Motivation, Emotion, and Learning

          Theory to Practice: Module 1
          Motivation, or “an internal state that arouses us to action, pushes us in particular directions, and keeps us engaged in certain activities” is the drive that controls students’ learning (Ormrod, 426).  It plays a role in whether or not, how, and how much a student will learn, in conjunction with cognitive functions.  There are many contributing factors to how much motivation a student has to learn, including whether or not their basic needs are met, value and interest in a subject, and other factors that teachers can control.  As a teacher, it is my goal to enhance intrinsic motivation in my students utilizing a variety of tools, techniques, and individualized or small group instruction in my classroom. 
          In my classroom, the instructional strategies that I currently implement to meet learners’ motivational needs include: opportunities for choice, intermediate difficulty tasks, peer/instructor modeling, authentic tasks, and private assessment (Artino, 2012).  When the opportunity for choice is appropriate, I will offer it.  For example, during a science unit on Habitats, in which students study and present information on one habitat, I allow them to choose which habitat.  Also, students currently work on an iPad one morning per week on an Application of choice.  In both examples, I am able to control the overall choices, but I am able to offer student choice at the same time.  This also makes the experience of more interest and value to the students, which in turn leads to students obtaining more knowledge.  “To some extent, interest and knowledge seem to  perpetuate each other: personal interest in a topic fuels a quest to learn more about a topic, and the increasing knowledge that one gains may in turn promote greater interest” (Ormrod, 464). 
          In general, I find that our curriculum tasks are designed at an intermediate level of difficulty with authentic tasks built in.  Otherwise, they are differentiated to challenge students at their own level.  Our math program, Trailblazers, has tasks designed that gradually become more difficult.  I foresee student expectations continuing to become more challenging and authentic as we continue to align curriculum with the Common Core Standards.  As we complete a math lesson or unit, I will have students complete an authentic task or we will have a discussion about how the math skills can be used in the real-world.  This also relates to the motivational strategy of explaining value or relevance.
          Next, I continuously provide instructor modeling; for example, while doing a read-aloud during a reader’s workshop minilesson, I will model how to “think while reading.”  I use peer modeling for behavior reinforcement.  Lastly, I generally administer private assessments, whether a student is conferencing with me about a book to check for understanding, completing a final assessment on a unit of study, or taking a district-wide computer-based assessment.  Motivation continues to be a driving factor in student learning and it is important to continue to implement motivational factors in which I can control.