Motivation!

This week's reflection is about motivation--something I know I can talk about.

What motivates you as a learner? What do you think will motivate your future students?
For myself, I learn best when I have an interest in it. That goes for younsters too. If there's no interest, they're going to get bored and tune out (much like college students today when teachers drag their lectures on and on and on....). When I was younger, I remember my dad trying to teach my older brother countless times about the mechanics and necessary actions required for car care. My brother had no interest in it growing up. Now-a-days, he does cause he's married and sees how important it is. But he's still not very car smart. I'm sure if he would've paid attention or had interest in mechanics, he probably wouldn't have so many car problems. Influential educators of the past, such as William James and John Dewey, regarded interest as central to educational theory and practice. They examined and studied the psychology of education throughout their lives in the early 19th century. (http://www.aare.edu.au/99pap/pre99584.htm) Dewey said, "It is not enough to catch attention; it must be held". As teachers it's our job to focus on our students and meet their interests. Get to know them. Find out what they like and don't like. Use their interests as an advantage to teaching. We're all curious and social creatures, so it'd be a good idea to have creative, interesting lessons that will spark their interest.
And if what I'm learning matches up well with how I learn, which is mainly visually, I do better at absorbing the content. Experts say that there are several different kinds of learning, but the main 3 are: auditory (listening), visual (observing) and kinesthetic (doing). I think this is important when dealing with our students. Not every student is going to learn the same. Some will learn best through our lectures. Others will have to try it out themselves to learn it. I think it's best that we teach our lessons in such a way that they meet the needs in all three ways of learning. No one way of learning is better than another, either.
Now sometimes, we may not be able to find their interests or figure out their learning style. It'll happen, it's a part of life. In that case, we might have to think of other ideas to motivate our students. This website as several ideas of how to motivate students in your classroom: http://honolulu.hawaii.edu/intranet/committees/FacDevCom/guidebk/teachtip/motivate.htm