Blog #3Motivating students is a key component of classroom management that must be administered early on in the schoolyear. "Discipline and motivation are two sides of the same sword. A motivated student is not a discipline problem, and discipline problems are caused by a lack of motivation. The problem for teachers is finding enough time, energy and ideas." (Haskitz). It is important to remember that all children are different and just as they require different learning styles, may require different motivation styles.
Some ways to motivate students are (Wagaman, 2008):
- Remain Positive
- Yelling and threatening are not positive. Focus on the positivesand achievements of each students by doing things like a "student of the week" bulletin board.
- Provide Opportunities for Success
- Struggling students need opportunities to succeed. Don't lower expectations, but provide ways that these students can succeed and feel motivated to participate further.
- Be excited
- If you're bored, they will be bored. Provide fun, interesting ways to teach students like a Jeopardy game to review for a quiz or test.
- Allow students to Earn Rewards
- Either by individual or whole class rewards, be sure the rewards are attainable. Individual behavior plans for individual students and a handful of marbles to fill a jar for whole class are two examples of rewards.
- Teach Teamwork
- Grouping students is very important, but be sure to group them accordingly for motivation and not so that one student does all the work while the other sits back and watches.
- Public Praise
- Do this often! You can print certificates, have them stand to be recognized, have "Morning Announcements" in your class of a "Sunshine Report" and can even send home their recognition so as to tell their parents of their accomplishments.
- Appropriate Praise
- Remember praise is for motivation, don't praise students for a non-achievement just to provide them praise.
- Teach Problem Solving Skills
- Allowing students the opportunity to make mistakes and correct them will make school and the topics more interesting, thus motivating them to learn.
- Provide Opportunities for Varied Experiences
- Study up on Gardner's Multiple Intelligences and try and incorporate different ones in your lessons so to catch all the different ways students learn.
In an article on http://www.reacheverychild.com/, Alan Haskitz gives an example of failed motivation. You can read the story by clicking the link below, found under references. One of the keys to motivation is making sure the students are interested in the motivation. His motivation for a struggling inner-city student avoiding the influence of gangs did not work because the student saw the motivation as a punishment. Haskitz goes on to say that it is important to make sure that there are shared values and parental support. There are many helpful links in his article on how to motivate parents, teachers, students, and others involved.
Motivation is key and it begins early. Start at the beginning, find what works, mix it up a bit, and stick with it. Don't be discouraged if you don't "hit the nail on the head" right at first. Try, try again!
Until next time, To Charter or Not to Charter
- Lauren
References
Haskitz, Alan. Motivating Students. Reach Every Child. Retrieved from http://www.reacheverychild.com/feature/motivate.htm
Wagaman, Jennifer (2008). How to Motivate Your Students: Nine Motivating Ideas for Teachers. Retrieved from http://jenniferwagaman.suite101.com/how-to-motivate-your-students-a77615
This is really useful information I will be forwarding to some first year peers I have that are having a few classroom management issues. I was talking to a few other teachers today and our high school kids still like to get stickers or stamps on their work, its that earning a reward.
ReplyDeleteProblem solving skills are also lacking in many classrooms. Project based learning greatly helps with that, but I think many teachers might be confused and think students do a project is the same as project based learning, and its quite different. The project is generally just the last phase or product of the project.
I really liked some of your comments. As a teacher I find it very important to always keep my class as upbeat as possible and to always try my best to keep my students upbeat and as happy as possible. I try my best to do all of the things that Wagaman says to motivate students. I noticed that when I am upbeat my students will be upbeat also. I also find it very important to personally greet all of my students as they walk into my classroom. I also like to tell all of my students goodbye as they leave my classroom. I think students like it when a teacher acknowledges them and notice that they are their.
ReplyDeleteSay hello at the door. I used to think this was silly until I read that the few words exchanged at the door may be a students’ only positive interaction with an adult all day (maybe even their only personal interaction with a teacher all day). It gives students a chance to know I care about them as individuals and lets students who may have misbehaved the day before know that they have a blank slate this morning. It also means students can’t escape in my classroom (Needleman, 2010).
References
Needleman, M. (2010, September 12). Six ways a teacher can improve education this year . Retrieved from http://creatinglifelonglearners.com/?p=700
I really agree with what you are saying about students behavior and motivating students. In my experience as a teacher I agree with you whole heartedly. I have had some of the "supposedly" bad behaved students in my classroom. I have used some of the ways you have described and the students have been the best behaved in the classroom. I have open up ways to show them that they can be successful by just trying. I sometimes have to give them more one on one attention to help motivate also. When teachers relate to them and not sterotype them from what they have heard. Also have used public praise and they just beamed with happiness that they were able to be successful.
ReplyDeleteSometimes, you have to just listen to something that is not related to your lesson. But once you have listened you maybe able to relate it to the lesson and that also makes them excited.
I agree that motivating students is a key component of classroom management and how we interact with our students can play a big part in that. I can usually trace behavior issues to something that happened prior to class starting or poor planning on my part. Teachers often ask why kids that cause disruptions in the classroom are often model students in PE, computers, or other “special” classes and I think the keys to motivation may hold some of the answers. In the computer lab the students have more varied learning experiences, more opportunities to work with classmates and students with academic challenges are more likely to successfully participate in class activities. As Erika Daniels (2010) says I can not make students motivated but I can make my classroom a motivating learning environment. I think remembering the items in your blog will help.
ReplyDeleteReference
Daniels, E. (2010). Creating motivating learning environments: what we can learn from researchers and students. English Journal, 100(1), 25-29.Retreived from http://4plc.edublogs.org/files/2010/11/motivation1-18r87q8.pdf