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Motivating Students

Motivating students is one of the most important but difficult aspects of teaching. Unmotivated students will not learn effectively and may become disruptive. There are many reasons why students may lack motivation, including a lack of interest in the subject or unengaging teaching methods. However, teachers can motivate students through encouragement, active participation, incentives, creative lessons, and relating the material to real life. An engaged classroom where students feel valued is more likely to inspire a love of learning.

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0% found this document useful (0 votes)

241 views

Motivating Students

Uploaded by

boja

We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.

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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

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Motivating Students

One of the most difficult aspects of becoming a teacher is learning how to motivate your
students. It is also one of the most important. Students who are not motivated will not
learn effectively. They won’t retain information, they won’t participate and some of them
may even become disruptive. A student may be unmotivated for a variety of reasons:
They may feel that they have no interest in the subject, find the teacher’s methods un-
engaging or be distracted by external forces. It may even come to light that a student
who appeared unmotivated actually has difficulty learning and is need of special
attention.

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While motivating students can be a difficult task, the rewards are more than worth it.
Motivated students are more excited to learn and participate. Simply put: Teaching a
class full of motivated students is enjoyable for teacher and student alike. Some
students are self-motivated, with a natural love of learning. But even with the students
who do not have this natural drive, a great teacher can make learning fun and inspire
them to reach their full potential.

Here are five effective ways to get your students excited about learning:

1. Encourage Students
Students look to teachers for approval and positive reinforcement, and are more likely to
be enthusiastic about learning if they feel their work is recognized and valued. You
should encourage open communication and free thinking with your students to make
them feel important. Be enthusiastic. Praise your students often. Recognize them for
their contributions. If your classroom is a friendly place where students feel heard and
respected, they will be more eager to learn. A “good job” or “nice work” can go a long
way.

2. Get Them Involved

One way to encourage students and teach them responsibility is to get them involved in
the classroom. Make participating fun by giving each student a job to do. Give students
the responsibility of tidying up or decorating the classroom. Assign a student to erase
the blackboard or pass out materials. If you are going over a reading in class, ask
students to take turns reading sections out loud. Make students work in groups and
assign each a task or role. Giving students a sense of ownership allows them to feel
accomplished and encourages active participation in class.

3. Offer Incentives
Setting expectations and making reasonable demands encourages students to
participate, but sometimes students need an extra push in the right direction. Offering
students small incentives makes learning fun and motivates students to push
themselves. Incentives can range from small to large giving a special privilege to an
exemplary student, to a class pizza party if the average test score rises. Rewards give
students a sense of accomplishment and encourage them to work with a goal in mind.

4. Get Creative
Avoid monotony by changing around the structure of your class. Teach through games
and discussions instead of lectures, encourage students to debate and enrich the
subject matter with visual aids, like colorful charts, diagrams and videos. You can even
show a movie that effectively illustrates a topic or theme. Your physical classroom
should never be boring: use posters, models, student projects and seasonal themes to
decorate your classroom, and create a warm, stimulating environment.

5. Draw Connections to Real Life

“When will I ever need this?” This question, too often heard in the classroom, indicates
that a student is not engaged. If a student does not believe that what they’re learning is
important, they won’t want to learn, so it’s important to demonstrate how the subject
relates to them. If you’re teaching algebra, take some time to research how it is utilized
practically for example, in engineering and share your findings with your students.
Really amaze them by telling them that they may use it in their career. Showing them
that a subject is used everyday by “real” people gives it new importance. They may
never be excited about algebra but if they see how it applies to them, they may be
motivated to learn attentively.

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