I started off my first week of school by having four things on a to-do-list before attending my first class. Each item was related to each other, with an overarching theme of being an "amateur." I thought to myself, "Oh boy, in January I am supposed to student-teach, yet I feel like such an inadequate amateur."
But this pre-assignment made absolute sense as well. I am at the starting line of a marathon, not a sprint. I am supposed to be an amateur, and I will still be during my student-teaching internship. So I have made it my goal this semester to be the best amateur that I can be. There is a saying that "you can be a professional amateur," so I am going to push myself to understand that I am an amateur, that does not mean I am inadequate, and through perseverance and gained experience, I can eventually become much better than I am now.
Question: But, how do I do this?
Answer: Motivation
Follow-up: How do I stay motivated?
Start with the end in mind. As I look to December and the end of my final semester at PSU, I think about a multitude of big, scary tasks to complete. Most importantly, my final presentation that shows my professors that I am prepared to student-teach and have the capability to maximize my experience. But even more importantly, it is that I feel confident to teach students in an effective way that promotes learning. I keep telling myself to "keep my eye on the prize," keep a positive attitude, and know that all of the work and struggles I am going through now are designed to make my life easier and my student-teaching experience positive in the future.
Connection to the Readings: What is the big picture?
This is directly related to some of our readings this week in my #AEE412 class. In order for effective teaching and learning to take place, students must be motivated. They have their eyes set on a end goal as well; high school graduation. So how do I help my students stay motivated to learn at the optimum level in agriculture education and get closer to their end goal of graduation?
As it stated in one of the readings, "Students must be motivated to learn. Learning activities should be provided that reflect the wants, needs, interests, and aspirations of students." Thus, I have to be motivated in order to get my students to be motivated. How do I expect my students to be engaged, enthusiastic, and energized about learning if I am not preparing my classes in a way that promotes these characteristics. Furthermore, in order for my students to want to engage in effective learning, I have to get to know my students and figure out their curiosities, what they enjoy, and what types of learners they are (auditory, visual, etc.) in order to make my class curriculum something they want to learn.
Unless students are enthusiastic about my classes and have an interest in these subjects/topics, the amount of effective learning is going to be very low, which points to an issue with effective teaching.
Thus, over the course of the next few weeks and as I dive deeper into my teaching methods class, I am going to explore this idea of knowing and accepting that I am an amateur, staying motivated in my own Teach-Ag journey, and learning how to use effective teaching skills in the classroom to motivate my future students to want to learn and be life-long learners.
Take a look at this TED talk as I dive deeper into effective teaching and motivation: