I was recently speaking with some new teachers in our district and the topic of motivating students came up. One of the teachers is actually on a group at their school where they are trying to find ways to motivate students, and they were looking for help. 

Motivating students is not always easy. Some students have intrinsic motivation, while others need a push. Some students want to do well. They like competing with others to get the highest grades. They have a goal of attending a good college and getting a good job or are looking at a trade and know they need to do well in school first. Some are motivated by their culture or family and parents and have been pushed to do well since the start. Some students are taught from an early age that doing well in school is important. 

But how can we motivate students who don't seem to have any motivation or want to do work in school?

Some ideas on motivating students are based on rewards programs. If you do all of your work and behave you get points and then you trade those in for a prize. Behave and do all of your work now and you get a free pass on an assignment in the future. Do all of you work and behave and you get free time or time on the computer in the classroom. These rewards programs work for a while, but do they really change the students to become intrinsically motivated? How long can schools support these types of programs? Doesn't excusing a student from work as a reward show them that not all of the school work is important?

I think we need to find ways to show students why education is important and why they should do their work, put in full effort, and behave properly. If we can support students that don't seem motivated or aren't doing well in school so that they get a taste of success, they may want to keep going and get that great feeling of success more and more. Some students have been beaten down by failure and have just given up. We have to support them and give them the help they need so that they can do well. It's not easy to do with all students, but we have to try.

We need to show students why they should try their best in school. They need to see the benefits. It is sometimes hard for students to see into the future and they don't always like to wait for their reward. Telling a 9th grader that school will help him get into a good college and get a good job can work, but some of them won't respond because 4 years is a long time into the future. 

Some students don't see the point in education. They see their friends, siblings, and even parents having money and "toys" without an education. They don't see beyond their little world and that there is more than welfare or a minimum wage job in life. They need to be shown the possibilities that exist with education and we need to share this with them. We also need to address the students who see people selling drugs and having lots of money and think that is a good future for them. They need to be told that most of those people end up dead or in jail. Schools should bring in convicts and reformed criminals to speak to students and show them that is not a good life. 

The other way to motivate students is to make school interesting, engaging, and even fun. Educators (teachers and administrators) need to work to create a safe, fun environment where students want to be there and want to learn. Engaging lessons that actively involve the students. Projects, field trips, explorations of new things, can all help students find interest in school. Students should also have a wide range of choices in education. Offer a variety of courses so that they can explore what they like. Offer electives, alternative classes, internships, trades classes, and online programs. Let teachers come up with new courses for students. Encourage creativity among students. Let them pick the method to show their mastery of a topic. Go beyond written tests and let students create projects, web sites, videos, songs, skits, and mroe. Make school engaging and exciting instead of stifling and boring. 

We can also make school more engaging by being enthusiastic and positive in your teaching. Create a positive learning environment for them. Let students be active in class and discover things on their own. Use visual aids, videos, props, projects, demonstrations, skits, and more in your classroom to make it more interactive. Take a real or virtual field trip to show them what's out there in the world. Help them to succeed. Once they feel the joy of succeeding, they may get hooked on it. Give your students praise for doing well - they will want it more. Truly care about your students and their lives. When they see you care, they will respond to you and will more likely do better. Relate what you are teaching to them and their lives. Help them find some kind of personal meaning and value in what you are teaching them. Make your students feel valued. Acknowledge their contributions to the class. Make them feel like they are a part of the class. 

We can help students be motivated in school but it takes time and effort. Quick fixes and reward systems can only work so long. We must make school engaging, exciting, and relevant to them. 

What else can we do to motivate students?

Please share your ideas!

Some more resources:

http://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/affective/motivation.html

http://tep.uoregon.edu/resources/faqs/motivatingstudents/motivating.html

http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/2010/01/should-we-force-students-to-learn.html

Cross posted at Tech&Learning Magazine and via Twitter. 

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How do we motivate students? I know I don't know how to motivate all students. I try to tell them why learning is important, how an education can make them a better person (and more money) and how important it is to do your best in any endeavor.

Some students are self-motivated. They want to do well. They compete with others to do well in school. They like the feeling they get when they do well. Some are motivated by their parents and a history of being pushed to do their best.

What about the rest? I know some unmotivated students can actually get motivated when they finally do well on something. They get a taste of success and want to get more and more of it. Some students do things to avoid a punishment. That only works for so long.

Then there are the students who aren't motivated because they don't see the point in education. Their parents aren't educated and they do ok in the student's eyes. Or, they see their friends working at the local store and think that is a great job (Stop and Shop is a coveted job by my students). The other issues we have to fight is students who see the guys selling drugs and making lots of money, and I've had students tell me why should they worry about school when their mom doesn't work but gets a check every month. There are a lot of things that affect how these students feel about education.

In Connecticut, we have the CAPT test as our standardized test for 10th graders. One of the data points that the State and Feds look at is the percentage of the 10th grade class that takes all sections of the test. Many schools use prizes to motivate students to come every day to take the test. But this only works to get them there. What motivates students to do their best?

In a previous article, I talked about forcing students to learn and how maybe we should look at more alternative programs for students who aren't interested in academics or college, but would rather do a trade, or learn better in different ways. I wonder what we can do to help motivate students who don't see the point in school or aren't into academics at all.

We can use technology to give students access to new things and see new things to motivate them to do well and be successful so that they can go see these things for real. We can use technology to create alternative programs and online classes to help struggling students achieve success which will hopefully get them motivated to try to succeed all the time. We can use technology to make learning more fun and interactive and get these students to like learning.

Rewards are good in some cases. Giving students free time, a pass on homework, time on a computer, etc. can get them to do some things and motivate them in some ways. But how long can rewards motivate students?

We can show students data about how much more money they can make being educated. How much more of the world is opened up to them. But that won't motivate them all.

We can show them what happens to drug dealers and how welfare is not the answer. But some of them won't care.

Some ideas for motivating students (by getting them more interested in learning)

1. Be enthusiastic and positive about what you teach. Create a positive learning environment for them.

2. Let students have some of the fun and let them discover things on their own instead of telling them it all up front.

3. Use visual aids, movies, examples, props, demonstrations and more

4. Take a field trip and make it real

5. Show them how great it feels to succeed and do well (they will want that feeling again)

6. Give them praise for doing well (they will crave it more and more). Frequent, early praise show them that they can do well.

7. Care about students and their lives. Talk to them. Ask them how they are doing. Talk to them about why they didn't do the work and what might be bothering them.

8. Reward them with different things. But, start slowing down on the rewards and increasing the praise as time goes on. Sometimes the praise and attention of an adult is a reward for many students.

9. Create tasks and work that students can complete and succeed in doing (not too easy, not too hard). Give them the skills and resources they need to succeed.

10. Help your students find personal meaning and value in the material that you are teaching.

11. Make your students feel valued and special by acknowledging their contributions to the class.

What else can we do to motivate students?

Please share your ideas!

Resource:

http://honolulu.hawaii.edu/intranet/committees/FacDevCom/guidebk/teachtip/motiv.htm

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