Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Chapter 11

1. Consider the theories of motivation that we discussed in class. which theories of motivation are most helpful and instructive for you? How can they enhance motivation and affect your student

A theory to develop motivation that we discussed in class that I connected to the most was that area the suggestion to give students choices. I remember when I was in elementary school we would have choices of projects to complete rather than writing a straight forward book report. Some projects would be geared more towards those who learn more visually, some more mathematical, and some geared more towards those who prefer to do a written assignment. I would always choose to do some sort of diorama if it was an option. I LOVED dioramas for some reason. Those were the projects that were the most memorable for me through out school. I'm sure the book reports were important for some occasions but I felt very excited and motivated to get to work on something if I was able to choose what i wanted to do.


(Awesome diorama that I would have loved to make circa 1998)

In the art classroom, I imagine that choice could break the ice and get students who may be intimidated by art more excited. For example, I know that some little boys may not be as excited about creating a cubist collage but would really get excited about making a collage of their favorite baseball player. Some kids may hate to paint but really love to use colored pencils. I will try to write lesson plans that are flexible enough to allow for choice of theme or material, but still making sure that they address the principles of art and design or history that I want to teach in that lesson. Hopefully this will engage students that are less than thrilled to be in my classroom.


3 comments:

  1. I really like the way you incorporated your own experiences. I think it is important for teachers to remember what it's like to be a student. Including the picture of that cool diorama made your post more interesting and visually appealing.

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  2. I think it is great that you are thinking about how you would connect these methods to the type of class you would be teaching. I can remember in high school hating to do "required" art and loved when I got to the higher levels, and I could choose my own concentration and mediums. I am enjoying reading about a different perspective because it reminds me that these methods of motivation overlap in many facets of life.

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  3. I agree with all of the above. As art teachers, we need to be aware that not everyone shares this passion. We need to keep in mind that our influence will matter greatly when the students get to middle/high school and art becomes a choice. By giving them freedom over what they make, my hope is that they will see how cathartic and fun art can be and choose to continue their practice and remain in art classes through high school. Choices are important to my teaching as well and I think, especially in art, will be incredibly beneficial when it comes to motivation.

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