How Do I Motivate My Students?

Jennifer Partrick
Aug 02, 2010

So often, teachers lament about how difficult teaching is because their students do not care, and they do not want to learn. However, our job as teachers is to teach our students. So what can we do to reach all of our students, even the most disgruntled ones?

Students who have failed numerous times give up. That is human nature. Common sense dictates that if you keep trying to do something and always fail, you stop trying. How much sense does it make to keep putting out effort when failure is the status quo? Many of our students fit this profile. Many students stop trying and give up. Then, on their 16th birthday, they drop out of school. How can we turn that around? What can we do to support those students who have ‘checked out?' The first thing that we have to do is create situations where those students succeed. It does not matter how small the success, they must feel success. The brain loves success. When we succeed we want to go back to that place where we met success. One of the easiest ways to support students so that they feel success is with Acceleration (Thompson, Thompson, & Thompson, 2003). Teachers take a few minutes to preview upcoming lessons with those students who often fail before the whole class begins the lesson. During this preview, the teacher shares key vocabulary, any graphic organizer that will be used in the lesson, and the Student Learning Map. Doing this ahead of time gives these students the opportunity to build some background knowledge before the remainder of the class is exposed to the information. Thus, when the teacher begins the new lesson, these failing students have some prior knowledge and have information to share with others in the class. These students can begin the lesson with some information about the topic. Because they can share information, they feel like they are part of the class. They are contributing to the class.

Another strategy to consider is the assignments you create. As you develop assignments, create tasks that are not too difficult or too easy for failing students. Think about the assignments while creating the unit. Begin to think about differentiating the tasks to include all students in the learning process. Create opportunities where students can be successful. Once students begin to feel success they will begin to put out some effort. The more effort they put out the more success they will feel.

The key to helping turn failing students around is for them to feel success because they have most likely not been successful in a very long time.

Click on the link to learn more about Catching Kids Up with Acceleration.

References:
Thompson, M., Thompson, J., & Thompson, S. (2003). Catching Kids Up. Boone, NC: LEARNING-FOCUSED Solutions, Inc.