Module 5- Motivation

I had a lot of thoughts about this video! The first thing that I wanted to discuss was the applications that his ideas have that can transcend to education. The idea that extrinsic motivation only helps in certain mechanical activities is both fascinating and frightening to me. Grades are extrinsic motivation. I think all teachers have experienced the fact that grades are motivation for those students intrinsically motivated to reach them. However, for those students NOT intrinsically motivated those extrinsic motivations do not always work as well. At what point do you allow students to motivate themselves to accomplish certain tasks, and what grades are becoming a moot point in our "21st century" world? I have been contemplating making all homework weighted the same. All homework is 10 points regardless of what it is. Labs and projects would be graded with a rubric, but all students could make up all assignments as long as it was done before the test. I'm thinking about instituting a day every week and a half to two weeks that would be the "work on whatever it is that you need to work on" type of day. Just some things I am thinking about. It is scary to completely turn your philosophy upside down, but I think some teachers need to be brave and charge forward to help others to see that while it may be different from what we've always done, it might also be in the best interest of our students and that is why it is worth at least exploring.

I think the ideas put forth of mastery, autonomy, and purpose are all very applicable to education. I want to do an end of unit project that would allow students to represent what they've learned for that unit. I think you could scaffold it for them in a way that would allow them greater and greater freedom as the year went along. Allowing them some freedom in the beginning of the year may be very different from their other classes and their other experiences but as the prove themselves to be worthy of more autonomy slowly becoming more and more of the "guide on the side" instead of the "sage on the stage" could very much help our students learn to be more independent. It may even be a message that travels home- I cannot express the frustration I have with many parents that want to fix everything for their children. Allowing your students to be independent in some small way may encourage their desire for independence in other areas of their lives thus better preparing them for the future. I say this all with the idea of "what if" because I certainly do not believe that one small shift in my 8th grade science classroom will cure all the errors in parenting, the low testing grades, or the lack of motivation for some students, but it just may help them be a little bit more prepared for what they face in the next step of their journey.