Motivating Students (Week Seven)

I have developed several motivational techniques that have been effective for the students. I want the students to know that I am there not just simply to teach them all this information and expect them to somehow digest it all, but there are ways to motivate them without disengaging. The ways in which I channel motivation is by creating a warm classroom climate and by working together. By working together, the chances are the material often sticks better and it allows students to interact with each other.

More often than you think, many of the students I have worked with during my placement have challenged me by asking, "Why do we need to know this? or Why is this important?" I have boldly stated in response, like their teacher has to them on countless occasions, that it is going to make them better individuals in society if they work hard and get an education. To try to make the subject matter a bit more appealing to them. I try and reference the material to real life situations. It is amazing the responses you get out of the majority of them when material is referenced to something that interests them.

Reminders help the students stay motivated. Because the students I work with have special needs, they are in constant need of reminders. I try not to let them rely on me all the time for them, but when I feel it is necessary, I do provide them with one. It alleviates anxiety on their behalf.

When I walk around the room when the students are working on various worksheet packets that they have been assigned, I check to see how they are working. I work with each of them equally and question them on the material other than what is being asked of them on their worksheets. Once I have spent several minutes with the student, I tell them to go ahead and keep working and star the questions/problems they are confident are correct. I come back to visit them a few minutes later and check their starred questions/problems to see which ones they feel confident in. The majority of the ones they have starred they are indeed correct and I find that they are much more motivated to keep working when I have set up that goal for them.

I connect the day's learning lesson with previous learning lessons. I have done this while teaching science lessons to the higher level learners. When I make those connections, not only is it a reminder for them what has been discussed previously, but also they can see the relationship of the old material with the new. It motivates the students to want to continue more about the material. 

Lastly, I have the students list or discuss with me as a group what they may already know about the day's lesson. It boosts their confidence and motivation when they have an opportunity to voice what they may already know before we actually get into the lesson. They are much more engaged when they have an opportunity to speak first before learning further.