Falisia,
Support is a very powerful motivator and you have experience in how much impact it has on retaining as well as encouraging students. Your efforts are keeping students in school and progressing toward their career goals.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Falisia,
You touch upon a very important part of teaching, the "human factor". One of the reasons I have stayed in education so long is the opportunity to interact with so many different individuals. I learn something from each one and work to impart to them the value I associate with them and their own career goals.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
As a career school instructor, I often have to find ways to motivate my students. One way of motivating your students is showing them that you truly care about them and their life experiences. Letting your students know that you here to support them during their process of achieving their career goals, as long they are willing to complete their part of the course work.
As a career school instructor, I often have to find ways to motivate my students. One way of motivating your students is showing them that you truly care about them and their life experiences. Letting your students know that you here to support them during their process of achieving their career goals, as long they are willing to complete their part of the course work.
Grant,
Good suggestion. His book is a good one to motivate and inspire.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Read books such as John Wooden, the great UCLA coach.
Mark,
Well put. This is why knowing each student as much as possible is important. We need to target our support and encouragement in such a way as to be seen and internalized by each student each time it is given.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Motivating is synonymous with coaching. A great coach finds ways to motivate each player. Sometimes this comes in the form of "pumping" a player up verbally or a simple pat on the back and spoken to in a soft voice. Point is- each player/student is different. What works for one might not work for the other.
I understand your plight. I try to use real world scenarios. Further, I ask students to lits the steps they plan to take in achieving their goals. Many times, listing the steps is a reality check for the students. It allows them to see what it would take to achieve the goal they have set and at times, they simply need to readjust or revise their goals.
Understanding your students is very motivating. Knowing how they learn and praising them for their successes.
Frank,
Students love hearing stories from their instructors. You are helping to reinforce your course content with your stories. The more the students can see application and relevance the more value they will associate with the course.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I find that it is true you need to tailor your lectures to your students and make it relevant to them. Giving examples of my own experiences in situations that resemble their situations etc...
Instructors can be motivating by displaying energy and interest for the subject area, as well as using stories and examples from real life work experiences.
Stacy,
The more examples you can share the more value your students will associate with the content. They through the stories can see both application and relevancy to what they are studying.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I try to use as many real life examples, as I can, pertaining to what I am teaching as well as personal experiences which really seems to excite them to reach their goal.
Pixie,
Students do need to know the expectations of the course and how the course is going to unfold in terms of requirements and deadlines. Periodic updates helps them to feel informed and current. No one likes to be surprised when it comes to knowing about course policies, etc..
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I struggle a little in this area. I find that keeping the students in the know of everything that is going on it helps them stay motivated and not feel so overwhelmed. I am a very organized teacher and I believe that the students appreciate this and it helps them keep on track which I think in turn keeps them motivated.
Debra,
This is the way to teach a subject such as math. The more application you can offer them the more relevancy they will see. The more relevancy they see the more engagement they will have. This results in a win win for everyone.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Edward,
I would look at my next lesson and pick two areas that you are going to ramp up your excitement meter on. This way you are not moving too far out of your instructional style at first but by selecting two you are giving yourself a goal to bring enthusiasm into your lessons. Try using humor, an illustration, story from the field anything that will get you to using different vocal levels, movement, etc. to "sell" the concept you are teaching.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I have to teach a lot of math in my course so one way that I motivate students to learn the formulas is to apply it to real life. From this they see that there actually is meaning to the formulas we learn and they will be expected to know them on the job.
