So today we got into the "not so fun" conversation of teacher pay and the "teacher as martyr" topic as it relates to motivation. The question was asked, "If our state passes the teacher raise (either 6 or 11%), would that motivate us to keep teaching?" The majority of us agreed that a raise wouldn't make us love teaching more, necessarily. But it might get us closer to that "sweet spot" in our salary: the point at which the worker is no longer concerned about money, and is paid enough to be motivated. But honestly, the past two weeks' discussions have been extremely motivating for me. Maggie posted about the free write demo and the soundtrack demo - two very motivating activities. And the fact that I'm currently in the position to explore education from the position of a student is very motivating because I know I'm going to provide some awesome instruction in the Fall. Once I sit down to plan out my semester, I will be able to BE that "positive, joyful" teacher that kids need in order to be motivated themselves, which in turn motivates me as the teacher.
Our other point of inquiry is students' motivation with unfamiliar texts. Well for homework over the weekend, we had a lengthy reading and it was an unfamiliar text for me. I could certainly understand it (for the most part), but it was not a pleasant read; it was repetitive and at times difficult to comprehend. And guess what? I didn't want to finish. I was unmotivated. I skimmed through it and did my homework, but I did everything I could to just be DONE with it. This was good practice for me as a teacher, though, to experience interacting with an unappealing text. It helped me understand that as a teacher YES I will possibly assign some difficult reading because it may be necessary at some moments. But what will we do with that text (especially if I know it's a tough read for my kids)? I think what felt good for me when I came into class today is that the teacher hadn't "forgotten" about the reading; I was held accountable for it. But I was also not quizzed on it. I was simply asked to share my opinion about it, and that was enough. I felt validated for my efforts, even if they weren't 100% voluntary. I'm glad I was reminded of that lesson today.
I'm really interested in your reflection on the reading piece. I hear you thinking through it from the perspective of a student and wondering about how you will motivate your students when they come across text that challenges or doesn't engage them. These sorts of student-hat moments are awesome for us to experience and reflect on. The accountability piece is something that I think about, too.What students come to expect they will doing with a text in class after reading it matters. On one hand, I don't want my students to feel like they are reading something so they get the quiz questions right, but on the other, I want them to feel like wrestling through a part in a text that is difficult is worth the effort. I've been playing a lot with the sorts of activities we've been doing in SI…mapping, dialectic response…and I feel like it's been great for encouraging students to go back to a text and think about it. I'd like to know more, though, about how this affects their actual first reading.
ReplyDeleteI am so glad your inquiry matches up with what you have been going through. I love that you are identifying with the student role as well; I think that is the most beneficial thing I am getting out of all of this. Being a student once again for the last two years has opened my eyes to their perspective and has given me a real understanding of what is going in their lives.
ReplyDeleteI love your commentary of what it is like to struggle through an assignment you are just not attached to. Again, another great learning experience.