Motivate Me!

This school year I'm much more motivated than last year.  I wonder why?  Some of this could be to do with the fact that I'm not the new person anymore, some of it could be because of taking on a new role and feeling that I'm making more of a difference.  Some of it could be because the technology is working better and because I feel at last I can think about teaching and learning, rather than just thinking of ways to fix things.

A few days ago I blogged about the DISC index and today I went back and read the section on motivation.  This is what is says I need to be motivated:

• Opportunity and encouragement to try new ideas and take risks - yes, I love doing new things and this year I have a lot of new classes, am working on a different campus one day per week, and am enthusiastic about new things I'm wanting to develop such as the Google Apps for Education. 
• Work activities involving contacting, leading and directing people.  I seem to be doing more of that this year too.
• Control over my workplace responsibilities and destiny.  True, this year I feel more in control and feel I'm able to carve my own path rather than having to walk to the beat of someone else's drum.
• Social or public recognition for accomplishments and successes - actually I don't care about this at all.  The best thing for me is walking around the school and seeing the students and hearing them say in a really happy voice  "Hey, it's Miss Maggie" because they know that I've come to do something exciting with them.
• New experiences and a variety of activities -  I love taking on new things and learning how to teach with different technologies such as the SMARTboards, iPads and so on.  I'm passionate about professional development and am excited that we may have the ADE programme coming our way sometime soon too.
• Opportunity for advancement to more challenging roles or assignments within the organisation - yes for sure - this is also because of being more in control of what I do and how I do it.
• Independence and autonomy - yes I thrive on these! 

So overall I think I am more motivated because I am using more of my strengths - I think I am helping teachers to become more successful with their use of technology and that some of last year's problems are being solved as decisions made with teaching and learning at the heart of the process.  At the start of the year when people asked me how I thought the year would go I said that I was hopeful but not optimistic.  Now, however, I am optimistic and enthusiastic about building on our successes.  I like dealing with many activities simultaneously and I like a multi-tasking and a fast-paced environment that is challenging.  I like to find solutions to problems and I love it when I see others shift in their ways of thinking so that they can get on board with what we are doing.  This year we've given MacBook Pros to our teachers and SMARTboards in all rooms from Grade 2 upwards - and I'm loving the spark I see when teachers realise what they can do with these and how using technology can make them better teachers.

Motivation is an upward spiral.  Because I'm more motivated and enthusiastic I am reaching out and encouraging our teachers more.  Because this in turn makes them more motivated and enthusiastic this encourages me to do more and to try harder and to achieve more.  Last year I felt like I was bogged down in quicksand, now I feel I'm moving forward, and also that the pace is increasing all the time.

Photo Credit:  Lost on the Beach by Spitfirelas