Motivation is the driving force behind learning. Without motivated students, our efforts as teachers are essentially fruitless. So before we can create a constructivist class or establish expected behaviors among our students, it’s important that we understand motivation and how to encourage it in our classrooms. Various factors influence motivation. Learners’ curiosity, goals and self-efficacy as well as their expectancies and attributions play a role in how much (or how little) motivation they bring to class. As we strive to activate prior knowledge in our teaching, we must be aware that past learning experiences affect how students decide to engage in learning. “What happens as a result of past learning determines to a large degree whether students will engage in new learning at some time in the future” (Driscoll, p. 323).

Some of the studies on motivation revealed findings that I believe to be common sense or methods many of us planned to employ in a desire to achieve a constructivist setting. For example, “To keep learners alert, instructors can employ such strategies as varying their tone of voice, using relevant humor occasionally, and interspersing demonstrations and group activities with lecture” (Driscoll, p. 313). No one really wants to sit and listen to Ben Stein (especially now that he’s the face of Comcast), and—for me, at least—humor is a go-to coping mechanism for any and all uncomfortable situations. What’s more, breaking up lecture with demonstrations and group activities provides us with the social learning experiences we strive to attain. Descriptions of inquiry arousal that involves “pos[ing] very complex and realistic problems for students to solve” reminded me of problem-based learning, a constructivist ideal (Driscoll, p. 314).

Driscoll states that “When individuals set goals, they determine an external standard to which they will internally evaluate their present level of performance” (p. 314). I always believed goal-setting to be important, but I never really thought about goals beyond the perspectives of “realistic” and “unrealistic.” As it turns out, there are several factors that can determine whether a goal is a help or a hindrance for the learner. Setting goals that are specific, challenging enough to encourage persistence and proximal can encourage learners to keep focused on the task at hand (Driscoll, pp. 314-315). Proximal goals refer to goals that are achievable within a shorter range of time, whereas distal goals look more to the future. Setting and achieving proximal goals essentially fills a motivational bank. I have been doing this toward the end of the semester by creating a weekly to-do list. Each time I cross off a task (in Sharpie), I feel satisfaction and believe that I can finish all of the work that is due at the end of the semester before I leave for the beach on May 4. Students can benefit from a distal goal for a class or for high school, but should set multiple proximal goals throughout the course so that they can gain a sense of achievement.

Furthermore, the orientation of the goal is also important when considering how the goal will affect the student’s learning. “Performance goals foster the implicit belief that intelligence is fixed…learning goals are associated with a belief that intelligence is malleable and can be developed” (Driscoll, p. 315). Thus, if a student wishes to achieve an “A” grade and does not meet this goal, there is more room for discouragement because failure would mean a lack of intelligence. However, if a student sets a goal to discover and understand how foreshadowing is used in Romeo and Juliet, the goal is met through the student’s own time and effort and measured by whether the student attains that knowledge.

While setting goals can provide students with task-based motivation and increased self-efficacy, it is not the only way to encourage motivation in the classroom. The ARCS model refers to Keller’s “four conditions for motivation that must be met to have a motivated learner” and stands for attention, relevance, confidence and satisfaction (Driscoll, p. 333). ARCS should be viewed as a sequential process. Possibly the most difficult aspects are gaining (and sustaining) the attention of learners and establishing relevance. Again, piquing curiosity is a recommendation for gaining attention, but after that, how does one maintain it? Instances of problem-based learning stimulate an “attitude of inquiry” and variation within instruction to break up any monotony help to sustain attention (Driscoll, pp. 334-335).

Relevance is also a key to supporting the attention of students. One thing I’ve seen while substituting is that students love to ask, “What’s the point of [insert subject here]?” or “Where am I going to use this in real life?” In addition to making learning relevant to achieving goals, teachers can structure activities that work with needs for achievement and affiliation. Examples listed in Driscoll for ways teachers can motivate by employing learners’ existing motives and values include “providing leadership opportunities, occasions for self-study or working in cooperative groups, or allowing friendly competition on individual or group projects” (p. 336). If students are involved in the learning, it becomes relevant to them. Even in instances of work that is viewed as boring, like vocabulary packets, a friendly game of definition jeopardy encourages students to know their words so their team can win the game. Furthermore, “providing concrete examples and analogies” that relate to students’ lives will also assist in creating a sense of relevance for learning (Driscoll, p. 336). While subbing a class that was in the midst of preparing for the lovely PSSA writing test, I tried to explain that being able to effectively write a persuasive piece would help them in making valid arguments in other areas of life. As I was passing out example essays and sample rubrics, I cited the example of wanting to go to a concert. If they just told their parents they wanted to go to see a band, their parents would probably say no; however, if they presented a valid argument and cited several reasons they should be allowed to attend the concert, their parents might hear them out. While it’s difficult to make high-stakes testing practice relevant, at least I tried.

The remaining components of ARCS, confidence and satisfaction, tie back to the ideas of goal-setting and self-efficacy. Through increased belief in abilities (something built upon by the completion of tasks or accomplishment of goals), students become more confident in learning and more likely to engage. Learning satisfaction, according to John M. Keller, comes from three sources. Natural consequences can be illustrated by a chance to utilize newly attained skills. Positive consequences, which “can be especially useful…when learning tasks are inherently boring or their relevance is not perceived by the learner” can create satisfaction when there is little chance of creating a relevant link between the student and learning (Driscoll, pp. 325, 336). Finally, the idea of equity involves maintaining consistent standards and expectations, which should be established before the learning task. One way to create these standards is through that initial idea of setting attainable goals that are challenging and proximal. Overall, natural consequences will likely provide the greatest satisfaction for students and follow the constructivist mindset that many of us have embraced.

Different classes might require a teacher to look at motivation in different ways. Some students might come to class with high self-efficacy and easily understand the relevance of the material being covered. Other classes may need more reassurance and greater assistance in setting proximal learning goals. When we consider our students, we should keep the ARCS model in mind. How will we gain their attention, produce relevance, promote confidence and create satisfaction? In what ways did their prior learning experiences shape self-efficacy and their ability to self-regulate? While it seems like a bit of extra work to motivate students, we must realize that without the motivation to learn, our teaching efforts will fall on a few sets of deaf ears. If we are truly passionate about our content—and what our content area has given us—it will be no problem to engage our students and show them the relevance, help them create goals and provide a satisfying learning experience.

Other times, it feels like my life is rushed and filled to the point of bursting. I feel like I’m barely clinging on to my sanity. I see people living happy, carefree lives and I envy them.

Perhaps the real situation is that everyone is somewhere between these two places. No one is completely carefree. We all have bills and deadlines to meet. Marriage, children, jobs, houses–they just compound the stress of life itself. In some ways I’m lucky that I do not have those things to worry about. My employment situation is glorified hobo and the white picket fence is a long way off. I won’t have to worry about a mortgage or diapers or contracts for a couple of years. Still, I have to keep telling myself that I’m working toward something or the day to day breathing becomes too much.

My dear friend and “little brother” wrote on my Facebook today that I have to be passionate about teaching. I think I am, but am I passionate enough? I really look forward to working with a classroom of my own, but I’m nervous. I’m more nervous about completing the process and jumping through the hoops of student teaching and Praxis testing, but it’s still just another stressful element in this path I have chosen for myself. And I’m always questioning if it’s the right path. I’ve had a good break from subbing due to PSSA testing and conflicting schedules, and I can honestly say that I don’t miss it all that much. I’ve already entered the mindset for my summer job, which might just be a necessary coping mechanism.

I wonder if I’ve missed my calling. I wonder if this is what I’m supposed to do. Friends–well, more likely friends of friends–would turn to religion here and pray for answers or something. I could consult my tarot cards. I could put my faith in what my friends tell me. I could believe in myself for once.

I’ve kind of hit a wall. I guess that’s what April is, and possibly always has been, for me. I think I was usually fairly frustrated by this time of year in undergrad, and most certainly in 2008 and 2009, I was slowly going crazy by this time of year. I want to be passionate about my classes, about subbing, about life–but right now I just keep asking myself two questions:

Is this real life? and

Can we go to the beach yet?

I need this.

]]> http://silverfire.net/life-in-cepa/is-this-real-life/feed 0 http://silverfire.net/teaching-learning/i-cant-remember-life-without-technology http://silverfire.net/teaching-learning/i-cant-remember-life-without-technology#comments Sun, 24 Jan 2010 21:02:25 +0000 Lindsay http://silverfire.net/?p=347 One of my graduate classes is about using technology in the classroom. One of our assignments is writing eJournals, where we are given prompts and required to write a reflection in response. Our first prompt asked us to consider technology in our own lives. “How has technology been used in your past experiences as a student or teacher? Did you find it effective? Reflect upon any field experience observations. Mention new website resources you have found. What did you learn from your fellow participants?” Here is my response:

Technology has been a part of my life as a student as long as I can remember. Looking back, I realize that I was incredibly lucky to go to an elementary school where we had access to a computer lab. I recall around second grade we used Apple computers to make LEGOs move; I don’t remember what exactly this was called, but it clearly formed a lasting impression. From elementary school onward, we were given experience with word processing; most times, technology was used for special projects and presentations. We gained a lot of experience with PowerPoint. In high school, my classes exposed me to additional software that I might not have experienced otherwise. Yearbook and newspaper provided experience with Adobe PageMaker and Photoshop, which greatly influenced who I became in college.

As a college student, I used the internet more for research. Online databases of scholarly articles such as JSTOR definitely made my life easier. The value of email presented itself as well, since I always emailed my papers to my Mom or a friend to have them proofread. My prior experience with Adobe led me to use it outside of publications by creating stellar handouts for presentations. As I was wrapping up my undergraduate study, more and more teachers were moving toward online submissions for papers and utilizing Blackboard for course materials. One of my favorite English professors sent our drafts and final papers back to us with comments and corrections tracked in Microsoft Word. Thumb drives were also one of the greatest inventions to come out during my college career, and I’ve gone from having one that I held my current papers and projects to several dedicated to different fields.

Since graduation, I’ve become the editor for friends’ papers, and we often use Google Docs to share things. While Google Docs provides access to word processing, spreadsheets and presentations among other document types, it pales in comparison to the innovations Google continues to provide. The advent of Google Wave could change the way people share and discuss documents, but it’s something that may take awhile to catch on.

My teaching experience is limited to substitute teaching, but I have seen technology used in various classroom settings. In some cases, students are using older computers to master the basic computer applications such as Microsoft Office. In another instance, I had the opportunity to substitute for a yearbook class, and these students had access to several state-of-the-art desktop computers as well as a cart of laptops. Many of them had their own high-quality point-and-shoot digital cameras, and they also had access to the school’s higher quality DSLR cameras. This same school district has several laptop carts shared by department. I’ve seen students use laptops for PowerPoint presentations in their social studies and science courses and use educational sites to reinforce skills while their regular teacher is out sick. In some cases, the students use the time with laptops productively; however, I’ve run across numerous students who use the time to access Flash games or dedicate most of their time to finding the perfect song for the background of their presentation. Several of the school districts with whom I’ve substituted use the website StudyIsland.com to reinforce and test student skills; I will be interested to discuss using sites like this when I complete my field experience observations.

Additionally, I’m having some thoughts about attempting the city school again. They held an orientation for substitute teachers this week, and I attended because I didn’t have any subbing work. I feel like, in the present economy, more people are emergency certified to substitute and this increases the number of options for schools and decreases the number of calls for the sub. So I may have to start taking calls at the city school to stay afloat financially, as much as I don’t want to do it. They seemed genuinely grateful that anyone would show up to teach for their school district, and they acknowledged that they do indeed have some bad eggs. They also gave me what I wanted—a written manual outlining different procedures. While it isn’t quite a Bible of How to Act at the Urban School, it does have some helpful information. They also gave us some pointers that I would not necessarily have thought to employ in teaching (i.e., ignore the “bad” children), so maybe if I try to follow their ideas of how things work, I will have a more successful time of it.

Nothing compares to subbing at my favorite suburban schools, though. I did have a day at one this past week, and because it’s almost time for high school finals, the class was doing review packets. The fact that they remained quiet and legitimately did work per the teacher’s instructions enabled me to all but finish Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets in a single day. I sincerely hope that I can work with them more throughout the rest of this school year.

I may post some of my posts from my various classes on here as I move through my semester with SJU. The Psychology of Teaching course seems like it will be really thought-provoking, and we have to write weekly message board posts for it. My fingers are crossed that things continue to go well for me in the education sector.

My first day was terrifying and exhilarating. I’d managed to find a better-paying seasonal job to round out my summer; my last day was Labor Day. I was looking forward to taking a few weeks to prepare for subbing by cleaning and organizing. Instead, Tuesday, September 8, I woke up at 5:30 in the morning to a phone call. I agreed before I really understood what I was doing. That was just the beginning, I suppose. In retrospect, the first day was fairly plain. It was 7th grade language arts, and one period I had a co-teacher who took the reigns. The regular teacher’s plans were superb–she’d thought of a lot in advance. The 7th graders were only in their 2nd week of junior high, so they had no idea that I was not at all aware of what I was doing. At the end of the day, I felt confident I’d made the right choice in pursuing teaching as a career.

When I look back, I’m very happy that I accepted that early phone call. It let me train myself and get my feet wet without falling on my face. I learned how to follow a lesson plan, how to relate to students, and even how to deal with trying to find a school I’ve never seen. Since then, I’ve had numerous other learning experiences with subbing. It’s trial and error, and what one can accomplish in a day depends on the type of students the school in question has. The demographics vary, even in my small county, and the students are sometimes less receptive to a substitute depending on their grade level and their level in the education system. I hope to detail some of what I’ve learned here, and to write about the experiences—good, bad and in between—so that I might learn more from them as I reexamine what I’ve done.