Hello world!  My name is Alee Crim.  I am a sophmore at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, South Carolina majoring in Elementary Education.  I am from Charleston, South Carolina. The specific grades I am focused on teaching are either second or third. These particular years of a child's education really seem to have an impact on them, and I know I will always remember my teachers from this year. I am following in my cousin footsteps, who is now a teacher in Germany. She has always seemed to do very well with all of her students and they all seem to really enjoy her teaching styles. She is clearly my inspiration.   I am working on this project for my EDPY 401 (Learners and Diversity) education class and my professor is Mr. Chris Craft. 

     The name of my video is "Engaging Students". This video jumped out at me because it is a big topic that we are/have been discussing in class.   As a future teacher, I fully realize how important it really is to keep your students interested and motivated. One thing I found to back up my thinking is: "Teacher nonverbal immediacy and credibility interact to impact student motivation and affective learning"(Pogue).  I am completely aware of the drop out rates for high school. It really hurts me knowing how many students do this and just "throw away" their education. Before they show the statistic, the video asked what teachers can do to make their students want to remain in school. Then, the video went into more statistics and showed different reasons for why students dropped out (both personal and academic). The video gave specific  examples of different ways teachers can get their students motivated, show interest, and becoem in engaged in their studnets lives.  It also mentioned the benefits and academic reasons for staying in school.    It mentions and talks about how very important it is is to keep your student's motivated and wanting to learn.  The two different theories I have focused on for my project is the Expectancy Value Theory and the Cognitive Load Theory.  With the expectancy value theory , many students ask themselves "Why am I learning this?" or "When will I ever use this again in my life?" I know that personally, I have asked myself this question many times and know others that have done the same.  For example, my brother is twenty three years old and still dealing with this problem.  Sometimes, I still even find myself in a class asking these questions.

     Whenever I do this, I tend to not feel as motivated to do as well in that class and start to feel like it has no point.  I do my best to never let these thoughts get to me, and still end up doing well in my classes and it doesn't matter what point I have to go to.  This shows the motivation I have inside me even when my classes are giving me none at all.  Along with the Expectancy Value theory, the Cognitive Load theory discusses how a student gets to that point of their brain "just about ready to explode" and they can't take anymore.  I am sure this has happened to a majority of us. I really do believe that if we had the right motivation, we either be able to motivate ourselves to hold a lot more or maybe not even have a stopping point. Even Piaget says how important it is for students to be motivated and active learners.  This is clearly another theory that I agree with.  I can't help that feel when I teacher just keeps giving information, they need to give the students more motivation to go on and keep learning. If the motivation stops, the students are more likely to stop even sooner.  Well, as I go on with my project I will go on with this, and hope to get some comments from other people on here soon!

Sources:

"Engaging Students." Youtube.com. January 2008. Youtube. 29 Oct. 2008. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMcfrLYDm2U>.

Pogue ,Lanette L., and Kimo AhYun. "The effect of teacher nonverbal immediacy and credibility on student motivation and affective learning. "Communication Education 55.3

     (July 2006): 331 (14). Academic OneFile. Gale. DISCUS. 24 Nov. 2008 <http://findgalegroup.com/itx/start.do?prodld=AONE>.