Motivation is Key!

Motivating students can sometimes be a challenge because it is always up to the individual how they chose to be motivated. The source for motivation can come from personality characteristics, the intrinsic characteristics of the task, or from what extrinsic motivation drives the student. However, through experience and classes I have learned hints and tips that may help me in this area. One important task for a teacher is to attempt to get to know their students as quickly as possible. Teachers tend to forget that grades do not motivate everyone and that sometimes it takes a different approach to motivate certain students. I will try to draw out the students’ interest and reward them with that. For example, if you know that a little boy liked football you might reward him with something related to football. As a teacher I will find out what each student likes because each student can be motivated in a different way depending on their personality. When thinking about how this is a good idea, it made me think about different ways that I could find out likes and dislikes within my classroom. I recalled how one of my professors in college at Auburn University made us fill out a “Get-to-know you” sheet the first week of class. I enjoyed the activity and have a mental picture of the sheet for suture reference. I think that this is a good idea for older elementary students. For younger elementary students, I could play a little “get to know you” game with my students and be sure to take notes as they talk about their interest. I think that students respect teachers more when they show interest in them as individuals, and not just as a class.
Extrinsic rewards are great for gaining motivation to complete task, behave in class, or turn in projects on time. Nevertheless, as an upcoming teacher it is extremely vital that I remember a very important motivation rule: Extrinsic rewards kill intrinsic motivation. This meaning, that when a teacher excessively extrinsically rewards her students, they lose the drive from within to complete the task. Students now expect a reward for doing everything and are motivated solely by the reward. The fact that a student can learn from the task or have a good feeling on the inside by completing the task goes completely away. This is why the best way to reward students is on a variable ratio. The students keep performing well, because they do not know when a reward will actually come from their behavior or good performance. You can relate this back to adults and slot machines. Millions of people play slots over and over, even thought they are losing. Slot machines randomly rewarded adults and this keeps their drive still in tact. I plan on using this technique in my class to make sure that my students stay intrinsically motivated.
It is also important for teachers to remember the expectancy theory on motivation and relate situations back to this theory. The expectancy theory was developed by Edwards and later worked on by Atkinson. In this theory Edwards says that motivation is the perceived probability of success multiplied by the incentive value of success. Therefore, people’s effort of achievement depends on their expectation of reward. If a child does not believe that it is even possible to pass a test, then his or her motivation to even try plunders down. On the opposite end of the spectrum, if a test or skill is extremely easy and not challenging enough for the students’ taste, the child’s incentive to complete the task will lower, therefore; lowering his or her motivation as well. This is imperative to remember when making tests. It is important to be aware that having too easy or too hard questions, especially near the beginning of the test, will lower the student’s motivation to try. A teacher should pick question that represent the construct well and will keep the students motivated throughout the test.