They should know that it will all pay off in the end. You have to work hard in order to accomplish your goals, no one is going to "pacify" you throughout life.
Relativity to the real world is very important. I find myself constantly sharing my own personal experiences in the healthcare field. I share funny, sad, and gruesome stories with my students and they absolutely love hearing the stories. Sharing those stories allow them to get a feel for what it will be like when they start working in the field; therefore, they will know what to expect and prepare themselves for the "unexpected" in advance.
It is always important to monitor their progress and communicate with them about their progress. If they know you care about their progress then they will. Students like to hear how well they did...it motivates them to keep going.
I agree. I always make it a point to smile and seem excited about the material. Since I teach at night it is a challenge to keep the students awake and eager to learn; however, if I show them how excited and motivated I am they will pick up the vibe and follow along.
That is very true. The school I work at has the same challenges. About 90% of my students are low-income and some do not have steady transportation; therefore, it is a constant task to just motivate them to even get to class. Once they get to class they may be burned out from the day (since I teach night classes), then I have to motivate them to learn for five hours. It's not easy.
One way I try to motivate students is by incorporating real life situations into the lesson. This helps students see how the lesson can actually apply to their life. I also try to motivate by showing support and encouraging students not to give up.
Hi Carla,
This is always a great asset for the class. You can show the students both application and relevancy in the course which creates value for the students.
Gary
It appears that we work with similar populations and it can be challenging to motivate the students. Luckily for me I'm teaching psychology and I can relate my topics to their everyday lives.
Carla Eichelberger, MS
Hi Charles,
This is what making it real for students is all about. We know the value of good communication and with your strategies you are getting that message across to your students. Keep helping them to connect the dots between English in the classroom and English as a career building skill set in the work world.
Gary
Hi Charles,
This is what making it real for students is all about. We know the value of good communication and with your strategies you are getting that message across to your students. Keep helping them to connect the dots between English in the classroom and English as a career building skill set in the work world.
Gary
I think it is very important to keep my students motivated. For one if I am excited about teaching them then they are excited about learning the material. They tend to retain more of the instructions.
This is very important for the student. They need to know that if they have an issue, they can feel confidant coming to their instructor.
I have noticed that if I do not have a positive attitude from the the beginning of class, my students reflect that. Teaching adults can be a challenge mainly because school is not their only responsibility. It is hard to stay focused when you you are tired from working all day then having to sit through a dull class at night. The best way to keep them motivated is to lead by example. If the instructor is excited about the course and prepared for each class, then they will be able to keep the students attention.
Carolyn's point about encouraging confidence by not treating students as though they are dumb is also very relevant to teaching ESL students. Students who are not native English speakers often lack confidence in their communication abilities, which could be misconstrued as a lack of intelligence, effort, or interest. I have found that ESL students do much better in class when I am willing to work with them on improving their English abilities and grade their assignments based primarily on their ideas. Otherwise, ESL students typically feign understanding so as to avoid embarrassment, making it almost impossible to connect with them or help them improve their English skills. Once they know you are accepting but also eager to help them improve their abilities, they often respond to lessons with much greater enthusiasm.
I would utilize some of my classroom time to have open-enden discussions in which students are free to express individual opinions on topics.
I teach English at a technical college, and often the first hurdle in motivating students is to establish relevancy. I hear groans about hating English class from students who don't understand why they are sitting in my class. It seems they view English class as a place where they might be judged. Some even ask me if I will correct their speech.
I find it helpful to teach that that there are various "Englishes," depending on context. One is the conversation English they were raised to use. The other the standard English that we use in professional communication. I try to help them understand that knowing standard English for professional contexts is a major feather in their hats.
I drive the point home by bringing up business situations which require good communication, such as writing to attract customers to your business one day.
This seems to alleviate some of their fears and beliefs about English class.
One way I motivate the adult learners in my courses includes using games to review for tests. The students know when a test is upcoming and a review session will be held. The competitive nature in most students is then exhibited when answering questions correctly. The review sessions are a lot of fun and motivating!
By allowing the students do hands-on work that is related to the theory that has been taught.
The first thing is to be excited about the material yourself and then attempt to make it applicable to them in their lives.
Hi Marilyn,
Very good question and one asked constantly by educators at all levels. Don't have an fix all answer but some of the things I do is to give handouts that are in the form of guided notes. I have the students pick the key points out of the text and put that information on the form. We then discuss it in class. Points are given for these "homework" assignments. I find for the most part my students complete them and are ready to discuss them because I have reduced the volume of their reading down to extracting the key points out of the texts.
Gary
