The Student Seeks

As you can remember, "The Student Seeks" is one of our cogs to differentiation. Let's dive a little deeper into this topic, shall we? Yes. We as humans, have many basic needs.  Everyone needs to fell wanted, needed, loved, and cared for.  Students are no different.  When a student doesn't feel safe, or they feel threatened, then their brain shuts off.  This is why it is so important for us teachers to make our classrooms an inviting community where all of our students feel safe, and actually want to be there.  There are 5 elements to the cog, "The Student Seeks." They are: 1.) Affirmation 2.) Contribution 3.) Purpose 4.) Power and 5.) Challenge. 

I like to think of these 5 elements as little tiny cogs within this bigger cog. A students needs all of these elements to be present on order to feel fulfilled in the classroom.  Basically what I am trying to say, is that yes, all of our students are different and are going to bring different experiences to our classrooms. But, they all have the same basic needs, and we need to make sure that we are fostering an opportunity and and environment that makes it possible for every student to get what they individually need.