Chapter 2 & 2A

              As Laura Grote pointed out in her Chapter 1 blog post, motivation plays a huge part in the classroom.  She used the example of excelling in her education courses whereas she didn't put forth much effort in lower level classes because they did not interest her and in theory wouldn't have a huge impact on her future plans of becoming an educator.  It is clear that this lower level course hasn't kept Laura from her following her goals student teach next semester; however, for many younger students lacking motivation especially in areas where they aren't interested can have a huge negative impact on their futures. 
         
             Educators are then left looking for ways to motivate these students. This directly ties into Chapter 2 & 2A of Drive, where Pink discusses the "Seven Deadly Flaws."  Many educators often think dangling a reward in front of students will suddenly motivate them and increase performance but it actually has the opposite effect.

              Three of the seven “Seven Deadly Flaws” are ones that I have seen first-hand during practicum.    The first being, crushing creativity, which is often seen when students are in a hurry to simply finish the task without looking in terms of a bigger picture.  What I have seen in middle schools has been “If everyone finishes up the assignment in the next ten minutes everyone will get a piece of candy.”   This also ties into a second flaw, diminishing performance.  Students write an answer down to get an instant reward, which can be the candy or the reward of acceptance by their peers, and put the effort into finishing the task properly or with their fullest potential.  While a student may receive a piece of candy after ten minutes later that week they will see that the assignment they rushed to finish resulted in a bad grade, which in turn can have consequences attached to it. 

                The third “flaw” I’ve seen is that students become addicted or dependent on these rewards.  An example of this was something that I did.  I surprised students by bringing them cookies for doing well on an essay.  Every time I tried to stress the importance of an assignment the students asked for cookies or a treat so they would do their work.  When I said no or I’d think about it the students didn’t turn in their work, however when I agreed the students did their work.  In the end I felt that I was bribing students and they weren’t doing any true learning, which was really disheartening.

                Now that I’ve read these two chapters of Drive, I feel that it if I would have explained to the students why doing their essays were necessary, agreed that yes writing an essay isn’t fun and it can be boring but to reward them for completing their task I brought treats.  Something I need to remember as a future educator is to not make a reward an if-then one, as it brings down performance and takes away from creativity, and to ensure that any extrinsic reward should be unexpected and afford only after the task is complete (p. 64).  An example of this, any time volunteers are needed I see that the volunteers often receive something for donating their time, from something as small as a t-shirt to a gift bag.  They are not bribed into volunteering their time or expect a reward for their service, however are happy to receive anything in the end.