Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation:
​
When I was Inspired to Perform
As a student myself, I am most motivated to perform when the teacher incorporates both intrinsic and extrinsic motivators. Intrinsic motivation refers to the motivation that derives from inside an individual. It is the pleasure that a person gets from the task itself. Extrinsic motivation refers to an external reward. When you wan to get something or earn something… it could be tangible like a prize, or it could be psychological like praise.
​
Here are a few examples of when my teacher successfully motivated me to learn and perform:
​
Elementary School: Miss Ross, my 6th grade teacher publicly praised me in the method that I used and the result that I concluded in a math question. Math was never my strong suit in school, Miss Ross (being my teacher) I am sure knew that. But her positive praise to me, in front of my peers, gave me a boost in my self-confidence and urge to try harder in mathematics.
​
High School: Mr. Meyers, my US History teacher in 11th grade is a great example of someone who inspired me to perform in school. For a particular learning activity we were expected to create a living museum of the different decades in US history. All the students drew their decades from a hat; I received the 1960’s. This activity was a hands-on creative learning and project based learning activity that motivated me greatly to learning as much as I could about that generation and decade. It allowed me to work at my own pace and to express my creativity. I became motivated to learn and preform the moment Mr. Meyer explained the activity.
​
College: Professor Keskeys, my Grad Professor for Classroom Management. We were required to create a Classroom Management Notebook. This activity was an extreme amount of work, but I was motivated because my professor was excited about the activity herself. She allowed us a certain amount of creativity, which freshened the assignment motivating me to want to work on it – and she built the connection of it’s importance to using during a job interview or interactions with parents.
​
All three of these teachers, throughout my academic career motivated me to learn and perform academic tasks based on the incorporation of both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation in their lessons and instruction.
​
​
When I was Deflated and How I Restored My Faith
Thinking back to a time in my academic career when I was completely deflated, two prime examples come to mind… both occurring in high school and both involving technology.
​
Mr. Meyer’s 12th grade Government and Economics class – we were expected to research something on the computers in the computer lab, and report on our findings, creating a final project. I was from a low socio-economic class in a school whose community was of high socio-economic status. I had never worked on a computer before, and I was drastically lost and confused on how to operate the device, let alone complete the assignment.
​
Mr. Carry’s 12th grade Marine Biology class – as a final project we were expected to use a computer to create many different graphs, calculating and concluding our findings on the type and number of phytoplankton and zooplankton, off of our local coast, over a six-month period. The information also needed to include tide reports, water temperatures, salinity, etc. This was a huge portion of our grade for this class, and if I did not receive a passing grade, I would not pass the class, resulting in me not being allowed to graduate from high school. This was a tremendous amount of pressure, all contingent on my ability to communicate my findings in a digital form. I did not have a computer at home, let alone know how to create graphs on them. I told my teacher of my situation, and asked if I could present my findings through hand written graphs, instead. He told me to find away to use a computer.
​
It took me many years to restore my faith in myself, when it came to academic and technology. Once I was able to afford a computer (after high school) I practiced various skills and techniques. I applied and attended on-line college course to further my skills with technology. But I had to pick myself up from my bootstraps and put forth the effort to improve my abilities with technology. Mr. Meyer as accommodating, and offered me personal assistance with the computer, and I was able to type my paper on our typewriter. Mr. Carry, however, was not as accommodating. I worked full time afterschool, to help my family, and I was unable to go to a library to use their computers. I documented my findings through had written graphs, and received a D- in the class… barely allowing me to graduate high school.
​
​
As a Teacher
As a teacher I plan on being more like Miss Ross with her praise and positive reinforcement, in areas of personal student weakness. I plan on being like Mr. Meyer with his understanding and accommodations to difficult situations. I plan on being like Professor Keskeys and her creativity in lessons and use of bridging the importance of activities to real world scenarios. However, I do not plan on being like Mr. Carry with his one-size fits all teaching methods.
​
As a teacher I plan on incorporating both intrinsic and extrinsic motivators in my classroom. I want to implement SNIWL into the planning of my curriculum. Where I can build on the students’ STRENGTHS, further develop their NEEDS, build my lessons and activities off of their INTERESTS, and adapt lessons to their specific WAYS of LEARNING.
​
​