Motivation

Rothko, I like this one a lot. 

Motivation is something students battle nearly every day, and it’s not only students, it’s  people in general. In my own experience, I have known some who have grinded to a halt and then went to rust. A person’s mental fortitude to keep on going forward is a natural phenomenon in my eyes. Thus, a teacher’s ability to keep their tired, distracted, dormant students motivated in their work is essential, and amazing.

It’s been interesting looking over the factors of good motivation, considering what is necessary and how it should be applied. I can see now how vital positive reinforcement is at every level, and from my own life I can see where an initial failure has led to consequential failures. At a younger age I tried to learn an instrument, yet through poor reinforcement and little encouragement I stopped ever thinking I could learn. Thankfully, I want to try again as you don’t need to learn an instrument at a young age, you can do it at any age. It will be bass guitar.

Many students say they like a certain subject best because of their teacher, and now this makes sense. If your teacher is encouraging and positive about your work, the student would want to do well for that teacher because they know they would receive praise. Success breeds success. The student has to want to learn, and doing it not only for themselves, but to gain appreciation from their teacher too, is a strong motivator.