How to set the stage for learning
It’s not always easy keeping your students motivated in the classroom. Luckily, there are a variety of techniques and strategies that teachers can use to motivate their students. And with a little time, patience and hard work, you can definitely motivate your students to succeed in school.
1
Determine why your students are not motivated. There are different reasons why students may lack motivation, such as having low self-esteem, problems at home, a learning disability, health issues or depression. Be sure to evaluate each student’s situation and try to find out the main reason for the lack of motivation.
2
Evaluate your teaching strategies and make the necessary adjustments. Take time to review your current teaching style and curriculum and decide if there are some things that you can do differently in order to better motivate your students. For example, maybe you can add more group activities to the class period, or perhaps you can use more visual aids to enhance your lectures. Try to be as creative as possible and make learning a fun experience for your students.
3
Show enthusiasm in the classroom. In order to motivate students, the teacher should be motivated as well. It is very important for teachers to get excited about the classroom lectures and activities, because this helps to gain the students' attention and keeps them interested in learning.
4
Tell your students that you have faith in them. Try to give your students challenging and achievable assignments to complete and provide them with the emotional support that they need to do well in class. And don’t be afraid to set high expectations for your class. Constantly remind your students that you believe in them.
5
Encourage your students to participate in class. Some students enjoy participating in class activities and discussions, while others may shy away from the attention. However, it is important that all students have an opportunity to participate in some kind of way. So try going around the classroom and calling on students one by one to answer questions and to complete various tasks.
6
Reward students for doing a good job in class. Students love to get rewarded for their good work and behavior.
And I thought I came up with something new!!!
Charlene,
I use this game a lot in my class. Good to hear about your success with it in your class. Students like to play games and be competitive. Things like this really increases their engagement.
Gary
One of the techniques I like to use to break up the standard classroom procedure it to play what I call "(Course name) Jeopardy". I have a list of categories of topics covered in class to date and then on 3x5 cards I list 10 or 12 answers to questions in that category. The student chooses a category and I then read the answer, the student then needs to supply the answer in the form of a question, just like in the television game show. Sometimes I split the class in half and play the game using a team concept. It's not only fun for the students, but it gives me an idea of the level of understanding or retention of the material. I reward correct answers with small (bite size) candy. The team that wins (most correct answers) gets a goodie bag of supplies, like pencils, small note books etc.
