Motivation

Why am I here taking Educational Psychology in the Education Program at Utah Valley University? Well, I am tempted to give the really ingenious, obvious answer, but I doubt it is phsycho-analytical enough. I seem to have some deep-seeded hatred, that is yet to be explored, for Utah Valley in general. Maybe it is the fact that it is generally referred to as Happy Valley. Regardless, I swore I would never live in this part of town and now I do. Why? Well, honestly, because I received a scholarship. There really is no other reason, it truly is a money issue. I did luck out in the fact that I am in an amazingly well-respected Education program.
I love American Sign Language, and love is perhaps not a strong enough choice of words for it is something that literally flows within me. I love teaching. There is something about sharing my passion with others that excites me. There is also a particular advantage that I have over core curriculum teachers, and that is that students who sign up for American Sign Language generally want to be there. Can a classroom environment get any better?
Well, I guess it can get better: the students can love being there, perhaps they will enter my class with intrinsic motivation, but perhaps not. That is where Educational Psychology comes in. If I want to be great at sharing my passion, I need to understand how to reach that objective. Students need teachers who understand them and are prepared to gear their instruction toward the students needs by inplementing intrest theories into teaching design. As much as teaching American Sign Language is my passion, it is no longer about me in the classroom, the focus shifts to the students. This course will help me gear my passion toward my students so that we both feel successful.
What motivates me? Chocolate and competition, preferably both.Yes, those are bothe methods of extrinsic motivation. Really though, in a classroom, I am definitely motivated by excitement. When there is enthusiasm in a presentation or an idea, I want to be involved. It is like a firetruck racing down your street; you want to know what is going on. You want to know what all the excitement and commotion is all about.
I am also motivated by self-proposed challenges that are extensions of improving myself and becoming an autonomous goal setter. For example last year I resolved to not eat fast food for one year. That was a great challenge, and the more people I told and involved, the more exciting it became. One year it was no carbonation for a year... down with the fizzy stuff!! This year it is 3 vegetables a day, and this challenge might actually get the better of me.
Why do I succeed? Success is the only option. I am the only person who can measure my success with any accuracy, and I determine what success means to me. So what, that on day 2 I only at two vegetables instead of three. The next day I didn't give up, I just started over with my year mark. Success only increases for me when my innate psychological needs seek control. I had an English professor who passed out a rubric where the highest attainable grade was a B. I approached her and ask where the A rubric was and she admitted that she had never given an A and never would. I asked for the A rubric and declared that she would be giving her first A. I then proceeded to write A papers in her course. I have probably never worked harder at something I didn't really care about for a teacher I didn't really respect. The ability to succeed by my own efforts demonstrates an internal locus of control. Perhaps hot cognition played a role in my efforts to succeed in spite of impossibility.
Why do I fail? Failure used to be part of my vocabulary when I used external locus's of control to place the blame for my perceived failure on someone or something. Now I realize that the only things I failed in life are the things I refused to learn from. There are times when results for perceived success where less than expected and a professor's refusal to give credit for their mistakes lowered my scores, but that didn't mean I was a failure. I knew I recorded an accurate answer. So, I guess I fail when I start letting other people account for my learning.
The goals in my course contract are performance goals. This reflects a desire to continually seek better and more efficient ways to accomplish my goals. When something is mastered, it is usually a concrete idea or concept. Educational Philosophies are always adapting, and thus goals that are associated with Philosophies are always being adapted.
The biggest mindset I have for this class that might prevent me from doing my best is the perception that we have a lot of "busy" work. I need to trust that a professor would only assign work that would benefit me both presently and in the future. My motivations for this class are already preset by my definition of success. If I can learn from every outcome, then I will have succeeded and my future teaching abilities will have improved. After all, how difficult can this course be? Definitely not more difficult than three vegetables a day, so it seems I'm already ahead.