Motivation

** What is it: **  Motivation is defined as “The forced within an organism that arouse and direct behavior, as internal sensory stimulation, ego, etc.” (Motivation PowerPoint, 2011). Basically, motivation is directly in relation with a sense of worth that comes from achieving personal goals, values, and beliefs. Overall motivation is a concept that is beneficial when a child has a sense of this to accomplish tasks in an efficient manner.  ** Types ** ** Intrinsic: ** This type motivation comes from within. This is extremely personal, and  intrinsic gain includes individual interests, curiosity, and the overall desire to learn.  ** Extrinsic: ** Motivation here is something that involves recognition. Rewards such as   good grades, prizes, and maybe even candy would fall under this type of motivation.  ** Learning-Oriented vs. Performance-Oriented: ** Learning-Oriented motivation is in   direct relation with the process of how tasks are accomplished. This is learning that will  happen. Performance-Oriented motivation is the overall product of a task. This is what  the end product will be and look like.  ** Why it is important: ** <span style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"> Motivation is in direct correlation with many aspects of literacy. There is a strong relationship between students that are engaged readers and how often they read. There is also a strong correlation between struggling readers and their lack of motivation to read. “Motivation is a fragile commodity”. Things we do everyday affect motivation. Overtime, if a child or even an adult’s desire to be motivated lessens, it will be extremely difficult to gain back that time put into being efficient. <span style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"> <span style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">** How it is expected to develop: ** <span style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"> Motivation is often looked at as a fixed characteristic for a learner, and is shown to change throughout a learners development. Motivation is very situational, it may even increase and decrease within the same circumstance. For example, a student may be very motivated to read a favorite novel outside of the classroom, but in the school setting they may lose motivation and interest. Teachers can have a large impact on a students motivation. To try and increase motivation inside the classroom teachers can: <span style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 11.0pt .5in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.5in;"> • Model interest in learning. <span style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 11.0pt .5in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.5in;"> • Give students choices between alternative tasks. <span style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 11.0pt .5in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.5in;"> • Induce curiosity and suspense. <span style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 11.0pt .5in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.5in;"> • Include moderately challenging tasks. <span style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"> <span style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"> <span style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"> It is never to late to positively influence a learners motivation or desire to learn. <span style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"> <span style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">** How it can be assessed: ** <span style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 11.0pt .5in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.5in;"> • __ Classroom Observation __ - This includes how children interact with their peers and in a group setting. Also it is important to notice how students contribute to the assignment and their willingness to complete tasks. <span style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"> <span style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo3; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 11.0pt .5in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.5in;"> • __ Reading Journals __ - This allows teachers get an insight on their feelings about reading and writing. This activity is beneficial for teachers because it gives them the chance to understand the reader’s identity (McKenna &Stahl, 2009). <span style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"> <span style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo4; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 11.0pt .5in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.5in;"> • __ Open-ended questionnaires __ - This activity elicits learner’s personal beliefs and interests done through a series of incomplete sentences asked of the student (McKenna &Stahl, 2009). <span style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"> <span style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l4 level1 lfo5; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 11.0pt .5in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.5in;"> • __ Interest Inventories __ - This is a list of sample interests a student can rate to give their teacher an insight on what they find enjoyable. This list is useful when choosing assignments to present to the class. <span style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"> <span style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l5 level1 lfo6; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 11.0pt .5in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.5in;"> • __ Attitude Surveys __ - This is used as a rating scale to figure out a student’s interest in different topics. <span style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"> <span style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">** Instructional Strategy: ** Modeling good behavior and motivation towards an activity is the easiest way to show students how important it is to be interested in different activities. Having a variety of adult role models read in the classroom shows that not only teachers enjoy reading but it is popular among others. This can be done by having friends and family come into the classroom, and have them read their favorite childhood stories. This activity will give students a positive attitude about reading, and therefore it will increase their desire to read on their own.