Brad Anderson

Motivational Plan
The idea of fostering intrinsic motivation within each of our students has been something I've
been going back and forth with ever since I learned about extrinsic vs. intrinsic motivation over
a year ago. I think the reason I am so focused on this issue is because, looking back, I am able to
recognize myself as a student who was extrinsically motivated for much of my education.
Though I did well academically in elementary/middle/high school, entering the real world was a
struggle for me because I was so dependent on extrinsic motivation when I needed to develop
my own intrinsic motivation. My goal as a teacher is to get students past the fear of failure and
disappointing whatever it is that extrinsically motivates them, and to get them to see the value
in learning because they want to learn.
I firmly believe that if students understand why it is that they are learning something, they will
take much more of an interest in the subject than if they didn't know why that subject is
important. In order to address the "why" of learning, students need to feel comfortable
speaking up and asking "why?" every once in a while. In order to do this, a community needs to
be built within the classroom that allows students to feel comfortable speaking up and voicing
their opinions with one another. In a perfect classroom community, students would respect one
another, listen to what others have to say, and feel comfortable expressing an idea that
conflicts with what others (including the teacher) are saying. If this can be achieved, students
will feel comfortable raising their hand in the middle of class and asking why they are learning
what they are learning. Eventually my goal would be for students to figure out the "why"
themselves, rather than asking the teacher every time. This would foster critical thinking skills
and get them even more involved in the subject they're learning about.
Another piece of intrinsic motivation is goal-setting. Individual SMART goals are a really great
way for students to challenge themselves in a way that is specific and measurable. By tracking
their SMART goals each day/week/month, students should be able to see progress and
continue to feel motivated to work toward their goals. Ways to track goals can be found in my
Student Data Resource Folder.
Though there are many other ways to foster intrinsic motivation in the classroom, the final big
piece of what I want to include in my classroom is allowing students to learn about things that
interest them. In an ideal world, all students would be super interested in everything about
math, science, social studies, reading, health, art, music, etc. However, this is not the case. This
doesn't mean that they cannot take an interest in specific areas of different subjects though. By
implementing project-based interdisciplinary learning into my classroom, I can allow students
to learn about things that interest them, while challenging themselves to work hard and figure
out different applications for their newfound knowledge.