When the novel turns to normal...

I had a major shift in motivation this week.  Yes, I was exhausted due to end of term grading and such at work.  But it was something more.  I definitely did less on the wall this week than I had weeks prior. I honestly got more work done, but there was less to research, less to prepare, and more to just work on.  In some ways that's a great thing.  And in some ways, not so great.

I am an artsy-fartsy sort of gal who really enjoys the creative process, and the learning of something new.  It's exciting, and the potential of whatever I'm experimenting with is endless, so who knows where it will go?  I could be the next "someone" (read celebrity expert) of the times, doing things never been done before, or doing them in ways that are somehow extraordinary.  But that newness of the wall project is now gone, and I'm left with practice, practice, practice to gain skill.  That can sometimes be BORING.

I find my students are very much like this.  There is the beginning of the activity, where I'm introducing the topic, and of course I plug it and make it sound like a real blast.  And in the beginning it is.  It doesn't matter what it is I'm teaching, the beginning has this effect on students:  They have no idea what it is, so I'll give them some amazing examples of what can be done with the topic.  They are intrigued, and curious.  They buy in, and begin to dig in.  As of late it's been web page coding. They are still in the honeymoon stage where everything feels exciting and fresh, even problems they run into are little fun puzzles to sort through.  They get thrilled quickly when they figure out a solution, and that motivates them to continue, along with the original momentum of the introduction.  But somewhere between new and expert, comes the necessary repetition, and mundaneness of doing something over and over, until it's either right, or finished.  It's a long period of time for many, but for some, excruciatingly long.  And it's here where I lose them.

I've long been interested in motivational factors, as I work primarily with low motivation, high risk kids.  Trying to keep them moving forward is more of a job than actually teaching the content, demonstrating or problem solving their learning.  And it's always here, this desolate wasteland of practice, practice, practice where the bodies of "dead learning" lay strewn.  I've been thinking a lot about why internships, apprenticeships and cognitive apprenticeships are such celibrated methods of teaching and learning, and I think this has something to do with it.  When we hit the skids because our curiousity has been satisfied, and we have a general understanding of the project, an apprenticeship keeps the learning moving.  I believe it does this by a committment to the greater work of the project or business, social interactions, diverse learning situations, the unexpected uncovering of another layer of novelty in the skill, and a variety of other factors, all part of authentic learning.  In the case of true, traditional apprenticeships, it a matter of survival of oneself and one's family.  Authors Lave and Wenger see it as the culture surrounding the craft and business that tether an ownership of the student to the work.  I don't have those factors in my wall.

I have my personal desire to get this "blankety-blank-blank" wall done, because I want it done, (it's me against the wall), because I want to feel proud of my living room, and have company over, and because I want a good grade.  All of these motivators are affixed to an ability to see a consequence in the future to my actions today.  Even the personal battle of just wanting it done is really more about not wanting to feel defeated by it when I look at it later, so it is me projecting how I'll feel into a future scenario.  My students do not have a strong ability to make decisions based on weighing future consequences.  Perhaps this is why so many of our best efforts fall flat with them in school. Perhaps this is why emersing them in a problem based project with others, simulating a real life working situation, teaches so deeply, and keeps them engaged.  Teaching with the traditional model is pretty one-dimensional.  Teaching with multiple methods, adds new dimensions.  But using a student's culture to teach them is very personal.  It engages because they are caught in the many strands of that culture's web.  This is good stuff to remember when trying to motivate.

So I'm still adding layers of compound to indentations of drywall screws, and seams of drywall at the ceiling and wall.  I'm still sanding.  And it's not as much fun anymore.  I'm getting better because I'm practicing the technique of laying it on, and working it so that it's smooth and level.  But I'm finishing it because I have made that committment and I am too stuborn to not honor my committments.  Some may call this responsible.  But whatever the reason, it is a result of me demanding the attention and focus of my mind, something Vygotsky theorized was a major difference between animal and human cognition, and very different from the behaviorists of his time.  I can do this because of maturity, and experience of knowing that I will get better, the more I practice.  My engagement is forced.  And I am also now keenly aware of at least one new way to both keep students engaged, and develop that tenacity through experience that will serve them in the future when they run low on motivation.  I will do my best to incorporate as many elements of cognitive apprenticeship or, "legitimate peripheral partication", and fend of the dulling sensation that comes with repetition.

So really, next week:  Texturing