Motivation, the Military, and an Admissions Test

Motivating my Students

Motivation is a difficult topic to discuss regarding the students at Seoul Global High School. Many of the students are driven by their desire for academic success and the promise of good employment. Education is a major priority in Korea. Families devote themselves to making sure their students reach the highest levels of academic achievement. Students attend after school schools to practice their English, improve their math, and learn other languages. One girl told me many students at the school pride themselves on their study techniques and actually enjoy the art of studying. Trying to encourage these students anymore seems unfair and torturous.

I tried to develop intrinsic motivation in a number of different ways. I allowed student choice in the classroom and tried to encourage an environment of cooperation between the students. When I developed my end of unit assessment I decided to let the students choose an article about a country we had learned about and do a compare and contrast essay based on the article. I think this was a good way to allow students to have some autonomy and choice in their assessment while also giving some directions and parameters. When assigning the paper I also took student input into consideration when deciding when the paper should be due. The students told me they were taking the SAT one weekend and asked that the paper be due after the test. I agreed that would be fair and assigned the paper to be due about a week after the SAT to accommodate their study schedule. Many of the activities I developed for the classroom centered on group work. I wanted to develop a sense of a learning community where students felt they could work together towards a common goal. After a few days of doing similar work I spiced up my class by incorporating games. The students really seemed to enjoy them and participated well. This was a good tool to use as a wrap up activity and helped engage the students. When I introduced new worksheets or activities to the class like the word web or the document analysis worksheet I always modeled how to use them to scaffold student learning. I always tried to encourage my students in their studies.

While I realize my classes might not be that important to them as getting into just the right university I told them they would do great on the SAT. I wished them luck and I inquired about their future academic pursuits. I think my interest in them and my openness to their questions in class helped build a good relationship in the classroom. When students asked me a question that I did not know the answer to I was always willing to tell them I was unsure about the answer and let them I know I would look it up for them. On more than one occasion I offered to look up an answer more than once and came back to class the next time to let them know what I found. Intrinsic motivation is a difficult thing to instill in students. I think the majority of the students at Seoul Global High School have a lot of extrinsic and intrinsic motivation driving them in their lives. I hope that my teaching style helped to increase their intrinsic motivation in Social Studies.

Counseling 11/16/10

This week I met with two male students. We discussed a lot of different topic. The boys said next week they are taking a model K-SAT test so they are stressed out about that. They have been studying hard to prepare. The test will be all day next Tuesday for the domestic track students.

I asked them what they wanted to study in university and one wanted to go to Korea University and study psychology so he could become a politician. He would like to be president or a minister in the government. The other student wants to go to Seoul National University or Yonsei University and possibly study sociology. He will probably decide when he gets to school and begins classes.

I asked them about the military and they think it is terrible they have to go but know they should have to go. They said even thought they don’t like the military it is good for them to have to go because it is necessary for the country. They also said it was necessary for themselves to build their patriotism, honor, and make them healthier. They said the military would be an escape from studying. They plan on entering for their service after their first year of university.

I asked them if they want to travel and they would like to visit the U.K. and Spain. Both of the boys study Spanish and said it is a difficult subject.

We talked for about school. They said Seoul Global High School is a special school. But they feel like they have restricted liberties. They said the manager of the students and dorm is very strict and scary. He is a “liberty taker” and can punish the students.

We talked for a few minutes about their dreams. I shared mine was to visit all of the continents. One boy said he would like to talk to many people from around the world, he said he likes to travel but he prefers to meet people from all over the world. I said he is a “people person”. The other boy said he would like to travel around Korea and the world with his family.

Korean SAT

This week the third year high school students took the Korean SAT. This test is a major event in their lives, it will determine where they can go to university. Students can only take the test once a year. Their scores determine which universities they can be accepted into. The tests are scored in a bell curve so some students will have to "fail" for others to "pass". This places an extreme amount of pressure on the students. In order to cheer them up the first and second year students held a pep rally for the third year students to walk through. The whole school came outside to cheer them on and wish them luck on the test. I hope it went well!!