Motivation Blog

I am in the education program because I have always wanted to teach history. I've always wanted to teach, I was one of those kids that forced her kid brother to play school with her every day. When I was in the sixth grade I had an AMAZING social studies teacher. Secretly ever since then I have just known that I had to teach history.

Immediate rewards. I know this sounds horrible but it's true; especially when I am doing something that I hate. I have to take long term or far away rewards and break them down into smaller ones. This can go with intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. For example when I do my homework (something I don't like) I have a list of ALL my assignments and I will do anything to be able to check them off (my extrinsic motivator). It is SO satisfying. I did Color Guard for 10 years, and my rewards for that were more intrinsically motivating. Every time I got a move right that was an immediate reward that was just as satisfying as checking off my finished homework.

I am very driven in situations where I'm interested. I do not find it hard to find the flow when I'm studying a subject I love or I'm doing Color Guard. I feel like I almost find that natural high when I do the things I love; I don't really have to try to be motivated. But what makes me successful when I am not interested in something has to be my stubbornness and my self-determination to succeed.

Sometimes I feel like I get extremely overwhelmed and I can experience a case of debilitating anxiety. I find that when I am so overwhelmed with school, and work, and homework, and cleaning the house, and making dinner, and spending time with my husband there are times when it just seems like too much. All I want to do is sit on the couch and watch T.V.; I just can’t picture doing anything. Unfortunately this happens more then I would like to admit. I find that I have to be really on top of my homework, and I have to find fun in what I'm doing (even homework). Having fun is essential to me being successful.

(Are these the goals I wrote on my blog or the ones you wrote??? If its the ones I wrote...) My goals were to 1. Stay on top of my homework, 2. To really take value out of this class, 3. To enjoy my fieldwork. I believe that these are mastery goals because I set them to be able to enjoy this course and to make sure I take something out of the class. They really aren't performance based except for maybe doing my homework. I hope that this says that I want to be able to learn how to teach effectively even if that means I have to make mistakes to get there. I also think that it means I'm not afraid to try.

I believe that I need to not see my busy schedule as something that hinders me. Sometimes I get tired and I start to not see what I am doing as important or relevant. When that happens I need to find the determination to stick with hard thing even if I'm not getting the immediate reward. Homework is not rewarding for me. In fact I would rather watch T.V. which is more fun. I have to be able to put that aside to study.