Rogers Education Consulting

K-12 Literacy Professional Development

Best Practice: Motivating Students in the Classroom

Over the past two years, I have been asked to work with schools to help them motivate their students to work and learn. Almost any current research on motivating students will discuss the growth mindset, autonomy, and relationships. While I wholeheartedly agree with the importance of these factors, I want to approach student motivation a bit differently. The ideas I present for your consideration today are based on a lot of reading and my own evidence-based research.

The Vanderbilt Center for Teaching has conducted a research study on motivating students and, after reading through it, I realized that I have three personal children who are VERY DIFFERENT learners (Vanderbilt, 2010). I probably didn’t need to read the study to know this, but the labels they gave different types of learners in the study were spot on! All three of my children have been raised in the same home by the same parents, but I have:

  • A SURFACE LEARNER ~ the child who works hard enough to avoid failure. He has the potential to have top grades, but the desire just isn’t there. One of my favorite phrases while raising my kids is, “I can’t want it for you.”
  • A STRATEGIC LEARNER ~ the child who knows how to “play school.” This child wants to succeed in school life and go to a top college. He understands how to complete the assignment exactly the way it is requested and expects to receive top grades.
  • A DEEP LEARNER ~ the child who loves to learn. He’s less motivated by grades and boring assignments. He loves the challenge of learning something new. The more complex, the better!

Perhaps you don’t have three amazingly different kids in your house, but you probably have them (and then some) in your classroom! So hopefully, I can help you out a little. I don’t think that motivation can be distilled into easy fixes, but these are three ideas that I believe should be considered in EVERY LESSON that can help keep your students motivated!

  1. Interest. I know that this isn’t always easy. Let’s face it, some things we have to teach are not thrilling. It’s hard to jazz up a lesson about where commas go. Chances are, any student who gets naturally excited about learning where commas go will be future English teachers. That being said, try to add as much *natural* interest to what you’re teaching. Begin with your excitement. A few years back, I taught second graders. I boldly told my principal that my relationships with my students were so strong that I could use my enthusiasm to get them to do almost anything. She doubted my statement. So, to illustrate, I enthusiastically went on and on about the spinach they were serving at lunch. Never mind that it was as foul smelling as it looked. I raved about how good it was and how I couldn’t wait to eat it. And you know what? ALL 22 of my students took the spinach. If you have a strong relationship with your students and show enthusiasm for what you are teaching, I promise they will be at least a little more motivated than if you are monotone and bored.

    You can also add interest to less interesting subjects through dynamic presentations. Add authentic situations, apply it to things they care about, add technology, etc.

  2. Value. This one is probably the most difficult to manufacture. Students typically understand the value in learning or they don’t. I don’t think it is a result of parenting or upbringing, just an individual maturity thing. Value means the student sees the value in the learning what you’re throwing at them. They understand that, while learning about commas isn’t thrilling, it has value to them because they will need to understand these comma rules to be successful in college and job. In order to write information that can be understood the way they intended, they will need to know where to place commas. In the classroom, make sure students understand why it’s important to learn the skill. Remember to be real! Telling them they need it for the state assessment or the state is making them do it probably won’t help much!
  3. Confidence. I saved my favorite idea for last! A confident student is the easiest student to have in your class. Most humans will at the very least attempt learning something new if they feel there is a possibility they will succeed. Of course, the flip side of this is that most humans will give up if they see no potential to succeed. As educators, this, I believe, is the EASIEST motivator to build into every lesson. Let’s face it, this is scaffolding. Set the standard high, expect amazing learning to occur, but give students the support they need to achieve. If I want my students to understand where commas go, then I need to make sure I have spent enough time explicitly teaching, working with students in small groups and conferences, and allowing them time to practice and work with classmates. I need to provide visuals, explanations, and examples to help guide them in their learning. If they feel that they can complete assignments, it is likely that they will!

What is your favorite motivator?

 

Motivating Students. (2010). Vanderbilt University. Retrieved 20 November 2018, from https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/motivating-students/

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