Final Post

I have to agree with Stasia, Johnny, and Samantha about the beginning of the book. I didn’t like it and as I read the research part of the text it didn’t make much sense, especially because it talked about businesses which I don’t have background knowledge on. Part two of the text is when I started getting interested into the book. When it talked about autonomy, mastery, and purpose it made it clearer to me how the book tiles into education and how we can use it as a reference for the future.

The last section we read was interesting because not only does it give ideas for the classroom but also for parents to use. Some of the ideas it mentioned will be great to incorporate in the classroom, because the ideas give the students autonomy, mastery, and a purpose. I liked the idea on how to praise students so it won’t become an “if then” task. I think this is important because things seem to turn into “if then” task even if that’s not our intention.

final post

I think Pink provided a very unique perspective in his book. The thing about Drive is that it ties heavily into education, but also the work force, society, and even parenting to an extent. The video we watched in class that served as an introduction to the book helped me to gain a better feel for what we were getting into. Like the ladies suggested in their blogs, I wasn’t particularly into the reading after a few pages, however the case study involving primates and reward was intriguing, and as the book progressed, it got harder for me to put it down

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Pink’s chapter on autonomy I found especially appealing. I’ve realized that from an educational perspective, the courses and projects in which I was granted more autonomy, are the ones in which I enjoyed the most individual success. Taking note of this, I will grant that same autonomic freedom to students in hopes of appealing to diverse students, and sparking creativity, which I feel are two important facets of the teaching field.

Final Post

I agree with Stasia about not liking this book at first. When we first started reading it I dreaded it. To be honest, I didn't understand a lot of what Pink was saying. Just like Stasia, I started to underline my favorite pieces of the chapters and take notes on the side. This helped me with what I wanted to blog about and it helped me better understand what I was reading. Throughout the chapters I found more statements I could relate to and it made me think about some of the research that Pink provided. This book made me think in a totally different perspective. I would have never thought about some of the stuff Pink wrote about. Some of the stuff would have never crossed my mind. But after reading this book, it makes a lot of since. I have used some of these tactics with my preschoolers such as giving them choice and it has helped a lot. If someone would have told me about purpose and things like that, I would have agreed with them, but reading this book and the examples and research to go along with it all put everything into perspective and made me understand it a lot more. Also, just as Stasia stated, this would be a good source to use in an interview, and the answer can be supported by research.

Final Post

To be honest, I didn't like this book when I first started reading it.  The first chapter seemed to drag on and I was sure the rest of the book was going to be just as dull.  However, I started to read passages in this book that I could really relate to.  I began to take notes inside the book and I think it made my posts more interesting because I was much more engaged.  Taking notes is one tip I would definitely suggest to students that get to read this book in the future.

The content of this book really has made an impression on me.  During an interview, if I was asked what the biggest factor is in getting students engaged in the classroom I would completely be comfortable answering, “Motivation” and explaining this to the interviewer by referencing this book.  To expand on my answer, I would probably mention how I am big into leadership, and how it has always been something I have wanted to instill in my students, but now motivation is becoming almost as important to me as leadership is.  Giving students autonomy, the opportunity to gain mastery, and purpose by answering those “Why” questions Maria mentioned last post, are going to be three factors I reiterate over and over to administration-because they are research-based and they will make our students motivated to hopefully become the leaders that I know they all could be. 

ch. 6

One of the most interesting things in this chapter was the quote on page 133, “In a curious way, age is simpler than youth, for it has so far fewer options.” In a general sense, I think this quote is absolutely true. Our generation has been presented with far more opportunity and possibility then our parent’s or grandparent’s generations ever had. It will likely be true about our succeeding generations as well. However, the fact that we have had greater opportunity and privilege doesn’t necessarily mean that we have things “better” than they had it. The way of life my grandparents had was so much different than me. True, they had to physically work ten times harder then, but they had simple and uncomplicated lifestyles, you work hard and then reap the rewards of your hard work. It was that simple back then and as odd as it sounds, I sometimes envy them for the simple lives they had.

On Samantha’s comment, baby booms are almost always associated with war times, which it seems like we are never really “not” experiencing these days. It has become noticeable lately though, I agree. My family and friends from high school seem like they’re going through their own baby boom right now!

Chapter 6

One of the things that stood out the most to me was on page 143. It stated that if people chase profit goals, reach those goals, and still don’t feel any better about their lives; they are more likely to seek more money or greater validation which leads them to more unhappiness. The reason this stood out to me is because we have chosen careers that don’t offer a lot of money, yet we are okay with it because we know it is a rewarding career and we’re doing a good thing.

Another thing that was interesting and Stasia mentioned in her blog is the “why”.  I remember as an elementary student being told to do things or do things a certain way but never told why. I think is important to tell students why we are doing something because it lets them know the importance of the material or how they can use it in real life. I also think it helps students understand a concept better when they know why we do something the way we do. For example I remember when we started adding two double-digit numbers many students didn’t know why we carry the “1” but the teacher’s explanation was because that’s “how” we are supposed to do it. If the teacher would have explained why, I think we would have understood the material better and would have picked up on it faster.

Chapter 6

First, on Stasia’s comment about purpose in the classroom; this is extremely important for students to actually gain knowledge on a topic rather than memorize it short term for a good grade. The classes I have fewer memories about are classes that had no purpose for me: biology, algebra, etc. I think it would be extremely hard for a high school teacher to set a purpose for learning something such as algebra that most of the students will never use again in their life.

Next, a random thought I had while reading this chapter and I want to see if anyone agrees with me. The chapter talked about the baby boomer generation. Does anyone else feel like we are going through another baby boomer period?! I swear every time I blink my eyes, someone new is pregnant!

Lastly, I don’t really have any one specific thing I want to go on and on about. I just picked out little points throughout the chapter. I really liked the section about businesses such as TOMS. The book stated “..and to use profit as the catalyst rather than the objective.” I like that statement because sometimes in order to be successful, money and profit can’t be the main objective; it has to have a deeper meaning. Also, going along with our last class’s discussion on cheating- 56% of MBA students admitted to cheating. That is a ridiculous amount of people that admitted it; think about how many more there are that DIDN’T admit it! Yikes!