Reflecting on my public school education as well as my college experience, I feel very lucky. I worked with mostly inspiring teachers/coaches who pushed me to be the best student/athlete I could be. The impact of a truly wonderful teacher stays with you forever and even though my high school days seem like a lifetime ago, I will forever remember a class I took all four years of high school called Great Books taught my a Mr. Bill Cole. I worked harder in that class than maybe all of my other classes put together. I really spent some time thinking about why I worked so hard in that class when I had no problem blowing off every single math class I ever took. Here are the reasons I worked so hard in that class: 1. The set up of the class empowered me to make choices about what I was studying. Each quarter every student got to choose two books, plays, poems, or historical events that correlated to the time period we were studying, to report on in a seminar setting. Students signed up to attend the seminars and Mr. Cole posted questions about each reading/event to research and be prepared to discuss in depth. I had no idea what existentialism was when I was 14 years old, but I became deeply motivated to understand it because I had to discuss it during my seminar. 2. The accountability of the seminar was a huge motivator for me. I was a freshman in a senior English class and I most definitely didn't want to embarrass myself. Once I lived through my first seminar, I was totally addicted to the process of moving through the questions and hearing everyone's different perceptive of a single question. That's when I learned there is no one correct answer to most questions. 3. Mr. Cole's feedback was another important motivator for me. He was very specific and pointed in his feedback to how you answered each question. He took copious notes while we all spoke and really made each of us feel smart and gave our words value. This was such a confidence builder for me and led me to use my voice more than I would have had I not been told my words were important and interesting on so many occasions by someone I respected. The more I received positive feedback, the harder I tried and the more academic risks I took in my responses to the readings. 4. I had so much respect for my teacher and his intelligence, and experiences that I felt I had to perform my best so I didn't disappoint him. I felt valued by him and I wanted to live up to the perceived expectations he had for me as a student. 5. Finally, I love reading, and history, and stories of pretty much any kind. I was mesmerized by the history he taught us; it wasn't like the history in my textbook. I loved his description of each and every book on our list and I agonized over which two to chose because they all sounded so good. I was really interested in the content and that helped motivate me to tackle some really challenging pieces at a very young age.
On the other hand, I have had experiences that too took some of that confidence away and made me want to give up. I had one teacher in particular who did everything out of order. All of her words were out of order, her directions were so difficult for me to follow I just felt frustrated all of the time. I never really understood what I was supposed to do, or how to get a good grade on an assignment. I'm not sure she knew my name, or the names of my classmates. She did refer to us as "beady eyed little slugs sitting on a long." I was shocked. I had never been spoken to like that by a teacher and I was very disillusioned. She didn't think we were capable of doing very much and I know I dutifully lived up to that low expectation. This was a chemistry class, and to be fair, science (sorry I know that's your subject) was never a class I automatically loved. If I liked my teacher then I liked the class ok. However, in my chemistry class, due to my high frustration and her seeming lack of interest in her class I basically shut down. I did what I had to do at a very minimal level. I didn't want to work very hard because I never had any clue if I was doing anything correctly. Any attempts to ask questions were thwarted with her signature response; "If you are not going to listen to the directions, then find a friend, if you have one, to help explain it to you." She said that to everyone if you asked a question. After awhile of every grade being a c with no feedback, I just assumed she never looked at anything we turned in.
I knew that wasn't my usual classroom experience and I had many positive role models and success in school so that helped keep me focused in my other classes. Science was always difficult for me, but like I said, once I was finished with chemistry, I never took another science class until college. I took astronomy and an earth science class because I thought they would be the easiest ones and since I wasn't very good at science I needed to take the easy classes. I am not sure I have ever restored my own personal belief in my ability to understand a lot about science. For example, my children just informed me yesterday that the moon's light is a reflection of the sun. I looked it up when we got home to be sure they were right.
There are so many wonderful and inventive ways to motivate students and I try as many as I can because you never know what is going to motivate someone. I love trying to figure out each individual student's exact motivational combination. Here are some of the different strategies I use to try to motivate my students. I work very hard to make personal connections with my students every day. I speak to every student each day and check in with them when I notice something is off, or they are really excited about something. I want them to trust me because I know that most of them will work for teachers they feel care about them. I think that for some, I may be the last English teacher they have and I want to be sure they leave my classroom feeling like nothing is out of reach for them should they chose it. I spend time telling them why reading and writing are so important. I make it clear that I push them with their writing because I want them to feel confident enough about their skills to go to college if they want to. When we surveyed our students five years ago, 67 % said they didn't even consider college because it is too hard. That broke my heart and our school has made significant improvements in getting students set up at Fullerton Junior College with counselors and some elective credits they can take on our high school campus as seniors. It's fine if students don't choose college because they have other interests, but it's not fine if they don't go because they feel like they don't have the skills. I also give very precise feedback. I do not believe in false compliments. I can find something positive to say about work the students submit, and it is important to tell them what they are doing better now than they were before. I want my feedback to matter to them so I am very careful and specific with the comments I make. I work to be someone my students can look up to and respect. I give my students as much choice as I can. I give them opportunities to voice their opinions. I ask my students to set goals and reflect on their effort and progress toward achieving that goal. I give clear directions with clear rubrics so students know what they need to do in order to meet the educational goals. My hope is some combination of all of that works to help motivate my students to work hard and learn as much as they can.
I avoid being a hypocrite as a teacher. That kind of behavior will destroy any relationship or credibility a teacher tries to establish with his/her class. I avoid giving false or empty praise; your students will know. I avoid trying to fit all students into one mold and have found that the more open I am to different possibilities for students to communicate what they know, the more they blow me away with what they are thinking. I avoid ever raising my voice; yelling is destructive! I avoid calling names or publicly shaming students. Those behaviors listed above do nothing to motivate; they only turn the classroom into a place no one wants to be.
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