Final Thoughts on Pink

I agree with Barb that it is important to let students make mistakes and learn from them. Through out the book I found that there are many great ways to use motivation by differentiating with task, time, technique, and team. When people feel they have control over what they are doing it becomes their project instead of the project they are doing for the teacher. These are things that we have learned about in our education classes and Pink gives us a better understanding of the importance of changing things up a little. Students will make mistakes when they have autonomy but they will be able to learn from them as they would not if they did not get to pick for themselves.

The other major idea that I will take away from Pink is the three laws of mastery. When people want to do well at something they have to believe that they can and have the right mindset. Going through my content class I know that mastery is pain. My classmates and I often get things wrong and have to redo them. It takes a mental sweat and it is important to keep in mind that too much can be a bad thing as well as too little. It is also important that we think of learning goals so that as long as the student is getting better they are doing well. The last law is my favorite because it reminds me that I can always do better as a teacher. Mastery is an asymptote means that we are always able to get closer to being the best but there is always room for improvement and it is important to remind students that it is not the grade but the knowledge we are trying to achieve.