, asked ques­
tions, and expected this book to make it to press: Sam Bennett, Nancy

Shanklin, Deanna Sands, and Heidi Barker

• My friends at PEBC who trusted that this book would tell the story it

needed to tell: Annie Patterson, Suzanne Plaut, and Paula Miller

• My dad, Larry Quate, and my mom, Jeanne Trevathan, who encouraged

me at every turn; how I wish you two were alive to see our book in print

• Dean and Theresa Kimpel, my spectacular son and his wonderful wife, for
support and their lack of surprise that this book was to be
• My marvelous husband, who never complained despite the late dinners

because I had one more chapter to finish, the days I spent away from

�
x ACKNOWLEDGMENTS