1. What are the two general approaches to student motivation?
2. List examples of external motivation used in your school or your classroom. What are some of the problems associated with external motivation?
3. How and why has the view of student-teacher relationships changed in recent years? What effect might external motivation strategies have on student-teacher relationships? What are the implications for your classroom and school?
4. In your own words, define each of the five basic needs of William Glasser's Choice Theory that internally motivate all human beings. What are the characteristics of these needs? Discuss the implications of this model of intrinsic motivation for the classroom.

Chapter 2: Survival in the Classroom

1. What are some of the real and perceived threats that may be a regular part of your students' school experience? What are the effects of threats, real or imagined, on student learning, according to brain research? What can teachers do to offset these threats?
2. What are some additional ways that you can help your students meet their immediate physical needs or reduce their anxiety?
3. How do procedures and routines relate to the need for survival in the classroom? What specific procedures do you already use that are effective? What procedures from Chapter 2 might enhance your classroom environment?
4. What other strategies might help develop a sense of order, safety, and security in the classroom?

Chapter 3: Love and Belonging in the Classroom

1. Why might teachers want to spend time developing positive relationships with and among their students?
2. Of the dozens of team building activities in this chapter, list and discuss the five or six that would work best with your students.
3. What is the rationale for using cooperative learning strategies? What are some of the common complaints about or pitfalls of using cooperative learning?
4. How do the strategies listed in Chapter 3 avoid the common pitfalls of cooperative learning? List and explain the three or four strategies most likely to work with your students.
5. What are the purposes of class meetings? Describe the three-step format for developing class meeting questions. What are some of the guidelines or rules for class meetings?
6. What is a class meeting topic that would be suitable for your students? Develop questions that would encourage students to define and personalize the topic as well as challenge their thinking about the topic.

Chapter 4: Power in the Classroom: Creating the Environment

1. What are some ways of giving students a voice in your classroom?
2. What are the benefits of engaging students in the development of a class constitution?
3. How might you engage students in generating some of the curriculum?
4. What is the difference between praise (and other rewards) and recognition? What kinds of recognition would be suitable for your own students?
5. Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the suggested ways to help students gain a sense of empowerment in the classroom. Which three or four would be most appropriate for your students?

Chapter 5: Power in the Classroom: Strategies for Student Achievement

1. What is the difference between "schooling" and "education?" Is there any part of your curriculum that would fit into the "schooling" category? Choose two learning units you will teach this year and discuss how you might help your students understand how the knowledge and skills they will learn will be useful to them in the short or long term.
2. If possible, work with a team of four for this activity. First, assign each member one of the SAVI components to focus on (Somatic, Auditory, and so forth). Next, the members review the section of Chapter 5 that addresses their component. Third, each member chooses five strategies from the section that he or she was assigned. Finally, each member of the group teaches the rest of the team the five strategies he or she chose.
3. In what ways can we empower students through effective assessment practices?
4. What is the rationale for creating a competency-based classroom? What might be some of the challenges in doing so? How might you overcome those challenges?

Chapter 6: Freedom in the Classroom

1. What rationale is there behind providing students with freedom in your classroom? What is the difference between freedom and license?
2. Discuss the two general types of freedom. What strategies provide students with freedom from? What freedom to strategies might you use with your students?
3. Think of a learning unit that you will teach this year and, choosing from the 132 performance tasks listed, list those that you might offer your students as assessment choices.

Chapter 7: Fun in the Classroom

1. What rationale is there for intentionally making fun a regular part of your classroom?
2. In teams of four (if possible), divide up Chapter 7, with each team taking responsibility for one of the following sections of the chapter:
   • physical games
   • mind games
   • drama games
   • fun and games
   Have each member choose four activities or games from their section and teach them to the rest of their group. If possible, have each member lead the others through the activity or game.
3. Which strategies from this chapter will work best for the students you work with?

Unit Planning Guide

1. Turn to Appendix B: I-Five: A Guide for Developing and Maintaining Personal and Role Involvement. Choosing from the strategies listed in Appendix A: I-Five Strategies* list the strategies (and page numbers) you will use in the coming school year to
   • Develop behavioral guidelines.
   • Clarify roles.
   • Create a sense of community.
   • Empower students.
   • Maintain a needs-satisfying environment.
   Next, place a check next to each strategy under "Basic Needs Addressed," making sure that all five needs are addressed at least once somewhere on the guide. Remember, some strategies meet more than one need.
   *Note: Those designed for these purposes will have a B or an O listed under the I-Five Column.
2. Individually, with a co-teaching partner, or with a team, develop an I-Five Unit using Appendix C: The I-Five Unit Guide. Again, choose strategies from Appendix A: I-Five Strategies.* After giving your unit a title, identify the specific learning objectives for the unit, and list two or three essential questions you would like your students to keep in mind throughout the unit and be able to answer at the end. Then, for each phase of the I-Five Unit: Introduction, Instruction, Integration, and Implementation, list the strategies you will use to accomplish the goals listed in the left column. Check the needs that the strategies address in the right columns. Try to address all five needs in each of the learning phases.
   *Note: Appendix A designates the learning phases each strategy is best designed for.

The Classroom of Choice: Giving Students What They Need and Getting What You Want was written by Jonathan C. Erwin. This 222-page, 6" x 9" book (Stock #104020; ISBN 0-87120-829-6) is available from ASCD for $21.95 (ASCD member) or $26.95 (nonmember). Copyright 2004 by ASCD. To order a copy, call ASCD at 1-800-933-2723 (in Virginia 1-703-578-9600) and press 2 for the Service Center. Or buy the book from ASCD's Online Store.