Inspired Learning: How do you do that?

9/23/2011

Image from Littleton Public Schools

In past posts, I talked about motivation. I never really was talking about motivation, but really how do we inspire learning? Or How do we create a passion for learning? Over the summer, I saw two presentations that gave me the language I needed to truly write about inspiring students. One was by Angela Maires, she did a presentation on Passion Driven Learning at BCL, in Boston. Then at convocation, Bridget Lambright, spoke about inspiring student learning, not to mention, Daniel Pink’s “Drive”. These ideas encompass what Mike and I really want to create in our classrooms and make visible in this blog.

Motivation is about rewards (Bridget), carrots and sticks (Pink). Motivation is like your daily coffee, it gives you a boost, but will not keep you going. Passion is what is in your spirit: INSPIRATION. It is what you love and how you show that love each day. It is what makes you reach deep inside yourself to help others when your feet hurt, your voice is cracking and you are dreaming of sleep. It is who you are inside.

Motivation is needed from time to time, but passion will carry students beyond your class and lessons and create an internal flame that will burn for a lifetime. So, how do we create passion in students? I believe it starts with you. Think about the following:

What is your vision?
What is your purpose?
What excites you?
What gives you energy?
What fulfills you?
What are you emotionally attached to?
What do you love to do so much it is not seen as work?

Once you answer these questions, you can begin to see where your passion lives.

I would like to hear from you before I post more on this topic, so what did you answer to these questions?

2 Comments

Octavia Hardaway link

9/27/2011 12:40:40 pm

I agree students need to have motivation but at the same time they need to have passion. If a student have passion about what they are learning they will be a high acheiver in that area.

Raphael Gisstand

12/6/2011 06:07:38 am

My greatest insights on adolescent literacy development are the introduction of reading and study strategies that teachers can use to help increase levels of adolescent literacy development.
An effective reading strategy is the read aloud. The read aloud can be used in most content areas. Based on the article “Model Reading Strategies to Improve Comprehension for all students”, “…creating mental pictures with sensory images and memories can increase comprehension and build strong personal connections”. The article continues that, “when you show with think-alouds how a strategy works, students can step inside your head and better understand how visualizing (or another strategy) supports reading”. Another reading strategy that I believe is effective is the use of technology. One example of the way technology can be fused with literacy is the Ohio Literacy Alliance.Org website. This is a useful tool for teachers. By searching the website, teachers can find content area ideas to help supplement the lessons that they teach in class. During the search, teachers can find relevant titles and ideas for lessons.
Another strategy that I believe is effective is the use of the graphic organizer. In the article “Compare/Contrast: Discovering Patterns”, students using a graphic organizer learn to organize different texts. The article states, “by using an organizer…students are able to integrate and synthesize a large amount of information on a single topic…the ultimate goal is that students will internalize the organizing features embedded in the graphic”. The article continues that, “graphic organizers help students learn concepts because they enable students to order attribute of the concepts in a pattern that makes the information memorable”. With these tools and strategies that I learned this semester, I will be able to help improve adolescent literacy

Inspired Learning: How do you do that?

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