More handpicked essays just for you.
Relevance of motivation in education
Relevance of motivation in education
Relevance of motivation in education
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
“One looks back with appreciation to the brilliant teachers, but with gratitude to those who touched our human feelings. The curriculum is so much necessary raw material, but warmth is the vital element for the growing plant and for the soul of the child.” - - Carl Jung - - It seems like only yesterday--I was a high school student majoring in English with plans someday to become, of all things, a teacher. I attended a small high school--there were only 140 students in my graduating class--so we were blessed with the same teacher for several consecutive years. It was not until I found myself in college a few years later that I learned how truly blessed I had been in math. Mr. John Ramon of County High School was a great math teacher. As I think back to Mr. Ramon's classroom, I was a good student, but certainly not his best. Mr. Ramon was so good at motivating and encouraging his students, he always had dozens of students that excelled in his classes. These were the students who set the curves and took the top honors. I just worked very hard, trying to keep up. The thing I remember most was homework! Mr. Ramon believed in lots and lots of homework. I must have spent every night of my four years of high school doing math homework. "Practice, practice, practice, . . ." "Math is not a spectator sport!" However, there was something about Mr. Ramon's explanations that made math easy to understand. Not only that, but his classes were fun. He was lively at the board, cracking corny jokes and telling silly stories. But make no mistake about it, when it came to learning math, for Mr. Ramon, it was serious business. He set high standards for his students, and we met his high standards to the best of our abilities. Most importantly, however, Mr. Ramon was our friend. He always celebrated and shared our success in his classes. It was not until a few years later, as a student in calculus, that I realized how much math I had learned from his classes.
Cable’s kindergarten class in a short time period. Mrs. Cable had an intriguing lesson; she did many things well and was willing to answer any questions I had. I was also able to relate this math lesson to First Year Seminar through her philosophy, professionalism and positive attitude. I believe all of these are important qualities a strong teacher should
“Class,” I announced, “today I will teach you a simpler method to find the greatest common factor and the least common multiple of a set of numbers.” In fifth grade, my teacher asked if anyone had any other methods to find the greatest common factor of two numbers. I volunteered, and soon the entire class, and teacher, was using my method to solve problems. Teaching my class as a fifth grader inspired me to teach others how important math and science is. These days, I enjoy helping my friends with their math homework, knowing that I am helping them understand the concept and improve their grades.
I particularly enjoyed the YouTube Videos with Khan Academy to learn different mathematical concepts. Because Math did not come easily like other subjects, I would repeatedly replay videos after videos until I started a library with all my videos in one place. Between Mrs. Goggins’ after school tutorials, long nights of studying, the use of Khan Academy and other YouTube videos, I made up for my loss in first semester Algebra by successfully completing second semester Ninth Grade Algebra with a
"Amy, you are really getting great at memorizing you times tables," said Mrs. Field, my first grade math teacher, "here is your sticker, and I will put a star next to your name for finishing the 3's times table!" I loved receiving my stickers and I especially loved getting a star next to my name. These small acts made me feel so special, that I had really done something great. This is how I remember my teachers from kindergarten until the fourth grade. Every teacher I had was encouraging, loving, and supportive of each student that they taught. If one student fell behind, the teacher made extra sure to teach and re-teach the subject until it was understood. Once I entered the fifth grade and into middle and high school, each teacher that I had tried to be encouraging, loving, and supportive of their students; however, my teachers often had too many students to give the individual attention that so many children need. When I began to fall behind in certain subjects, my teachers tried to help but were often unable to teach and re-teach, because they had no choice but to continue on with their lesson plans. I continued to fall further and further behind; therefore, I had to spend many hours after school working on my homework problems with my parents. Up until the fifth grade, I attended private school with about 15-20 students in my class; from the fifth grade on, I attended public school with about 30-35 students in each of my classes. This high number of students in my public school classrooms had a negative effect on my learning experiences.
“Class,” I announced, “today I will teach you a simpler method to find the greatest common factor and the least common multiple of a set of numbers.” In fifth grade, my teacher asked if anyone had any other methods to find the greatest common factor of two numbers. I volunteered, and soon the entire class, and teacher, was using my method to solve problems. Teaching my class as a fifth grader inspired me to teach others how important math and science is. These days, I enjoy helping my friends with their math homework, knowing that I am helping them understand the concept and improve their grades.
I loved how he gave everyone in our homeroom nicknames, for instance, mine was “Higgy-Baby”. To this day I do not know how he came up with a name like that, but I know that while I was in his classroom, I was never called just Alyssa. While I learned many new and interesting things in his science class, I remember more of the life lessons that he taught during his homeroom. He was one of the teachers that was there for me when life got rough, he looked out for me during and outside of class. For me, knowing that I had him keeping an eye out for me made me feel safer going to school again.
Throughout his early school career, his parents would often push him to better his education. He would often receive books and encylopedias from his parents so that he could further expand his knowledge. During his final high school year his parents arranged for him to take advanced mathematics courses at a community college that was local to them.
My Math Teacher, Mrs. Ladd. When thinking back and remembering all of the teachers that I have had in the past, there is one in particular that comes to mind. Her name was Mrs. Ladd. She taught math at the junior high school.
One very important factor in every life is the education received as we mature. Education in all subjects is necessary to become a well-rounded individual. Even so, I feel that my subject area has more significance in one’s future because every person uses mathematics every day. Students need to understand why mathematics is important and why they will need it in the future. The way to do that is integrated into the views of the role of the teacher. Teachers need to be encouraging role models that provide students with safety, nurturing, and support in the classroom, along with providing excellent instruction by allowing students to explore and expand their minds in the content of mathematics. Teachers should set high expectations for all students and persuade the students to live up to those expectations. Along the same lines, teaching and learning are complementary concepts. Students need for the teacher to provide them with the knowledge that will be used not only in that class but also in their future endeavors. ...
In the end I visited his old school to speak to some of his former teachers in the hope they could provide me with an amusing story to tell. The first person I got hold of was his math’s teacher of five years.
When I was growing up, I remember attending elementary school, learning a new language seems to be difficult at first, but I was able to learn the English language because of the dedication of one of my teachers. Now, as I reflect on this experience, it is obvious that she was dedicated and enjoyed teaching her students to be successful. I know today that she made a difference in my life as I navigated through my education experience and high school years to present.
Mrs. Alvarado was not only my teacher, but she was also my role model and my inspiration. She pushed me when I believed that I could not achieve success or meet my goals. I never had confidence in myself and I would always give up easily when a task was too difficult. However, Mrs. Alvarado never gave up on me and continued to motivate me even through my tantrums. My low confidence came from me not being able to be at the same level as the other students. In fact, I had trouble with reading and writing because of the
For some reason or another certain students are drawn to particular teachers while other students are more fond of others. In my life I have studied under three memorable teachers. Teachers with which I was able to connect, to laugh, to share my misgivings. While I may have been close with each of these teachers, it is very clear, in retrospect, that each was very unique, and represented an entirely different class of teacher.
Throughout out this semester, I’ve had the opportunity to gain a better understanding when it comes to teaching Mathematics in the classroom. During the course of this semester, EDEL 440 has showed my classmates and myself the appropriate ways mathematics can be taught in an elementary classroom and how the students in the classroom may retrieve the information. During my years of school, mathematics has been my favorite subject. Over the years, math has challenged me on so many different levels. Having the opportunity to see the appropriate ways math should be taught in an Elementary classroom has giving me a
...d a better understanding of differentiation, I have had several of my students tell me that I am the best math teacher they have ever had. They express their happiness by telling me that I teach math in a way they understand. They state, “You do not stand in front of the classroom and explain how to do the problem, give us homework, and move on to the next topic”. I take pride in this. I try very hard to help each of my students understand the necessary standards so when they leave my room, they are able to take a real-world problem and find solutions to them.