What motivates me is the desire to know what is going to help my every-day teaching. Being a better teacher means having a better day. It means students who are learning and engaged. If I want teaching to be a positive experience then I better get as much information about how to accomplish that goal. This is my intrinsic motivation.
I would consider this both a mastery goal and a performance goal. Each lesson is a type of performance but it is guided by a larger mastery goal and ability. If I’m not a good teacher there really is no reason for me to teach. There are many other careers that I have experience in, but I chose this because I think it is the most important job I can do.
I hate to admit that grades really matter to me right now. I don’t know if it comes with age, from many years of encouraging my kids to get good grades, or being a teacher myself, but I really want to get an “A.” I recognize that this is an extrinsic motivation.
When I succeed I don’t let time control me, but I control my time. I recognize that no matter how busy I may be, I have self-determination and can find a way to make room for what is important. It is a struggle for me to stay organized, but it is essential if I want to reach my goals.
When I fail it’s usually because I’m rushing and I don’t read instructions properly. I also have a problem taking on too much. This can lead to serious time-management problems. I have the opposite of learned-helplessness which could be labeled as an expected-control where I get extremely frustrated with myself when I underperform or things don’t go the way I had hoped. This difficulty with letting go of minor mistakes is also a type of failure.
The fact that grades matter as much as they do can definitely get in the way of the big picture of what I am learning. If I let my extrinsic motivation eclipse my intrinsic one I can easily miss the purpose of a lesson. I have got to dig deeply into the essential material that will make a difference in my teaching.
I also need to find a way to connect to the material we are learning, whether it is a situational interest and I am just newly introduced to it, or if it is a dispositional interest and I’ve always found it fascinating. By finding a way to learn with passion and engagement I will be able to teach with passion and engagement, no matter the subject and even if it isn’t something I naturally connect to. I think this ability is what makes the difference between a competent teacher and a great one.
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