I think that motivation is key in the classroom. I think there are many factors that affect motivation among students such as internal factors, external factors and cognitive factors. For teachers i feel that it is very important to be able to recognize these factors within students and to address them by being able to accommodate to what works best for each student by what motivational factors influence them most. To recognize these factors though, it is important to observe your students since majority of the time your students aren't just going to come out and say what motivates them, especially since with younger students and sometime older students they are not aware of makes them motivated to learn yet or ever will if you don't help them to realize what gets them going or what their goal should be for today, this week, this year or for down the road in their life. As teachers I think the most important thing you can do for your students is to help them make goals to achieve them.
As i touched base on in the classroom management post, my idea of good classroom management has alot to do with addressing motivation within the classroom. I feel that a teacher can ultimately know their content very well and even know how to apply the content well in the classroom by informing the learning theories, however this is a very wholistic approach and as teachers the best way to facilitate students is by addressing their individual needs and key factor to being able to do this is by knowing what motivates them.
I know for me getting into Special Education knowing what motivates students is so important as I will constantly be having to accommodate my classroom and my teaching to the needs of each student. The most important focus in special education is to create realistic goals for each student to shoot for in both their education and in life. My goal as a teacher will be to prepare them to succeed in these goals by first creating these goals given their motivational factors and then to facilitate their learning by teaching them in a way that suites them best.
Being motivated yourself and by keeping your students motivated is key to being a successful teacher and having a successful classroom by ultimately having successful students!
