Inquiry Project: Notes from the 3 Observers

The two girls in my group and I observed our teachers at AHS, and we asked them some questions about motivation. When we got together and talked about our notes, I realized that the other two teachers were better than mine at motivating their students. I am not sure if it is because they teach subject areas where more motivation is needed (English and History), or because of a limitation with the Spanish language. My teacher did motivate them to learn, for example, she used flashcards, videos and the projector, but she did not try as many different methods as the other teachers. I think the fact that it as a beginner’s class makes it harder for the teacher to have a variety of projects because they children cannot speak in Spanish yet. They just know some words, and basic conversations. I am not sure if that is why my teacher did not seem as great of a motivator as the other educators. Or maybe she was just not good at it.
I think she likes her job, but she is frustrated with some of the problems she faces, and she might have given up a little bit. For example, she told me about a girl in her other class that did not listen to her. This girl ignores the teacher’s instructions, and she always talks in class. The teacher has tried to fix the problem, but the student’s parents have not come in to talk about it. Overall, I think motivating students to learn is extremely important, but it is a challenge to keep everyone interested in the topic.