motivating students
I work in an inner city school looking for input on the best way to try and motivate kids who've been told they will never amount to much...and I'm telling them they can.Have used examples of my past but some just thinks it's a story from a teacher. How can we break this self esteem issue and prove to them the really can be what they want be they already made the first step just by coing to school...
Hi Maria,
What you are doing is developing their skill sets so they can be successful in their careers. They need to see how this will benefit them when they step into the real world of work and the more examples you can share with them the more they will see it.
Gary
I motivate them by telling: we are teachers mean well when pushing them to their limits. This might be a long shoot, but it will pay off when outside of school they meet real competition.
Hi Clive,
You hit upon the key element of motivation and that is to customized the motivation to the individual student. That way they can focus on what it takes for them to keep engaged in the learning process.
Gary
Motivation?
every student has different levels of motivation,
the easy part is motorvating the lower to normal level the hard part is the higher level of motivated students.
I find the soloution is keep the class fun and keep them busy.
Hi Christopher,
My suggestion would be to keep it real with the students you support. These kids can tell someone who is or isn't genuine and they will be more likely to listen and follow instructions (personally and educationally) if they know you are being real.
I would also suggest that you give assignments that you know they can accomplish to reinforce your belief in their abilities. You may want to partner with an older student you have mentored in the past and pair them up with the student. This would be a good program to inititiate regardless.
Hope this helps!
Hi Foch,
Great example of how to motivate students with resources that you have--that being former students. This way your current students can't say that you don't understand them because you do since you bring in former students that have been successful in your courses. This way your current students know you want them to succeed by providing the instructional support they need to keep making progress toward their career goals.
Gary
I work in west texas. A very different enviroment from your inner city setting. However, occassionally I have students that have just finish doing time at a federal or state institution. "You don't understand: you've never been on paper" They are correct. However, I have had former students that were in the same boat they are in. When possible, I have those former student's stop by and talk about their success. That is amazing motivation. The irony: I get credit with the doubter and I have done nothing.
Hi Christopher,
You ask a very hard question that many of us have been working on for years. How to capture the attention of these individuals and help them to see themselves in the picture of success? The greatest tool that I have found are role models. As their instructor I tell and teach them the things they need to know but as you say they expect you to do so since you are the teacher, but I also bring in role models to reinforce what I have been telling them. This helps to make the material I am teaching and the skills I am helping them develop to become real in their world. I use field trips and guest speakers a lot to get this message across.
Gary
