#1

Personal Narrative

It wasn't that long ago when I was in high school. I went to a small school that was comprised of a lot of awesome, young, hip and with it teachers, along with a bunch of older, lazy, unmotivated teachers. I was somewhat, okay, I was definitely what most people would call a nerd. From my first day of school in '91, I was in love with school. In fact, most years, on the last day of school in elementary school I would cry. There was just something about working on activities and learning that clicked with me.

All throughout school, I made good grades on everything. I made honor roll on everything... and then third grade happened... my first C happened. That year, I had an altercation with my teacher. I was very social for a third grader and my best friend was in my class. His name was Chris, and he he protected me from a bully named Dusty. Dusty would try to beat me up at recess every day because he found out I was part Native American.

One day, I passed Chris a note, thanking him for taking up for me on the playground that day. My teacher got the note and read it aloud to the class... only she didn't read what was on the paper. She made up some elaborate story about me wanting to kiss Chris after school. I was mortified, and was made fun of for weeks afterward. I was mad at my teacher. I lost hope that anyone would like me, and became unmotivated. So, my first C came because I stopped doing my homework. Years later, I found out that my dad, a teacher at the same school, told my teacher to give me the C because I needed "motivation to make better grades."

Now, I'm a college senior and I'm going to be a teacher. I haven't lost motivation since them, except for a bout of senioritis I got in high school, but I still didn't make a C. I've been to a few schools in my placements, and I have noticed a huge epidemic at my placements. Students just aren't motivated. Because I've only had a couple of times where I have lost the drive to participate in school, I am having a hard time relating to that.

I've read through articles in magazines, textbooks, and student surveys in an attempt to figure out why students just aren't motivated. I'm coming up with my own system of theories and tips to see just what motivates these students. Let's see what I find out!

#2

I wrote this poem in response to some days I had at my placements this semester. There was a definite problem with motivation at both of them.

The Unmotivated

She sits at her desk
her head cradled in her curled arm
blonde hair cascades off the edge
she's dreaming of being anywhere
but school.

I, still a student myself,
try to explain the importance
of punctuations and quotations
thinking, "these kids are thinking of everything
but school."

I walk to the sleeping beauty and nudge her arm
"aren't you going to finish this work?"
She looks at me with sleepy eyes and
says "no, I'm not, I'll take the zero."
I try and try, bur she won't give in
She wants to be anywhere but
in my classroom.

Another day, another assignment
the girl still won't comply
this time she's hostile,
"no, I won't do this for you,
You aren't a real teacher!"

It hurts me to my core.
How do I get through to her?
I know she's not the only one
who doesn't care
they all think school is a waste of time
that "they'll never use this stuff."

I put myself out there every day
and some just won't perk up
I want them to love school like I love school
and grow up to change the world.

#3

I had this conversation with my mom and brother over Thanksgiving break. However, my brother's grades is a topic that is brought up in daily conversation. He's the total opposite of me. He has never been interested in school, he doesn't make good grades, and doesn't participate in any extracurricular activities. However, he's interested in science, and is enrolled in trade school, where he studies welding. He does well in that class. These are the conversations I had with my mom and brother:

Mom: he won't get that new truck if he doesn't get his grades up.
Me: Why do you think he does so badly in class?
Mom: Because he doesn't care. He's never cared about school.
Me: But he likes science, why won't he make the grade in that class?
Mom: I just don't know, we've tried everything. We can't get through to him.

Later that day, my brother is driving me to the store.

Me: So, how's school going?
Jake: Good.
Me: Mom says you aren't doing well in school. Your grades are bad, are you just not doing your work or what?
Jake: Yeah, I am, I forget work sometimes.
Me: How are you liking trade school?
Jake: (more upbeat) I like it.
Me: Why do you like it so much?
Jake: Because I get to work on stuff.
Me: So you like doing things hands on?
Jake: Yeah, I like working on things and feeling them.
Me: Do your teachers at the high school not do activities with you guys?
Jake: No, but I wish they did.

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My conclusion:

While it is very frustrating for my parents, Jake's lack of motivation is caused by both internal and external issues. There is no doubt that my brother has learning disabilities, and has been diagnosed with them for years. Also, he's a little developmentally slow for being 17 years old. However, if Jake's teachers were more sensitive to their students' needs, they would be able to see that there are many students in the trade school track that are more kinesthetic learners. If they had more hands on activities like they do at the trade school in their other classes, it could be argued that not only would my brother's grades be improved, but many of his classmates would benefit as well.

I went to the same high school as my little brother, and I can say from witnessing it first hand that the teacher who teach the trade school track diploma do not give as much effort into their lessons for those students. They believe that the students are lazy and not going to college, so they don't need to know everything that the advanced students do. However, this is a detriment to the occupational diploma students because they lose motivation after a while. They know that they are treated differently, and eventually lose the will to finish their work.

#4

In Scholastic's Instructor, a bimonthly magazine for teachers, there was an article entitled "Too Cool for School." In this article, Samantha Cleaver interviews leading researchers in the realm of student motivation. Samantha Cleaver, the writer of this article, is a special education teacher and has a class of kindergartners in Washington, DC. However, her interviews and insight on student motivation gives us lots of great information that can transcend into the high school classroom.

Some authors and researchers she speaks with throughout this article include Richard Lavoie, author of The Motivation Breakthrough: 6 Secrets to Turning On the Turned Off Student; Mel Levine, pediatrician and author of All Kinds of Minds; and Pat Wolfe, educational consultant and author of Brain Matters: Translating Research into Classroom Practice.

I learned a lot by reading this article, and althought it is not an "official" research article, I feel that the researchers' suggestions in this article pertain more to us as classroom teachers than a regular research article can.

It's no question that we, as teachers, look forward to seeing those smiling faces eager to learn every day... but what do we do when that doesn't happen? That's where this article comes in. Samantha Cleaver goes through the research and picks out the best motivational tips so we don't have to.

She reminds us that all students react to different motivators in different ways, so we shouldn't be surprised when what works for one student may not work for another. Therefore, we should motivate accordingly. Also, Dr. Mel Levine reminds us that at the heart of every student lies a desire to succeed.

In order to motivate students effectively, you have to think about the structure of the brain. That's something that I had never thought of before, but it makes sense. When Dopamine is released into your brain, you get a natural high from being successful. Our goal is to get those synapses firing so that the dopamine releases, resulting in a boost in self esteem and confidence. Let's face it, the majority of our students have low self esteem as it is, and in order to get them motivated you have got to boost that self esteem! That's why it's important to let the student know that you care for them and are proud of them.

There are some Do's and Don'ts that were brought up in this article that can easily be implemented into your classroom:

Don't

• Lecture the student. It only breeds negative behavior.
  
• Make everything a competition. It's an automatic self esteem killer for those who never win. It only motivates the one who wins.
  
• Forget to implement technology in the classroom.
  
• Forget other types of learners. They all learn in different ways, so you should address that.
  

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Do

• Let students know when you are proud of them. You may be the only person who does that all day!
  
• "Sell learning to the students." they won't be motivated if you don't seem excited about what you're teaching!
  
• Seek out their advice: it's been proven that students work harder and more efficiently when they are emotionally invested in a subject.
  
• Give your students the opportunity to be creative.
  
• Build a trusting relationship with your students.

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I think that even if you pick one or two of these tips and implement them into your classroom, you will have a group of motivated and happy students in no time!

#5

In order for you to fully understand why your students aren't motivated, you need to understand what the students deal with on a daily basis. Life for them is tougher than ever, especially when most of them have multiple extracurricular activities, teen pregnancy is prevalent, and they are exposed to drugs and alcohol at younger ages than ever.

Here are just a few things I have heard from students and fellow teachers over the past few months:

"He stopped talking and doing his schoolwork after his grandma got killed."

"They want me to go to their games and stuff because sometimes I'm the only one there to cheer them on."

"I'm not doing this crap. This is stupid. Ms. Martin, does she think we're stupid or something?"

"I mean, they don't do their work, they threaten the teacher and sleep during class, and then they wonder why they make bad grades!"

"This is busy work, that's all it is. Why should I do it? She ain't even going to look at it."

"Yeah, I've got a job. I work over at Jack's. I've got bills to pay, Ms. Martin, you know?"

"I just like ROTC, I don't like sitting in this art class, I'm not doing nothing."

After reading these quotes, remember that these students are young. Most of them were only in the 8th or 9th grade. They have a lot of attitude, but can't you tell they can tell when we aren't giving them what they need and deserve? I witnessed the classes with the busy work, and teacher that thought they were stupid. They were right to feel that way.


We owe the kids more than that. We need to give them the motivation they need to care about their work. They deserve it.

#6 and #7

Last semester, I conducted a survey with a group of 10th graders at Bryant High School. The original project I was using this for was on "kid culture" but I wanted to add one more question to the survey to help me improve my teaching. The question I added was "If you could change one thing about the traditional classroom setting, what would it be?"

The answers varied from the funny to the thought provoking. Here are some of my favorites:

"I would put a water fountain in (the classroom)"-- says a student who uses all of his weekly hall passes to get water... he's diabetic.

"I would like to have class outside sometimes on pretty days." -- most of the classrooms at this school only have one window, and it's usually never opened and the blinds are shut.

"I like it when teachers are easy to relate to, and when they are nice. It makes me look forward to coming to class."

"I'd like to do more work on the computers."

The answers I got from this survey helped me to see what would give the students the motivation to do well every day. And while I can't get a water fountain installed in the classroom, I can do what I can to implement technology, stay nice, and switch up routine.

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This is a digital story of my journey to find out what motivates students. I didn't apply music to it, because... well, quite frankly I was scared.