Ch 11/12 Case Study

Ch. 11/12 Case Study - Elementary
Instructions: Read the following case study and then answer the questions that follow it on your blog. Your response should demonstrate critical thinking and thorough understanding of the subject matter, using proper terminology.
Case:
Mr. Collins doesn't use basal readers or workbooks to teach reading to his second graders. Instead, he expects his students to read at least one book a week and write a description of what they've read. Students may choose their books from a wide assortment on the bookshelves at the back of the room. Each book is color-coded to indicate how easy or difficult it is; for example, books with yellow dots are very easy, and books with red dots are quite challenging.
Once the children have completed their reading requirements each week, they stick a gold star beside their name on the star chart at the front of the room. The child with the most stars at the end of the month will, for an entire week, have the first spot in line whenever the class goes somewhere; that child will also read his or her favorite book to the class.
On the last day of September, Mr. Collins announces the first "reading winner" of the school year: Courtney has earned 17 gold stars, more than anyone else.The following morning, Mr. Collins asks Courtney to sit at the front of the room to read her favorite book. She has chosen Margret and H. A. Rey's Curious George Goes Camping, which is now lying open on her lap.
Courtney's voice begins to tremble as she stutters, "Je-Je-George and his f-f-friend..." She suddenly stops reading and looks to her teacher for assistance.
"You're doing fine, Courtney," Mr. Collins tells her. "Just slow down and have fun being the center of attention."
Courtney nods obligingly. "Je-Je-George an-an-and his...I just can't do this, Mr. Collins."
"All right, Courtney, take a deep breath and relax. You've read this book at least a dozen times."
"I guess I don't like being the center of attention," she replies. "I don't think I can read this book in front of the class."
Mr. Collins kneels down to Courtney's level. "Does it scare you to read in front of the other kids?" he asks softly.
"Only when I'm reading up here in front of everyone," she whispers.
"You're such a lovely reader, but for some reason you're stuttering today. I wonder why."
She looks down ashamedly as she replies, "I'm afraid of messing up."
Continuing to look at Courtney, Mr. Collins stands up, then speaks loudly so the class can hear what he has to say. "Maybe it will help you to know that you're among friends. Every one of us messes up from time to time. After all, we're only human." Courtney looks at the other children, who seem to be nodding their heads in agreement.
"Reading should be fun, not scary," Mr. Collins continues. "Let's first have you tell the class why this is your favorite book and what it's about, then the two of us can read your book together."
Courtney takes a deep breath and says, "Well...I love Curious George because he's fun and sweet, kind of like my baby brother. In this story, Curious George goes camping..."
Questions:
1. Is Mr. Collins's star chart a good idea? Why or why not? Use terminology from Ch. 11 and 12 in your response. I feel that Mr. Colling's star chart is not a good idea because it may lead to students reading for the wrong reasons(jsut to get the recognition or stars) it also places all the students on a chart for the whole class to see. If a student is not able to read fast enough to keep up with the rest of the class and get alot of gold stars this will be obvious to the entire class. This chart may have a negative affect on enhancing students sense of competence and self-worth.
2. For which children is this approach likely to be motivating? For which children is this approach not likely to be motivating? Justify your response. This approach is likely to be motivating to those students who are exhibiting intrinsic motivation. These students will participate in this activity because it gives them pleasure to read the books. This approach is not likely to be motivating to students who exhibit extrinsic motivation. These students will not get pleasure from reading alot of books, they just want the gold stars or recognition.
3. Identify an example of self-determination in the case. Justify your response. Is this a good idea? Why or why not? Self-determination is shown when Courtney takes a deep breath and explains why she loves to read Curious George books. She is showing that she wants to do this in front of the class because it is a valuable thing for her to do. It will be good for her to continue on because it will help build her self-worth when she tackles the anxiety of being in front of people.
4. Is Courtney experiencing state anxiety or trait anxiety? Is it facilitating anxiety or debilitating anxiety? Justify your response. Courtney is experiencing state anxiety because she is only feeling anxiety temporarily while she is trying to read her favorite book on front of the class. It is a debilitating anxiety because she is feeling anxiety that interferes with her performance.
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