Motivation

Yesterday we talked about motivating teachers. I agree that as teachers we struggle to motivate our students. We have learned that we will not be able to reach all students but if we get to most we are doing our job. We will face this same challenge as administrators, motivating our teachers. We can provide the teachers with professional development, but they have to motivate themselves. We can set up an environment where they best motivate themselves - but what is the best environment for all of your employees. So I guess the same is true for administrators, you will not be able to reach all teachers, but if you can motivate most, you are doing your job. This is a struggle we will alwasy face - but taking time to get to know each of your faculty members will help create the best environment. In doing some research for my paper I found this quote from a website. "Simply fill the needs of your staff and they will remain with you until someone who can do it better comes along. But if you deeply connect with them on a human level, they just might remain with you for life." This reminded me of the story Dr. Closen shared with us about the teacher who wanted to quit after 7 years of teaching, but when he became the prinicpal in the district she changed her mind and approached him 20 years later. We can't motivate them, but we can build relationships that may help them motivate themselves.