This week's reading reemphasized to me the reality that students must crawl out of their unmotivated shells to seek help, which enables learning. It demonstrated to me that students are the ones who decide what, if anything, they learn. The best teachers in the world will have students that don't learn from them.
With that said, it's time for a little story. Throughout my entire junior high and high school career, I can think of two teachers that I actually respected. One was a History teacher, the other an English teacher (as a side note, in college I majored in English and minored in History). These teachers were good at what they taught, but I respected them for more than that. These were teachers I never even considered making fun of, or intentionally trying to make their job tougher. I sought learning from them, and it was mastery based, not performance. I still can't pinpoint a simple answer as to why they earned my trust, that I could learn from them and could seek their help when needed. I just share this to admit that while it is dependent on the student to find the motivation to learn, teachers can make a difference in helping them acquire that motivation.
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Justin, this week's learning on motivation also caused the same reflection in my teaching. To facilitate learning in the classroom it is so important for the teacher to first help the learner to be motivated. Learning is more effective and long lasting if the learner is motivated to learn, and not just doing it out of duty. The teachers in my life that stand out the most are those who helped me to be motivated and see the importance of education.
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