Extrinsic and Intrinsic Motivation

 Describe an event in your schooling in which you were inspired to perform. Tell about who motivated you and what the external factors may have been in addition to that part of you that connected to the opportunity

     My first year as a middle- school physical education teacher involved plenty of “learning while doing” and using my colleagues as inspiration. During a teacher-staff meeting one of the teachers began speaking about an event called “Cougar Cash Month”. The winning teacher of “Cougar Cash Awards” would be given school supplies for their classroom and more cougar cash to give to students. Cougar cash is a reward system the school uses to help students be more motivated to do well in school in many different ways. This “cash” is in paper form that is different colors depending on the amount its worth. Students can use the cash they earned to buy snacks from the ASB store and many other things. Although this reward method has extrinsic attributes, this system can bring out some potential good qualities that students posses that even they did not know they had within them.

$100= green

$500= yellow   

$1000= orange

     I spoke to many teachers after the meeting and asked them questions about how they used this form of reward system in their classroom. What they had to say was very encouraging since I felt that it was becoming difficult to keep my students motivated for fitness and sports. The teachers explained that they seen huge improvements in behavior and attitude from students. They explained how some students just need a little more motivation to be a more successful student. This inspired me to use this reward system in my p.e class. Many of my students lack motivation to do well in this class so I decided to come up with my own way to use cougar cash as a reward. For example, during mile run Monday I would give the top 5 runners 100$ cougar cash and then 100$ to any student that improved their time from the previous week. This method not only encouraged the fastest runners that always get top 5 spots. It also encouraged my slower runners in which they only had to improve their time from the previous week even if it was only a second improvement. The results from using this reward system was amazing and created a better learning environment for all. Many students improved their running times which ultimately IMPROVES THEIR OVERALL HEALTH.

     The external factors that motivated me to use this reward system is that I wanted my students to be motivated and excited for fitness. I also wanted to create a better relationship with my students. Lastly, I wanted to be a part of the event to show my colleagues that I am part of the team to work together to create student success.

·              Conversely, describe an event in your schooling in which you were completely deflated. Tell about the incident in which you were deflated. What did you do to restore your faith in yourself?

     I remember being in a staff meeting going over an event that was approaching the following week. It was depression and suicide awareness week. I learned during this meeting that the school district I was in had the most CPS calls and homelessness in the Riverside county. This meant that many students in our school were being abused, had no real home or food to eat. I sank in my chair in pure sadness. I started to look at my students more closely. I began to notice that some of my students had holes in their P.E shoes and wore their P.E clothes that hadn’t been washed in weeks. I understood that many of these students could feel sad and embarrassed and it hurt their over all mental state. So I decided to do something about it. I asked my family members that I was taking shoes and clothes donations for my P.E students that were in need. I also talked to my students individually and told them I would take their P.E clothes and wash is weekly for them. I felt that I not only restored FAITH in myself but for those individual students as well. Helping one student at a time from potential mental breakdown or suicide makes a difference that is what I learned from this event.

·         As a teacher, what will you be certain TO DO, and certain to AVOID in motivating young students?

Using the reward system can be a slippery slope. The obvious way to encourage students is of course with intrinsic motivation. Students that are motivated in this form will enjoy accomplishment without seeking a physical reward. I want to AVOID only giving physical awards to students that experience success. Even though I do believe in getting students started with some type of EXTRINSIC motivation eventually I will get students accommodated with just words of encouragement that give them PRIDE. If I focus on the process of teaching and learning getting students to fall in love with learning. Then they will participate and want to learn because they want too its that simple. 

Below is a link to video about extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yS2gCgjSq3U