Module 5

     There are many attributes that lead to our students lacking motivation, or feeling unsuccessful in school.  Some of those attributes are outside of our control.  There are many things that teachers can do or at least be aware of when we are engaging with our students to help them find success in school.

     Maslow’s hierarchy of needs suggest that humans range from lower level needs, which are our basic necessities to survive, to higher level needs like the ones necessary for intellectual achievement.  Maslow teaches us that when our basic needs are met we are able to focus on meeting some of those higher level needs.  In other words, it will be substantially harder to focus on reading, writing and social studies if we are feeling unsafe or worrying about food and shelter.  I struggle sometimes with some of the rules and regulations that are imposed in schools, some being so inflexible that they can’t take into consideration at least some of Maslow’s theory.

     Many inner- city schools, like mine, serve a full hot breakfast each morning and a full lunch in the afternoon.  I remember a particularly heart wrenching story years ago with a student of mine who would miss breakfast every day and then complain and cry from hunger until lunch time.  The lead teacher and myself reiterated to the parent and child each day that they needed to get to school in time to have breakfast.  Instruction started promptly at eight, so any students who came in afterwards would not have time to eat.  It would be extremely difficult to cater to each child and interrupt instruction if the tardy stragglers ate breakfast.  I was really concerned because the student couldn’t focus on anything but her hunger all day long, so she did pretty poorly in school.  I had a heart to heart with the parent and she told me that they took a 2 and ½ hour bus ride to school each day.  She traveled across the city because she wanted her child to attend a good school. She also told me that she’d been homeless for a year, and that they were living with a friend.  When they left the house her child would be asleep and would stay asleep until she reached school. Needless to say, we made her the exception to the rule; we held back graham crackers and juice from breakfast so that she could have a snack before class.   Of course, every student wanted to be the exception, so that was a short-lived solution.  I then went and asked our lunch room if we could donate cereal, crackers and bars to the family, which was also quickly shot down.  Although we eventually found a solution, I learned a lesson that I will keep with me forever.  We don’t always know the circumstances that our students will have.  As a teacher I want to be able to have the lines of communication open enough for my families to be able to share their obstacles that might lead to their children not being as successful as they can be. 

     Another facet that leads to lack of motivation is a low sense of self-efficacy.  I often told myself that I was bad at math.  That feeling of just, ‘not being able to do math,’ hindered me for a long time.  It wasn’t until having a teacher here at Trinity, Dr. Webster-Moore that I started to feel more confident in my math skills.  I realized that I had the tools to compute the problems, but lacked the confidence to do so.  Dr. Webster-Moore taught me something else that I will carry over into my teaching, hearing my students say, ‘they can’t,’ will motivate me to show them that they can.