The Motivated Student by Bob Sullo

My notes...

Page 33:

Every time we learn something new, master some difficult concept, or increase our level of competence, we are internally rewarded. When we achieve success, our brains release endorphins…that make us feel good. The natural reward for learning is the good feeling we experience when we accomplish something. Paradoxically, working for external rewards diminishes the power of the internal reward system already wired into us. When we externally reward students in the classroom, we devalue learning and interfere with the body’s natural mechanism for rewarding learning and achievement.

Students thrive on feedback, and letting them know how close they are to achieving individual or group goals is helpful. Because students are naturally driven to achieve, it is helpful for them to see their progress. Keep the charts and posters, but let the excitement of achievement be the reward, rather than contaminating the joy of learning with a movie, pizza party, or even worse, a homework pass… When you recognize and celebrate learning for its own sake rather than providing external rewards, you will support your students’ natural deire to learn.

Monumental difference between rewarding and affirming. Rewarding is externally imposed and unintentionally implies that hard work and learning are not valuable in and of themselves. (p. 34): Affirmation is a very different, powerful way to support the drive to achieve. Ask: How do you feel about that success? Say: You have every reason to be happy and feel proud of yourself. Congratulations. I’m happy for you. This is affirming.

By affirming rather than rewarding, we are helping our students discover that learning feels good and that we are there to celebrate with them. Let them OWN the experience first. Then ensure that they make the connection and support them in their natural desire to become increasingly competent.

Maintain your celebrations, but give up reward programs that diminish the joy and value of learning.

page 38

Quotes Maslow…

All behavior, from birth until death, is purposeful, engaged in so that we can meet five human drives:

1.      To survive and be safe and secure

2.      To connect and belong

3.      To achieve power and competence

4.      To be free and autonomous

5.      To play, enjoy, and have fun

The difference in need strength among our students highlights the importance of differentiated instruction.

Page 39: When we introduce fear into the educational environment, the need for safety and survival dominates the attention of our students, and they are less driven by the need to develop academic competence.

Page 40: Individuals with an especially high need for safety and survival tend to avoid taking risks.

Regardless of the strength of their need to connect, all students have some drive to belong and connect. Since students are driven by a social imperative, effective teachers structure their lessons so students can meet this need while engaging in rigorous academic work. Failure to offer students a chance to interact for long periods only invites off-task behavior that compromises learning.

…you intentionally provide some choice and autonomy within a structure that supports your teaching objectives and the highest academic standards.

Page 48 (summary)

As we live our lives, we encounter people and engage in behaviors that help us satisfy these needs that drive us incessantly. We put need-satisfying people and behaviors, as well as values and beliefs, into our unique internal world, the source of all motivation.

We can move beyond the carrot and stick model of external control psychology and intentionally create environments that will inspire more students to do higher-quality academic work.

Maybe use this process below to brainstorm our project goals with our partners:

Page 155

WDEP – Bob Bubbolding (1989) created this tool:

            W: Identify what you want

D: Determine what you are doing to achieve your goals (both now and in the future (p. 159)

            E: Evaluate your progress

            P: Plan how to maintain your success or improve your performance

Page 160- Remember that effective self-evaluation depends upon both a well-defined picture of what you want and an accurate perception of what is happening. You have to know exactly what you want in order to know if you are being successful. That is why it is necessary that you develop specific goals for yourself. Then, to self-evaluate in a way that promotes growth, you must be completely honest with yourself about how things are going.

What makes the WDEP process such a powerful tool (p. 161) is that it ensures our self-evaluation is conscious. Many people go through life without full awareness of what they want, what they need to do to succeed, if they are being as successful as they would like, and what plans they should make for future action. The WDEP process allows us to bring intentionality and consciousness to our lives.