Reading Response 3: Motivation and Engagement

Sometimes it is easier to just give up and not want to do anything at all. Yes, we all have good and bad days but we have to remember that we are role models to students. Having motivation takes a lot of effort and courage. When you don't have any motivation, you do not get very far whether it's in school, work, exercising, etc. You lose interest and you become more lazy that leads to having a horrible attitude towards things/people. Students can tell when SI or tutors are not motivated to teach, help, or explain an assignment. Your attitude can become a huge factor of why you and the student are not able to engage with each other. So when the student can sense that "feeling" of you not wanting to help them, they automatically shut off and most of the time, do not come back.  That's why it is our job to greet our students and be fully engaged with any questions or ideas so that the student can stay motivated during the session.

 

In the book, "Full Engagement! : Inspire, Motivate, And Bring Out The Best In Your People" by Brian Tracy, he states how motivation is the key to success for bringing out the best in people and how being engaged can be very beneficial by having . For example, the book states, "Clarity is essential and consistency is the key"(Tracy 174). Having that consistent motivation can be not only be beneficial to the student but for your self as well. Having motivation leads to becoming more independent and learning more things about yourself.  In the book it states, "You become an effective motivator of others only after proving that you have integrity, intelligence, vision, creativity, persistence, and the continuous desire to improve yourself and grow your people"(Tracy 194). When you start to improve yourself, it leads to you becoming a better student and SI/Tutor.

In the end, motivation and engagement are some important elements to have while being an SI/Tutor because it passes on to the student. By being polite, listening to them, keeping them informed, and expressing interest, the student will want to come back to the writing center.  I say that because they will remember the staff being fully engaged and motivated to work with them. So let us be motivated and fully engaged when we are working with students so that we can encourage them to become better students/people.

Tracy, Brian. Full Engagement! : Inspire, Motivate, And Bring Out The Best In Your People. New York: AMACOM, 2011. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 14 Mar. 2016.