What is your motivation?

What is your motivation?

Today, I think it was interesting to see what others had to say about their motivations. When it comes to motivations to me is everything, because anything I do is because of a reason and that reason is the motivation. When I watch an episode of a Tv serie is because I want to know what happens next. That curiosity is the motivation that made me want to watch the TV that specific day or time. I feel that

I am blessed because I find motivations through out even when this might be negative comments, I process them into my little motivation machine and put them to work so that I can prove my self and others that things are possible if you just set your mind into it. I find my family, my self, others motivating, and I believed that is the reason that I am here today. (Brenda Ramirez)

I think I am can compare myself as a behavioral motivator. I think it is best to motivate students to learn by rewarding them with a prize or praise. They are bound to learn something along the way and I think they will actually try harder to do something. But I also think they should have someone in whom they look up to for inspiration and yearn to be like them. I really liked this class. It shows me so much on how to become a better person in the inside and learn more about myself, and all of this could be applied to my future in which I would hopefully become an educator and will help influence the mind of the young students. (Michelle Shogreen)

I found today’s class very interesting, not only because it gave us some insight on what can motivate our future students but as a new mother, it also gave me some perspective on how to motivate my daughters. I realize that we all have some common ground in what motivates us as human beings to better ourselves and that may be because we are all here for the same reason. We are here to get an education; we are here because graduating is our goal, our motivation.

I find myself captivated by this class, and I love the way you teach us. I love the fact that I am actually looking forward to go into class because you make us explore ourselves. In your class Dr. Boyanton I am not only learning lots of different strategies to be a great educator but I am also discovering who I am. (Yolanda Bodden)

Today’s lesson was about motivation. First Dr. Boyanton asked us for our definition of motivation, which in my opinion is something that keeps you going towards something you feel is right; something that strives you to do better such as positive comments, or whatever that makes you continue to do more. I found very interesting the three theories about motivation, the first one by Skinner; which was the behaviourist perspective and it was motivation by consequences, which I think most teachers use in their classroom by using positive or negative reinforcement or punishment or time out. The one that I felt most interested in was the third theory about Perspectives of Motivation (AAA) which consists of Affiliation, Approval, and Achievement. I think that is the way I feel when motivated, to feel socially connected, the desire to get acceptance and recognition and achievement for my own sake without regards for external rewards.

I think that these theories are very interesting and true about motivation and I would like to apply these theories on my future teaching; I think I would apply the Behaviorist perspective by giving my students positive reinforcement and create an environment where students feel motivated to learn more. (Kesia Martinez)

I am going to reflect on myself as a learner and what motivates me. As a learner I think that as long as what I am learning is interesting I am focused to learn that material. If it is boring and I am not interested then I will have a hard time staying focused on learning. In the Spring of 2007 I decided that I wanted to come back to college to become a teacher. At first I was really scared because I had not been in a college classroom since 1997 after I got out of the military. When I first attended college in 1995-1997 I was young and had no interest in being at school. I was attending college because I didn’t want to work a full time job. My grades were always very low because I would always skip classes and never did my work. I ended up failing out and ended up having to look for a full time job. Since I was not interested in school I didn’t care whether I did good or not.

After Ten years I decided to return to school and this time, even though I was scared, I did very well and I think that the reason that I have done well is because I want to be here. I know that I have to pass I can not afford to be retaking classes. One thing that has helped me is that I want to learn because I want to make sure that I am a good teacher so I try to understand everything that is being talked about. As long as I have an interest in something I think I will pay very close attention to it. One thing that I have noticed that bores me or that don’t motivate me is very slow talking teachers. When a teacher talks very slow it makes the lesson boring and causes me to lose interest. It sounds like if they don’t want to be teaching you. I learn better from someone that sounds like they are enjoying teaching.(Crespin Gonzalez)


Some things that I thought that motivated me were: Graduating, making my family proud, getting good grades, achievement, interest in things, when other have high expectations, and not looking incompetent.

The behaviorist perspective in motivation theories was one of the ones I strongly agree with!!! The consequences do not always have to be bad; they can be good like positive reinforcement. I do believe in rewards also like response cost. The other negative consequences may come in handy if what the child has done was very wrong.

Social cognitive perspectives I agree with as well. Children do imitate people all the times. All kids do that. Even now, my best friends little girl is always carrying around a purse and she puts her fake phone in it also. She just likes to be like us, like an adult.

The trait perspective is the one I agree on by far the most. It’s called the triple A. You need affiliation, approval, and achievement. I can see where I am motivated in all of these points. I want the connection with my loved ones, the recognition of others, and the success for myself. (Vanessa A. Lopez)

Our discussion in class today was about what motivates us and what doesn’t. This is a very interesting topic because it made us think of the things that persuade us to make certain decisions. I had been asked this question before in other classed but I had never gone into as much detail as trying to find out what type of motivation actually motivated me.

After Dr. Boyanton reviewed some of the different perspectives with us I would say that I fall under the Social Cognitive Perspective by Bandura. I think that children do imitate things that they see adults or other children do. They will do these things whether they are right or wrong because they don’t know any better. All know I did some of these things myself when I was growing up, if someone would do something that I thought was cool I would mimic them.

Till this day I still do things because of self-efficacy. Especially when someone says that a certain thing is very hard to do. I automatically start thinking to myself, “I wonder if I can do it”, and that’s all I need as motivation to try it. I also consider myself to be a social cognitive perspective type because expectations have driven me to want to do things. For example when I was trying to decide whether to come back to school I realized that if I didn’t, I was going to be the only child in my family without a degree. That had a big part in convincing me that I needed to come back to school. These are some of the reasons why I consider myself to fall under the social cognitive perspective. (Crespin Gonzalez)

Today in class we were asked to do an activity called high-five. This activity involved us as students putting different marks on the lecture that Dr. Boyanton was given during class. I put the V symbol on the Motivation Theory (1). This is the behaviorist perspective (B.F. Skinner) and I highly agree with this theory. I really do feel that human behavior is greatly influenced by consequences. I see this theory being played out everywhere. From a child that decides to behave because they do not want their parent to scold at them, to a child that tries really hard in school because they want to be a professional when they grow up. Growing up, I know I was a well-behaved kid because I was afraid that my parents would yell at me or punish me in any sort of way. As I grew up, I became a responsible adult because I knew that it would help achieve all the goals that I had made for my self and would become a respected member of the community. No matter what you do there will be consequences. I believe in this theory and it has helped me live my life in a good manner. (Jorge Mujica)

I was asked this question in class, “What are your motivation factors?” My motivation factors are; to strive for success and to do the best I can in everything, earn a degree and earn more money, I am eager to learn because I do not want to look stupid in front of the class, I want to prepare for the future, I want to feel a sense of accomplishment, I will be rewarded in a long term, I want to graduate with a degree in Special Education, but mostly I want to set an example to my children and I want to be their role model.

I feel that my motivation theory is Trait Perspectives of motivation because I need to feel socially connected to my peers; I want to be one of the gang. My friends have all gain their bachelors and they have their careers. I want to gain the approval of my peers. I want my children to see the positive perspective of getting an education. I want my children to approve of the hard work and the accomplishments that I have done. Although, it has been difficult to achieve a degree, I have always wanted to achieve a sense of accomplishments. (Noelia Jimenez)

What makes me motivated to learn is knowing that their is light at the end of the tunnel or hearing my son that wants to be a teacher just like his mommy. Motivation comes from a lot of different perspectives in my life and here are some: 1) a drive to finish, 2) deadlines, 3) sense of accomplishments, 4) when others are proud of me, 5) confidence, 6) being a role model and 7) the degree I will soon receive. When going to school or doing something that you really want to because of the positive outcome you know will soon come can be challenging at times. But having people there to motivate you and to keep pushing you so that you can reach the goal that you initially intended for makes you feel that you’re important and that what you are doing matters.

Just like how people can encourage you and motivate you to continue there are some people who will demotivate you without even being aware of it. For example, I have a person in my life whom I do not wish to name however, even now that I am older when I do something great in life whether it be in school, work or in everyday life I like for him to notice and at times it seems like it goes unnoticed. It is during these times that I feel what I do is not important enough to get noticed by this certain person. (Stephanie Huerta)

Today was about motivation, what is motivation? This is a question I have never really thought of. Motivation to me is something that will make you strive harder, work harder and think harder to achieve a goal you have set for yourself. That something could be anything from a big mac to a million dollars. If there is a cause for you to want to do something than that alone is motivation. When I play softball I am motivated, I want to win. That big W is what I want, I don’t want the lose, and therefore I try harder.

The presentation!!! I am rather scared of this presentation. I have never done one in front of this many people. 41 presentations and if they each bring a significant other that makes around 80. I’ll be nervous but hopefully once I get started everything will be fine. I am a big time shaker. I move from side to side and that is my down fall. I think if I can minimize the side to side action I may be fine, but who is to say I won’t get stuck and forget something to say. Enough of the negativity, I need to motivate myself in a positive way. If I do well on the presentation I will buy myself the largest scoop of ice cream in the world, that’s better. :) (Vero Gene Frady)

In today's class, I learned that motivation theories have a huge impact on every students goals. As Dr. Boyanton went over the four levels of motivation theories, I began to reflect on my own reactions towards the lessons I had been giving my students this past year. For the first time since SSI started, I was a bit reserved due to my coming to terms with these theories. I really liked how today's discussions made me realize that my every day moods affect my students’ motivation. I came to the conclusion that I must make it a point to remind myself that regardless of how tired I am of repeating myself that lesson for that day is their first time. In other words, the experience that they are about to go through is their first and not my 100th time.

I am glad that we have been concentrating on what types of teachers we will be in our future settings. It has made me take a step back to think about the goals I have for myself, verses the goals I have for my students. I want to make sure that every student has a great experience in the class. I want them to be engaged with the activities set for that day and I want them to understand themselves and their fellow peers. Personally the most influential part of today's discussion was the observation/modeling. If I show my students that I am 100% dedicated to teaching, then they will know how much it means to me. Then hopefully, the students will learn to appreciate every subject that I teach because of the effort I give every time they enter the classroom. (Lee)

How to motivate my future students?

When I begin my teaching career, I will try various methods to motivate my students about learning. Of the different theories we discussed today, the one that I believe I can apply most in my teaching would be the Cognitive approach.

Planning lessons that engage the students’ curiosity will take creativity on my part, but it will be worth it once I hook the students’ attention. I could do this by posing questions to ponder, telling stories, showing images or video clips and giving students a problem or riddle to solve. I’m sure I will come up with more ways to grab the students’ attention.

To make the lessons interesting, I will have to make the material relevant to the students. I was having a discussion with a classmate earlier about the difference between curiosity and interest when it comes to students and learning. We came up with the idea that curiosity is temporary and that interest is more permanent-almost like a higher level of curiosity. If students can’t find a reason to use the information, they won’t be interested in it.

Giving students control/responsibility of their learning definitely gives them ownership. I hope to use this to my advantage; students will feel responsible for their own shortcomings as well as their achievements. Using this aspect of Cognitive motivation will also lessen the load on the teacher. Rather than lecture on a daily basis, the teacher can have students find information on their own. The teacher can act more as a facilitator rather than the only person responsible for knowledge in the classroom.

The sense of achievement goes along with giving students control of their education. When they succeed, they can praise themselves because they succeeded on their own.

I believe mastery level learning can be achieved through application of knowledge. This is not the only way to achieve mastery, but it is a good way. Hands-on learning and using the content discussed in class will make it more meaningful to the students. They will remember much more if they do something than if they just talk about something, especially in the younger years. Sometimes I believe too many words can get in the way of effective teaching and learning. (Ruben Rincon, Jr.)

Well today we learned about Motivation theories and it was really interesting and informative. I really found the Social-Cognitive Perspective very interesting and I really do agree with that theory because I feel it really fits my motivation for the goals I set for myself. Social-Cognitive Theory is based around a learner observing and modeling themselves after a role model that has gotten praise for achieving something and the learner wants to imitate that role model. Also the idea that a child will behave in a way to get a desired consequence is something I agree with as well. For example, a child may remain quiet if the teacher said that if they’re quiet they will receive a snack for staying so quiet.

I also agree with the Trait Perspective of Motivation or AAA. Affiliation, Approval, and Achievement are the three A’s that make up this theory. Affiliation is the need to feel apart of society and have that respect from others. Approval deals with Recognition and Achievement well that is the need to strive for success for one’s own sake. These two ideas are very realistic because I feel that I fit those two categories and those are the reason for the majority of the time that motivated me to try and succeed in life. (Luis A. Carmona)

I have many things motivates me to learn. My grandfather is the motivation to succeed because he never stopped believing in me. My dad’s happiness is also a major motivation for me to succeed because he has always pushed us to strive for a better education. He has always emphasized about how important it is to get a better education, because with a degree we tell life what we are going to do in life not the other way around. Self accomplishment to feel that I did accomplished my goals and made my dreams come true. Proving to everyone who said I would never amount to anything in life that they are wrong is also something that keeps me going strong.
What keeps me motivated is the feel of being needed. It is such a wonderful feeling when someone tells me that they love talking to me because I always make them feel better. It also motivated me when others feel comfortable enough to put their trust in me. Having a secure future and being able to support my family and future children. (Annabel Esparza)

Motivation to me means to strive what you want. You need to feel energetic and confident to feel motivated. I also believe that I need to feel interesting in the task and to be important.

What motivates me the most is the desire to be successful. I want to succeed because I know that I can and I want to have the entire things that I couldn’t have as a child. I want to provide the best for my family and future kids. I want to be happy being successful.

I want to have a diploma. This is what motivates me.

My mom seeks high expectations for me and I don’t want to fail for her and for myself.

I also loved today’s lesson because motivation is very important in a student’s life. For some it is a challenge because it is very hard for them to motivate themselves coming to school or just being motivated in general. I am interested in the cognitive perceptive of motivation because curiosity and interest is what I believe make motivation more interesting and achievable. (Vanessa Rodriguez)

Today was an exciting day because we covered my favorite subject and my subject of research which is Motivation and Learning. We got to know the different kinds of motivation processes that people use to get motivated or to motivate others. I think that the best way to motivate people is by using the Cognitive Motivation because is the one which most people feel more comfortable with in my opinion and it works pretty effectively. This class has been my favorite because of the motivation topic which is my favorite :)(Dennis Salinas)

Yesterday was a good day of learning. I learn about motivation styles, those from within (intrinsic) and those from outside sources (extrinsic). I believe that intrinsic is the more important one since you can’t always depend on outside sources to motivate you. You must find it within yourself because I feel there will always be more outside sources to hinder your motivation than those that will encourage accomplishing things. (Eleazar Castro)