Teacher Tip: How Do You Motivate Your Students?
Motivating students is a tough task for teachers. Once students reach a
certain age, they no longer feel the need to attend school, let alone
enjoy it. It is up to teachers to motivate their students.
Without at
least minimal motivation, your teaching will fall flat and there will be
little or no real learning in your classroom. How do you currently try
and motivate students?
First rule of student motivation
Your classroom must be an enjoyable experience. Student motivation
will be next to impossible if your classroom does not have an inviting
atmosphere.
What is your demeanor? Are you excited about teaching? Glad that
you're there? Happy to see the students? Excited about your subject or
grade? You must be warm,
inviting, and enthusiastic about your job.
You must show up everyday well prepared.
What does your classroom look like? Sterile? Prison? Blank walls? Your classroom needs color and excitement.
Put up posters. Put up students' work. You need to hook the students as soon as they set foot in your classroom.
Making your classroom an enjoyable place to learn is actually half the battle.
Students are motivated with rewards
Students need a reward for learning. No, this is not prizes or candy.
That may work to get a task completed, but not motivate for real
learning. Remember, we are looking to motivate students into learning,
not necessarily completing a task.
The reward for learning that you strive for is a students
satisfaction for learning. That's it. For example, you are teaching the
Civil War. You want a student to sit back and say, "Man, that Abe
Lincoln was one cool dude."
Okay, a little corny, but it makes the point. If that goes on in your
classroom, you are virtually there! But it's not easy. It's not easy
because teachers are taught to dish out a task, test, boom, done. Not
very motivating, is it?
Tips for motivating students
Students need a reason for doing the assignment. Give them one. Each
teacher will have to come up with this on their own. No help here is
given because if you can't think of a reason for teaching something, you
can't motivate students.
Here are some hints. How does it affect them? Does it make them a better
citizen? Learner? Relate it to their life. Relate it to their future.
Relate it to their ego.
Relate it to current events. You cannot just say, "Because."
Praise goes a long way. This is the reward you can give out
frequently and it's free. Write notes on their papers. Say things to
them as you walk around the room. Call everybody by name and encourage
them. Put student work on the walls. Put a piece of work from ALL
students at various times. Call home and praise your students to their
parents.
If your students have a reason to learn the material and get praise
from you, that's really all motivation they need. It sounds simple, but
remember it is hard. Over the course of the school year, you will get
better.
Choose your opening to the lesson in such a way that it makes the
students want to know more. It may sound silly, but a story can be a
very effective way.
Using the Lincoln example, "Let me tell you about a guy whose mother
died when he was nine. His first girlfriend got sick and she died.
Eventually he became president."
Once your students want to know more, you have them hooked. They are
motivated! You want your students to go home everyday and say, "Guess
what I learned?"
Recapping student motivation, first is you and your classroom. Next
comes a reason for learning. You then create a curiosity about what is
to come. You do all those, your students can't help but be motivated in
your classroom. And the best thing about this, is it make your
discipline problems be few and far between
.
