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Student Survey and Motivation

Dion Deguzman

Arizona State University

Mainstream Media and Motivation

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In the understanding of my class’ motivation and their wants and needs throughout the semester, I

gave my survey out to ten of my students (two students per period). To comprehend the idea of

motivation you must understand as an educator that, “…students need to talk, write, and connect the

content to what they already know…” to make sense of what they are learning about (Irvin, et al., 2017).

Being able to relate the content of the real world into content in English is a task that is not too difficult to

work around. Yet, you find teachers that have a problem in doing so as they are stuck in their old ways. In

my survey I wanted to figure out what their favorite and least favorite part about English class was in

their sophomore year. This gave me the consensus that a lot of their favorite things to learn about were

the concepts that got tied into mainstream media. Also, it showed me that one of their least favorite things

to do was having the teacher read and not do anything past that. All their answers I took into

consideration as this is how I want to plan my activities, it made me understand that I have to implement

every aspect of English that they loved and stray away from the traditional teaching methods most of

them mentioned in what they liked the least about their class. If I am able to take what their previous

teacher implemented into their classrooms, and put a new spin on it the Mr.Dion way the motivation in

my classroom will skyrocket, as more kids will be willing to participate and finish up assignments.

We Are All Human

As a teacher both online and in-person I have to make sure to stay engaged with my students and

keep them on their toes. Going into this profession, I believed that teachers always drew that line where

we were below them, which we were. Yet, the teachers that made me want to become one, showed us that

they are human and understood what we were going through as teenagers. Stepping into my first

classroom or on a Zoom call I have to make sure that I establish, “… open, honest, and respectful

communication in an online community…” as this is where I can show my students that they are in a safe

space (Tucker, 2020). To create this environment in a private setting, where only me and the student are

aware, I asked the question, “Is there anything I should know about you to make your life easier?” This
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was a way for me to show my students that I care about them. I gave them examples of these situations

such as: work, babysitting, tutoring younger siblings, public speaking anxiety, testing anxiety, etc. If they

have the understanding that I am here for them through the good times and the bad, I have seen past

students that work harder because I work hard for them. A stable and professional relationship between

teacher and student can create a big motivation for students to try their absolute best in your classroom at

all times.
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References

Irvin, J. L., Meltzer, J., & Dukes, M. S. (2007). Taking action on adolescent literacy and

implementation guide for school leaders. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and

Curriculum Development.

doi:http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/107034/chapters/Student-Motivation,-

Engagement,-and-Achievement.aspx

Tucker, C. R. (2020). A New Reality: Getting Remote Learning Right. Retrieved September 20,

2020, from http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-

leadership/summer20/vol77/num10/toc.aspx

Link to survey: https://forms.gle/oz61t7dXXX1Y7nFT9