During my student teaching experience, I remember my AVID senior class being very relaxed and casual. My mentor teacher explained how difficult it was becoming to manage the classroom because the students have been with her for four years and most of them are ready to move on with the next phase in life – college. A couple of the students “checked out” already and didn’t seem to mind the consequences of turning in late tutorial forms and receiving a poor grade in the class.
I couldn’t help but relate with the students. My senior year, I was ready to check out – get my diploma and leave the place for good. Knowing all too well this attitude that embodies the senior AVID class, I couldn’t help but wonder – how do I battle “senioritis”? How do I keep the interest level of students who are ready to move on and graduate? On a similar note, how do I hold the interest level of students who are unmotivated and simply do not wish to learn anything that is being taught in my class?
Motivation is such a critical component of teaching and learning. I can’t teach effectively unless students are properly motivated to do their work. One of the things I must consider as I develop my curriculum is the interest level of students and their motivation to learn the content that I’m preparing to teach them. I know that more students will be motivated to learn if they develop a personal connection to the material and have readily available technology resources, so I must also list that as a priority as well.
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