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Differences in Determination
Math teacher Kate Baker has been teaching long enough to recognize when there is a shift in energy at Blue Valley. However, Baker believes not all classes and students have been impacted by this unusual change.
“I haven’t seen [a decrease in motivation] as much in the honors classes,” Baker said. “But in the regular classes, I feel like it’s just very different from many years ago.”
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A possible cause for the discrepancy between on-level and advanced classes could be the reward of improving one’s grade point average or earning college credit.
“The higher level classes seem to have a little more motivation because they have that college credit option,” Baker said. “But otherwise, the motivation, I definitely feel, is a little less.”
Baker presumes the drop in effort stems from the forgiving environment created in 2020 due to the pandemic.
“When Covid hit, I feel like we were just trying to be as accommodating as possible, which lowered expectations because we just wanted to get something out of the students,” Baker said. “I feel like that is kind of where they’re staying — that’s what they were used to, so it’s harder to bring them up.”
The change in schedule organization also impacted Baker’s teaching style and how she organizes her lesson plans.
“The block scheduling has changed it, too,” Baker said. “I feel like we were able to teach sections of content; now we’re trying to combine sections together or spread them out.”
This takes a toll on students’ motivation as well because of the extended time they spend in class.
“They don’t have as much homework as they used to, so they don’t do as much outside practice,” Baker said. “They have so many opportunities to finish work in class, that if they’re assigned something outside of class, they won’t do it.”
Baker suggests that preparing students for college-level coursework is necessary to incite motivation.
“[I have to] remind them what our goal is: next year, you’re taking a college-level class,” she said. “We need to ramp it up so you’re prepared for that.”
