11-8-09

I always wanted to be an artist so I was never much of a student in non-art classes, and I have lacked the motivation even to complete assignments that were of some interest to me, simply because of my schedule (I'd love to put in all the hours it takes to maximize my potential output in painting class, but I also have other classes and a job...and I need to sleep sometimes) or the timing of the assignment in general.

However, usually when I'm not motivated to do schoolwork, it's because the assignment does not apply to anything I want to do with my own life, or the guidelines of the assignment restrict me from handling it in the way I would like to.

I don't think there's any way to answer a question of how I would motivate uninspired students until it happens. I definitely won't win every battle against the general lack of motivation in some students or its many causes, but what I can do is be sensitive to the fact that my original presentation of a lesson may not be the best way to reach some students, and be willing to make adaptations based on student needs and interests. Knowing what those needs and interests are will (hopefully) come from meaningful relationships with the students, if only in conversations about hobbies during work time. Fortunately, art is flexible enough to apply to any student's interests or ambitions.

While teaching an art lesson based on the idea of personal fears, I tried to motivate one student at my site by speaking with him and asking him about his interests, but he would only give very short answers that weren't helpful to me or himself. I allowed the assignment to bend, and told him that if he wasn't afraid of anything, then he could create a piece that would draw fear out of others--but up until the last few minutes of the last day of the lesson, he would not work beyond the small lines he marked his paper with seemingly just to get rid of me. I can only hope that if I were his regular teacher, rather than an occasional student teacher of a four-day assignment, I would have gained a better understanding of where his lack of motivation comes from and how to find and direct whatever interests he does have.