Even with a perfect lesson plan and years of experience in teaching, an unmotivated student won’t be able to learn. Unfortunately, most students don’t find books and other learning materials all that exciting. Once we create a motivating environment for the students, they’re much more likely to take on new information and, more importantly, want to discover new things.
Can Offering Rewards Help?
Everyone loves to receive a bit of praise, and rewards are an easy way of showing how impressed you are. The rewards don’t have to be anything big, they can be as simple as a sticker for good behaviour, or a good piece of work. Once you get to know your class you’ll be able to gauge what a good reward could be for the whole class, like a movie one afternoon or trip out.
With BehaviourWatch, you can recognise and reward good behaviour instantly – and even automatically send a positive message home!
Do Experiences Have An Impact On Motivation?
Absolutely! By offering as many different ways to learn as possible your students have the opportunity to figure out the way they learn best. Some students might work well in groups, while others prefer to be hands-on with activities. By having a wide range of learning styles in the classroom, they’ll be something for almost everyone!
Does Self-Reflection Affect Student’s Motivation?
Self-reflection is a great tool that can be used to improve the way we do things. By figuring out what was successful, and what wasn’t so successful, you can determine the best course of action for next time. And the same goes for our students! They’re not going to do everything perfectly first time around, and that’s okay. It’s how you improve on that the next time that counts.
Can You Help Your Student’s Find Intrinsic Motivation?
Of course, you can! By encouraging your students to figure out what their biggest goals are, you’re giving them motivation. Some students might want to go to University, others might just have a fascination for the subject you’re teaching. Either way, you’ll be giving them the gift of motivation.
Make Things Fun!
Not everything in the classroom needs to be fun, but it can be really helpful when there are lots of fun things going on. For students that enjoy going to school, learning will be much easier and more accessible. By including games within classwork, you can also encourage some healthy competition between classmates.
Present A Challenge
By nature, people love a challenge and are motivated by them. If you can find a challenge that just the right amount of difficulty, you’ll have a classroom full of enthralled students. Be careful when choosing your challenge though, one that is too difficult can de-motivate your students.
Check out some of our other blogs, for example, our article on increasing student engagement may help as a motivation tool.
