energy, vitality, spirit, zest, verve; power, dynamism, drive; fire, passion, ardor, zeal; informal zip, zing, pep, pizzazz, punch, bounce, oomph, moxie, go, get-up-and-go, vim and vigor, feistiness.
I am working on my master's project about how we can educate to create intrinsic passion and love of learning. I am interested in everyone's personal experience in what helps create your unique mojo. What helps you be motivated and passionate about something? Please share what kind of experience in education tapped into your mojo. What inhibited it for you? What do you do that reignites your mojo when you get in a rut?
Since I want a lot of feedback, I will have a drawing for a gift certificate at Sego Lily Day Spa in Layton and Midvale for all those who post a comment. Thank you.
4 comments:
Now that I'm back in college, I have found teachers can really make or break a class. I just finished Microbiology, a class I was dreading. My teacher was the goofiest, funniest guy and his love of Microbiology and his love of teaching presented its self every class. He had a way of always getting the class involved even if it meant embarrassing himself. Because of his excitement, I enjoyed this class immensely. Will I become a microbiologist? Possibly, probably not, but because of this man and his microbiological MOJO, I actually considered it...for a minute! I am truly grateful for wonderful teachers.
I think there are as many different motivating factors for people feeling mojo as their are people, but i do believe there are a couple of common threads in the process. Valarie makes a good point. I think excitement of a teacher is contagious and can definitely create mojo. I also think that love is the number one common thread. I get excited about learning when i know the teacher has a genuine interest in me and cares if I am doing well. If he or she loves me. When I feel that, it is easier for me to care about the things they want to teach me. I think the same is true in so many other areas of our lives. Our marriages are successful when we know our partner loves us and is willing to do what it takes to show us. Our children have less problems with drugs, alcohol, sex, and delinquent behavior when they are secure in their love and relationship with their parents and siblings. We preform better in the work force when we don't want to let down our boss or coworkers who we know love and care about us. We want to be spiritually clean when we know our father in heaven loves us and wants us to be happy. It sounds so simple. But love is a driving force for motivation. Think back to when you first "fell in love" . All the excitement (mojo) created by that feeling! It is powerful. It changes lives! It can heal. it can motivate. It can encourage. It can create. So I guess what Im saying is..."All you need is love"! :)
There is really a common thread in both comments. Val identified the love of the topic and Melissa focused on the love the teacher has for the student. Now I hope others will take the time to dig deep and take a few minutes to write.
I don't know if this would still help you or not since I'm so late at posting! But what the heck, I'll post it anyway! (P.S. I'm not the best at writing and expressing my thoughts, so hopefully it makes sense what I'm trying to say :)
So with education, I think a lot of the getting-excited-about-learning thing comes from when I feel like it is something that is applicable to me and will take me somewhere. And the quickest way for me to not be interested (an anti-mojo if you will) is when it is something that I feel will not benefit me or when the teacher talks to me like I'm too stupid to understand something that I already know. For example, in my last semester of my senior year, I was required to take an ethics class for my major. Now I have nothing against being ethical, that is a good thing after all, but my professor (bless her heart) was teaching us about things I learned in the 5th grade and acting like we didn't know about it. I guess I just felt like it was such a waste of my valuable time, time that I could be with my kids and hubby or doing homework for my other more applicable classes, which did not get me excited at all. If she had been more like "now I know we all know what ethics are, so let's dig into this on a more personal level" or something like that, I probably would have loved that class and would have been a lot more excited to go!
Anywho, I think the most motivating thing for me is connecting with me on the subject being taught. If the teacher can make what's being taught something that relates to my everyday life I am all over that (like with you and your blog! :) I love what the previous two people have said about loving the subject you are teaching, I think that that is definitely contagious. It makes me feel like it is something worth learning, because if they love it then maybe I will love it, right?
I'm sure you already knew that stuff, but hopefully some of it helped! You're awesome and you always know how to motivate me so keep doing what you're doing! XOXO!
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