Ideas To Improve Student Motivation

1. While guidance from a teacher is important to keeping kids on task and motivated, allowing students to have some choice and control over what happens in the classroom is actually one of the best ways to keep them engaged. For example, allowing students to choose the type of assignment they do or which problems to work on can give them a sense of control that may just motivate them to do more. .....

Define the objectives

2. It can be very frustrating for students to complete an assignment or even to behave in class if there aren t clearly defined objectives. Students want and need to know what is expected of them in order to stay motivated to work. At the beginning of the year, lay out clear objectives, rules, and expectations of students so that there is no confusion and students have goals to work towards. .....

Create a threat free environment

3. While students do need to understand that there are consequences to their actions, far more motivating for students than threats are positive reinforcements. When teachers create a safe, supportive environment for students, affirming their belief in a student s abilities rather than laying out the consequences of not doing things, students are much more likely to get and stay motivated to do their work. At the end of the day, students will fulfil .....

Change your scenery

4. A classroom is a great place for learning, but sitting at a desk day in and day out can make school start to seem a bit dull for some students. To renew interest in the subject matter or just in learning in general, give your students a chance to get out of the classroom. Take field trips, bring in speakers, or even just head to the library for some research. The brain loves novelty and a new setting can be just what some students need to stay mo .....

Offer varied experiences

5. Not all students will respond to lessons in the same way. For some, hands on experiences may be the best. Others may love to read books quietly or to work in groups. In order to keep all students motivated, mix up your lessons so that students with different preferences will each get time focused on the things they like best. Doing so will help students stay engaged and pay attention. .....

Use positive competition

6. Competition in the classroom isn t always a bad thing, and in some cases can motivate students to try harder and work to excel. Work to foster a friendly spirit of competition in your classroom, perhaps through group games related to the material or other opportunities for students to show off their knowledge. .....

Offer rewards

7. Everyone likes getting rewards, and offering your students the chance to earn them is an excellent source of motivation. Things like pizza parties, watching movies, or even something as simple as a sticker on a paper can make students work harder and really aim to achieve. Consider the personalities and needs of your students to determine appropriate rewards for your class. .....

Give students responsibility

8. Assigning students classroom jobs is a great way to build a community and to give students a sense of motivation. Most students will see classroom jobs as a privilege rather than a burden and will work hard to ensure that they, and other students, are meeting expectations. It can also be useful to allow students to take turns leading activities or helping out so that each feels important and valued. .....

Allow students to work together

9. While not all students will jump at the chance to work in groups, many will find it fun to try to solve problems, do experiments, and work on projects with other students. The social interaction can get them excited about things in the classroom and students can motivate one another to reach a goal. Teachers need to ensure that groups are balanced and fair, however, so that some students aren t doing more work than others. .....

Give praise when earned

10. There is no other form of motivation that works quite as well as encouragement. Even as adults we crave recognition and praise, and students at any age are no exception. Teachers can give students a bounty of motivation by rewarding success publicly, giving praise for a job well done, and sharing exemplary work. .....

Encourage self reflection

11. Most kids want to succeed, they just need help figuring out what they need to do in order to get there. One way to motivate your students is to get them to take a hard look at themselves and determine their own strengths and weaknesses. Students are often much more motivated by creating these kinds of critiques of themselves than by having a teacher do it for them, as it makes them feel in charge of creating their own objectives and goals. .....

Be excited

12. One of the best ways to get your students motivated is to share your enthusiasm. When you re excited about teaching, they ll be much more excited about learning. It s that simple. .....

Know your students

13. Getting to know your students is about more than just memorizing their names. Students need to know that their teacher has a genuine interest in them and cares about them and their success. When students feel appreciated it creates a safe learning environment and motivates them to work harder, as they want to get praise and good feedback from someone they feel knows and respects them as individuals. .....

Harness student interests

14. Knowing your students also has some other benefits, namely that it allows you to relate classroom material to things that students are interested in or have experienced. Teachers can use these interests to make things more interesting and relatable to students, keeping students motivated for longer. .....

Help students find intrinsic motivation

15. It can be great to help students get motivated, but at the end of the day they need to be able to generate their own motivation. Helping students find their own personal reasons for doing class work and working hard, whether because they find material interesting, want to go to college, or just love to learn, is one of the most powerful gifts you can give them. .....

Manage student anxiety

16. Some students find the prospect of not doing well so anxiety inducing that it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy. For these students, teachers may find that they are most motivated by learning that struggling with a subject isn t the end of the world. Offer support no matter what the end result is and ensure that students don t feel so overwhelmed by expectations that they just give up. .....

Make goals high but attainable

17. If you re not pushing your students to do more than the bare minimum, most won t seek to push themselves on their own. Students like to be challenged and will work to achieve high expectations so long as they believe those goals to be within their reach, so don t be afraid to push students to get more out of them. .....

Give feedback and offer chances to improve

18. Students who struggle with class work can sometimes feel frustrated and get down on themselves, draining motivation. In these situations it s critical that teachers help students to learn exactly where they went wrong and how they can improve next time. Figuring out a method to get where students want to be can also help them to stay motivated to work hard. .....

Track progress

19. It can be hard for students to see just how far they ve come, especially with subjects that are difficult for them. Tracking can come in handy in the classroom, not only for teachers but also for students. Teachers can use this as a way to motivate students, allowing them to see visually just how much they are learning and improving as the year goes on. .....

Make things fun

20. Not all class work needs to be a game or a good time, but students who see school as a place where they can have fun will be more motivated to pay attention and do the work that s required of them than those who regard it as a chore. Adding fun activities into your school day can help students who struggle to stay engaged and make the classroom a much more friendly place for all students. .....

Provide opportunities for success

21. Students, even the best ones, can become frustrated and demotivated when they feel like they re struggling or not getting the recognition that other students are. Make sure that all students get a chance to play to their strengths and feel included and valued. It can make a world of difference in their motivation. .....

Praise Students in Ways Big and Small

22. Recognize work in class, display good work in the classroom and send positive notes home to parents, hold weekly awards in your classroom, organize academic pep rallies to honor the honor roll, and even sponsor a Teacher Shoutout section in the student newspaper to acknowledge student s hard work. .....

Expect Excellence

23. Set high, yet realistic expectations. Make sure to voice those expectations. Set short terms goals and celebrate when they are achieved. .....

Spread Excitement Like a Virus

24. Show your enthusiasm in the subject and use appropriate, concrete and understandable examples to help students grasp it. For example, I love alliteration. Before I explain the concept to students, we improvsubjects they re interested in. After learning about alliteration, they brainstorm alliterative titles for their chosen subjects. .....

How to Motivate Students Mix It Up

25. It s a classic concept and the basis for differentiated instruction, but it needs to be said: using a variety of teaching methods caters to all types of learners. By doing this in an orderly way, you can also maintain order in your classroom. In a generic example for daily instruction, journal for 10 minutes to open class introduce the concept for 15 minutes discuss/group work for 15 minutes Q&A or guided work time to finish the class. This way, .....

Assign Classroom Jobs

26. With students, create a list of jobs for the week. Using the criteria of your choosing, let students earn the opportunity to pick their classroom jobs for the next week. These jobs can cater to their interests and skills. .....

Hand Over Some Control

27. If students take ownership of what you do in class, then they have less room to complain (though we all know, it ll never stop completely). Take an audit of your class, asking what they enjoy doing, what helps them learn, what they re excited about after class. Multiple choice might be the best way to start if you predict a lot of nothingor watch moviesanswers. After reviewing the answers, integrate their ideas into your lessons or guide a brains .....

Open format Fridays

28. You can also translate this student empowerment into an incentive program. Students who attended class all week, completed all assignments and obeyed all classroom rules can vote on Friday s activities (lecture, discussion, watching a video, class jeopardy, acting out a scene from a play or history). .....

Relating Lessons to Students Lives

29. Whether it is budgeting for family Christmas gifts, choosing short stories about your town, tying in the war of 1812 with Iraq, rapping about ions, or using Pop Culture Printables, students will care more if they identify themselves or their everyday lives in what they re learning. .....

Track Improvement

30. In those difficult classes, it can feel like a never ending uphill battle, so try to remind students that they ve come a long way. Set achievable, short term goals, emphasis improvement, keep self evaluation forms to fill out and compare throughout the year, or revisit mastered concepts that they once struggled with to refresh their confidence. .....

Reward Positive Behavior Outside the Classroom

31. Tie service opportunities, cultural experiences, extracurricular activities into the curriculum for extra credit or as alternative options on assignments. Have students doing Habitat for Humanity calculate the angle of the freshly cut board, count the nails in each stair and multiply the number of stairs to find the total number of nails write an essay about their experience volunteering or their how they felt during basketball tryouts or any oth .....

Plan Dream Field Trips

32. With your students, brainstorm potential field trips tiered by budget. Cash incentive money can then be earned toward the field trips for good behavior, performance, etc. The can see their success in the classroom as they move up from the decent zoo field trip to the good state capitol day trip to the unbelievable week long trip to New York City. Even though the reward is delayed, tracking progress will give students that immediate reward. .....

College Fund Accounts

33. College dreams motivate athletes why not adapt the academic track to be just as tangible for hard working student? One way is to keep a tally of both the cash value and the potential school choice each student has earned. As freshman, they see they ve earned one semester at the local junior college. By second semester of junior year, they re going to four years at State for half the price. By graduation, watch out free ride to their dream school. .....

Share your enthusiasm

34. If students don t find a course interesting, they are unlikely to expend the energy it takes to really engage with the material. Sparking this interest begins with instructors sharing their passion. Cassidy recommends constructing an enthusiasm statementto share with the students, which highlights how the instructor became interested in the field, what mysteries the course will unlock, and other items. .....

Meet your students

35. Dynamic classes start with a shared knowledge of who is taking the course. Instructors should get to know their students, and she shares techniques that are accessible even in a large class. For example, an instructor can use surveys, pre tests, or ice breaker games one of Cassidy s favorites involves asking everyone to simultaneously shout out something they can t live without. Chocolateis a popular answer, iPhonemay not be far behind. .....

Harness their interests

36. Conducting pre tests can yield a lot of information about where students are starting in a course and also may indicate which students can be asked to teach, share, or explain some subjects in class. Cassidy tells of a student explaining digestion with the help of a T shirt labeled with different body parts to which she would point and explain while she ate and presumably digested a bite of food. .....

Add new spice to class

37. Cassidy explains how to use story, narrative, and other types of information to allow students to nibbleat new ideas and explore them in ways that complement traditional content based learning approaches. .....