Motivational Blog

Motivation Blog

Why are you here (in the teacher education program, in this class, at UVU)?

I am here to become a teacher. I ended up at UVU because I couldn't get into BYU. I am in this class as a part of fulfilling the requirements of the elementary education program. But much more than all of that, I am here, at this time in my life, in this place- Utah-, at this University - in this Education program to make something great of my life by learning to give the gift of knowledge.

For the first 3 years of college, I couldn't decide what I wanted 'to be or not to be'. At first, becoming a writer sounded like it would be perfect for me. After traveling down that road for a brief time, I realized I was too intimidated by all the other English majors and writers that were a lot more experienced and just all around better than me. So, I started a blog to fulfill that passion. I love art and I love making creative gifts for people. So, I took a sculpting class, but I just couldn't get the dimensions of the 'head' project exactly right, so after passing the class, I vowed to stay away from sculpting. Besides, my hands smelled like clay for weeks after the semester had finished. I loved math all through Jr. High and High School. I understood Algebra really well and loved doing the homework for it. Then I took Math 1050, not once, or twice, but three times. I guess 3rd time's the charm because I finally passed, but it scarred me for life, and I knew math was in no way the major for me.

I took a break from school because I was so frustrated with not finding the 'perfect major' for me. I found a job at an elementary school working for a sixth grade teacher as a teacher assistant. I absolutely loved it and I loved how much the kids seemed to appreciate me and need my help. For every child's birthday in the class, I painted a banner with their name on it to display for the day in the room. In that way, I fulfilled my art passion. I was able to teach creative writing every Wednesday and I brought in tons of examples of my own writing. I also had the students brainstorm with me and we came up with a creative short story on the spot. I was in heaven. For my math passion, I was able to tutor some students in math and I also took up some more reading and math tutoring at the Lehi Literacy center. I was falling in love with teaching one subject, one student, one day at a time. I then went to Spain on a study abroad and as I took classes on learning to speak Spanish, I realized how much I really loved to learn new things. And to be a teacher, you must be a learner. By the time I got back from Spain, I was more than ready to start full throttle into the Elementary field.

What motivates you?

When I can look back in my life on the most shaping moments of my 'mold'/character, I can see the people and places that most positively effected me, and I want to be apart of that for someone else. I like to think of every child as a mound of beautiful and individualized unique clay. They all have their own color and their own initial shape and that shape will harden after time and become the inner core of their mold. While they are young and fragile, their little molds are precious while they are still adjusting and shaping themselves into the most comfortable them. The shape can be added onto with colorful play dough and other materials as their life goes on. Their starting mound, once it hardens, is their foundation for their character.

My 'Allyson-mound' has been added onto with bright and vibrant colors of play dough from teachers, mentors, and leaders. It has been shaped by experiences, and it has been refined by self-discipline learned extrinsically from my parents and learned intrinsically from personal experiences and natural consequences. It has been polished and painted by dreams and goals. But the foundation remains deep within-unchanging- in the ever growing beautiful mess of my mold.

This is the case for every student. The younger they are, the more susceptible they are to having their inner core of their mold squandered and squashed by the leaders they look up to for guidance and knowledge. Or their characters are helped and aided to become sturdy foundations with no cracks or crevices unfilled, unreached, or unrecognized. Every human has innate psychological needs, and the needs that are met help shape the core in the best way for that individual. This clay model analogy goes along with Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs by demonstrating the importance of satisfying the basic needs in humans before attempting to satisfy more sophisticated needs.

What motivates me as a future teacher is thinking about students each having this fragile character that they need help shaping. This mold will be permanent. The excess play dough can be removed and reapplied with different material colors and accessories more appropriate for maturing age, but their core character and self efficacy will be the foundation upon which everything else builds- upon which their future builds. Facilitating a positive environment and attributing basic needs like: safety, acceptance, competence, and autonomy, will in great part be upon the shoulders of the teachers. This motivation and realization goes beyond learning facts and lessons, but it is learning those while learning the things that will allow each child to build their own life in the most positive, confident, and successful way.

Why do you succeed?

I suppose I succeed because I want to. I learned early on in school that I didn't want to be the 'stupid kid in class'. That goes along with innate psychological need to be competent. I liked how it felt when I did well, so I try to succeed, and I often do. I have been lucky enough to have been born with ability. I can use all my senses and I can access all my physical abilities to learn. I succeed because I choose things I know or at least believe I can do well at. I use effort to succeed. I wasn't born very athletic, so I hung a quote on my bedroom wall that said, "Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard." I hung that on my wall so I could remember that I wasn't born with incredible athletic talent; therefore, I needed to put in an immense amount of effort into training and practicing in order to keep up with the rest of my sports team.

Why do you fail?

I fail when I don't believe I can succeed. When I feel like others look down upon me or find me inept, I shut down mentally, and though I may be capable, I make myself be incapable. Maybe not enough effort was put in to the task and the task may have even been quite difficult, so I started to struggle and fall behind. Maybe then my confidence was sabotaged, and I was left feeling like I was luckless. Finally, maybe I felt so low that I thought whatever 'it' was wasn't worth the effort to try because someone wouldn't notice my efforts or my efforts wouldn't equate to anything of worth to anyone else. My personal failures tend to be based on if I receive the proper praise and confidence from others. It is something I have worked on all my life but still struggle with.

Do the goals in your course contract reflect mastery or performance goals?

The goals in my course contract are performance goals to reach ultimate success in my future classroom. The assignments given by the professor are mastery goals for the students, else why would we have assignments as part of the course curriculum-it's to help each student master the skills needed in the real world/career. So, by setting personal performance goals to succeed at the assignments given by the course expectancies, I will reach the mastery goal of becoming a more knowledgeable and a better teacher.

What does this say about you?

I trust my teachers and that the work I am doing to pass the class is helping me become what I am being educated to become- an educated and GREAT teacher.

How do you need to change your motivations and mindset for this class in order to become a great teacher?
In order to become a great teacher, I must put the effort into my classwork that supports the belief that this class will genuinely be helpful for me in my future classrooms. I need to put the work into my assignments to come out with things that will be valuable to me in my future profession as a teacher. More than just the assigned work, I must see opportunities to improve on my personal weaknesses or struggles and read extra or work on something extra in order to improve. Instead of capitalizing on what I'm already confident in, I want to focus on what I am unsure about so that I can make my overall teaching capabilities all powerful tools.