Motivation

I think that as juniors and/or seniors in college, we can all relate to that feeling of being just about ready to run off somewhere new and different because we are ready to be done with what we have been working at for close to four years. The anticipation for that degree, the new job, and the ability to actually put to work what we have been practicing for so long is intoxicating. However, as much as you can be ready for that new change of pace, you can also grow extremely tired and impatient with the "old" pace that is required to get you to this new life. I sometimes find myself in this position. I love college dearly, and am going to be very upset when I do have to move away from good old Iowa City, but I am more than ready to be done with actual school work. I enjoy the hands on field experience classes, because they allow me to practice what I have been reading and take from what I have learned and evaluate my experiences. But the lectures that I am in because they are required, the endless pages I have to read because they are required for the exams......these require extra motivation in order to complete. What pushes me to complete assignments is that I know they are essential for my future, or in other words... teachers create assignments for our better well being. I know there is a method behind the maddness. This does keep me motivated along with experiences I have had with the outcomes of not following through when I wasn't motivated. These experiences left me less than satisfied and feeling as though I didn't have control. Which happens to be a feeling that I dispise greatly. There in lies my motivation: my future and having control over my future.
I think that I will be able to relate to my students because I know that most if them are feeling the same way. They feel grown up, they think they are adults, and yet they do not see the method behind the maddness. We have all felt this same way before. Senioritis....that may last from freshman year to senior year in high school. I think that as teachers we need to keep our students motivated by relating the material we are teaching to their lives. If we can center projects that we assign around a way that will allow them to display their personal experiences, thoughts, opinions, plans for the future, etc. we will have a better chance of motivating them, and especially important, getting to know them on a better level. What better way to kill two birds with one stone. The two very most important things to us as teachers: to motivate our students to work towards their future and discover themselves and to get to know them all the while doing this.One student I think of in relation to this blog is a young man I worked with at the high school. He is extremely talented in art, and seems to be a level headed and an intelligent person. I never had trouble talking to him about art projects and motivation. He seemed to always be busy and invested in his work both in and out of class. We were speaking the other day about his future plans after high school. I was asking him if he had thought about any colleges yet, and if he would want to carry on with art as the basis for his future career, or if he had any other ambitions for this. He responded that he did not really know if he should even look into colleges because of money and other factors. He asked me, Where is this money supposed to come from? What if I don't finish? What am I going to do? He seemed to be overwhelmed about this, so I responded honestly and talked to him about my own experiences in relation to this, and I responded to him that you finish because it is important. You finish because you need that college degree to get a job anymore. I spoke with him about possible careers involving art, and ones that don't, and also about speaking with his counselor to start looking into colleges. I think that it will be our jobs to not only inspire motivation in terms of art, but also in our students lives and futures, if they are willing to open up to us in this way.