No one has ever said that teaching is an easy task, but motivating their students is even more difficult. It does not matter if they are eighth grade or high school pupils: motivating them to engage in study can be a difficult task in any case. However, there are several approaches that will allow you to transform your students' learning into a fun, exciting and even indispensable activity for them. To find out how to motivate your students, read this article.
Steps
Part 1 of 2: Creating an Encouraging and Positive Environment
Step 1. Find out why motivating students is such a difficult task
The problem is that these kids are in contact with too many people who, in life, behave like "teachers". In every area of their existence they are subjected to many stimuli that aim to make them think for themselves, act and become people to be proud of. The overload of external stimuli and conditioning hinders young people in the search for their own identity, leading them to develop a natural distrust of those who try to show the way to go.
Once this awareness is acquired, the children begin to face the constant pressures coming from the external environment on the basis of an important consideration: "I will allow you to influence me only if you show me that it is worth it". This principle is the tool with which they determine if the stimuli come from the right person at the right time and if it is appropriate to welcome them. Unfortunately, the problem arises whether people who might negatively affect them are winning their interest, or if the right people don't make the slightest effort to make a good impression
Step 2. Make a good impression
To motivate your students, you need to show that you are worth listening to. They may look at you suspiciously on the first day, but you can try to gain their trust and consideration. To do this, you need to stand out in their eyes. Hiding behind the normal course of events is not the right strategy: you have to emerge, win their attention and keep it in hand. Here are some ways to make a good impression.
- Speak explicitly. You must have an opinion and express it at the right time. Avoid talking too much and / or being presumptuous. You must give the impression of being an educated and intelligent person, who is not afraid to express their ideas but without being arrogant and self-centered.
- Pass on your teaching with passion. Wide eyes, a broad smile, and moderate enthusiasm will help you achieve mind-blowing results. Although the subject does not arouse the interest of your students, if nothing else, your way of doing things will amuse them. Above all, thanks to the determination with which you express your love for the material, you will be able to appear to them as an authentic person.
- You transmit energy. Good humor spreads easily. If the teacher jumps from one side to the other (obviously, he is not advised to do just that), the risk of students falling asleep in class decreases considerably. Introduce yourself and introduce your subject with the utmost determination.
- Commit to taking care of your physical appearance. You have to make a good impression and when you walk into the classroom you have to be in great shape. Try to look after your clothing more or dress differently than most people.
Step 3. Do more
Do more than what is normally expected of a teacher. If one of your students is unlikely to deliver their homework on time, when the opportunity arises again, invite them to stay after class and help them solve the exercise. Help him write, explain how research is done, and show the work done by other students. This is an excellent method, able to solve a series of problems: if the problem is the student's attitude, after this meeting he will have no more excuses; if, on the other hand, he presents real difficulties, he will now know exactly how to get the job done.
- Be considerate, answer all questions, and make sure he fully understands the process. Make it clear that you will no longer work together like this. Ask him if he has understood everything and wait for his affirmative answer before dismissing him.
- Obviously, it is one thing to offer extra help and another is to allow your students to take advantage of your availability. You must help them when they need to, but don't do it if it means going against your principles.
Step 4. Presents insights into the subject
To get students passionate about your subject, you'll need to go far beyond the school curriculum. Update your students on the latest developments in the field. If you teach science, for example, you could read an article from Focus in class or make an excerpt from the article, relevant images, discuss the concepts expressed and the meaning of some sentences, then hand in photocopies to take home for those who want to do it. The second option is the most effective.
You must understand that your job is to awaken interest in your students, not to provide them with the right material
Step 5. Give your students homework that encourages them to think outside the box
Carry out a large classroom project that is original and fun. For example, you could organize a theater show about science (or any other subject) with your class to perform in the city museum for a younger student audience. You could have your students write a book to publish on their own and donate to the city library.
The crux of the matter is that the idea must be original, the project must be carried out during class hours or during school hours (to avoid travel or an overload of commitments) and each student must be followed at every stage of implementation
Step 6. You must have a good sense of humor
Being witty will help you capture the attention of your students, make the lesson more lively and facilitate your relationship. It is obvious that, when faced with a person who never smiles, students find it hard to get attached and get in tune. It is not necessary to play the fool on every occasion, but if you provide your students with a fun atmosphere they will feel more motivated and eager to learn.
Step 7. Prove that you are a competent person
Your purpose is to convince students that it is worth listening to you, especially if you are trying to bring them closer to your discipline. You have to show off your talent. You are not only a teacher, but also a very capable person. You need to introduce yourself as you would in a job interview. Be modest, but don't hide your skills. Show your pride as you share experiences and achievements with your students. If you know important people, invite them to school; organize the meeting so that your students can intervene with questions, rather than just listening to a presentation.
If your students feel that you are not very well versed in your subject, they may stop engaging in homework or think that the superficiality with which they have studied will go unnoticed
Step 8. Try to identify students who need additional reassurance
If a student is sad or sick, call them after class and ask them if they have any problems. While you ask him, take care of other things as well. Look at him, but don't just stare him straight in the eye until you get an answer. If he says he is okay, don't insist, or only do so if you think he is hiding something serious from you. Before letting him go and continuing to work, he comments like this: "I just got the impression you were down in the dumps while we were in class." The mere fact that you are worried is enough.
- If a student in difficulty sees that you worry enough to notice his state of mind, he will find the motivation to do more. If she feels your indifference to her performance or that you don't care about her mood, it's very unlikely she'll get busy.
- Consider breaking the rules if the student is actually in trouble. You have to move with caution, but this technique works if you want to build trust. If a student no longer delivers his homework on time, faced with yet another problem of this type, you will have to recognize that he needs help (even if it is only his attitude). Discreetly, give him more time to complete the tasks and simplify the subject slightly. Sure, it goes against the rules, but you're working to fix the causes of the problem and prevent it from happening again. Make it clear that you will no longer grant such extensions.
Step 9. Ask students to share their views
Students risk losing motivation when they passively receive teaching without being able to say how they feel. If you ask their opinion on a particular political issue, a literary passage or the validity of a scientific experiment, they will feel prompted to stand up and make their voices heard. If they feel the importance you give to their opinions, they will come out of their shells and will be thrilled to share their point of view with you.
- Remember that it is one thing to encourage constructive debate and another to allow students to talk nonsense. Teach your students the importance of bringing examples to support their ideas.
- Obviously, if you teach math or a foreign language, where space for opinion is limited, try to bring some insights into the class. Certainly, eighth grade pupils do not have an opinion on the present conjugation of the verb in Spanish, but they could have it on an article that illustrates the effectiveness of language immersion for the purpose of learning a language.
Step 10. Encourage lively discussions in the classroom
If you just explain the lesson, the risk of students getting distracted is greater. To keep encouraging your students to study and keep their attention alive, you'll need to foster heated debates in the classroom. Ask one student questions at a time by calling them by name and not addressing the whole class in general. The fact of the matter is that no student likes to be questioned when they don't know the answer, but in this way they will be forced to prepare to answer knowing that they can be questioned at any time.
This way students will not only feel motivated to read up and prepare for the lesson, but they will be even happier to participate knowing that their opinion matters
Step 11. Get to know your students before making a positive judgment
If you enter a classroom for the first time and compliment students by telling them that you know they are wonderful people and that they will learn to change the world in your classes, they will most likely not believe and respect you. At that moment, they will wonder how you know what kind of people they are without having made the slightest effort to find out. How do you expect them to change the world if you have not explained to them what the world is? How do you expect exactly the same thing from each of them? They are not all wrong.
- Most teachers don't distinguish between students and feel comfortable saying certain things, but a good teacher knows that each student is different from the other.
- Also avoid using expressions like "some of you" ("Some of you will become lawyers, others will be doctors, and so on"). Save these words for one of the last lessons (not really the last) and address each of them individually. For example: "Matteo will discover a cure for cancer, Giulio will become richer than Bill Gates, Emma will be a world-famous interior designer, Paola will probably become richer than Giulio …".
- Add a dash of humor and make your students realize that you have gotten to know, in part, each of them. This is what you expect from your kids: to be able to show themselves for who they really are, just like you did.
Step 12. Show your students how your subject affects the world
Confront them with the stimulus they have repressed up to that point. It deals with topics that concern people, society, the country, the whole world. Whatever is important in your eyes, whatever you want to use to motivate them. Now that you've gained their trust and decided it's worth listening to, they won't stop doing it. They will try to find out where you come from and why you think this way. Even when they don't share your ideas, they will try hard to understand your point of view.
You may have a hard time motivating your students if they don't understand how to apply your subject to everyday life, be it literature or history. Bring a review of a book or newspaper article to class and show your students that what they are learning has a bearing on the outside world. Seeing how to apply your teachings in everyday life will increase their interest in this discipline
Part 2 of 2: Proposing Challenges
Step 1. Make students become “experts” on a topic
You will be struck by the enthusiasm with which they will be able to accept your request to present a topic in groups or individually. They will feel the emotion and the responsibility of becoming experts in a certain topic, whether it is the young Holden or the electronic configuration. Preparing for an out-of-class project or presentation will increase students' desire to learn, as well as being a surefire way to enrich the program and keep it interesting.
Also, if a student presents a certain topic, classmates will be more motivated to listen. Sometimes students get tired of always seeing only the teacher standing in front of them, so the presence of a classmate illustrating a topic can be a breath of fresh air
Step 2. Encourage group work
Group work can help your students to deepen their knowledge of each other, to see the subject in a different light and to increase motivation to achieve goals. If a student works alone, he may not feel the same drive to achieve the goal as when he works in a group where he is assigned a role. Group work is also a great way to enrich the program and allow students to do different activities during the lesson.
You can also encourage healthy competition between groups. It does not matter if you have organized a grammar contest on the blackboard, a team Trivial Pursuit session on a certain topic or any other playful activity in which groups compete: in any case you will find that students are more inclined to participate and to find the right answer if they are competing with each other (as long as it is healthy and not discouraging competition)
Step 3. Assign tasks to get extra grades
Homework for getting extra grades helps students learn more about the subject and strive to improve. For example, if you teach chemistry and some of your students have difficulties, give them an optional report on a book that deals with science in a fun way, for example The Universe in a Nutshell. Students will have fun studying the subject from another perspective and will deepen the subject while improving their grades.
You can assign assignments that show other possible applications of your subject. If you teach literature, for example, give a good mark to those who participate in a poetry reading in the city and write a report on the event. Ask them to present the report in front of classmates; in this way you will motivate the students and also encourage them to go beyond the limits imposed by the program
Step 4. Give your students a choice
Students are more motivated if they are given the opportunity to make decisions during school activities. In this way, they will feel that they have their own knowledge and motivation in hand. Have them choose who to work with, or give them a variety of options in the next theme or short essay. Even if they can choose, you don't necessarily have to set up a set of ground rules.
Step 5. Make effective judgments
To motivate your students, your judgment must be direct, clear and useful. If they know what their strengths are and where they can improve, they will be much more motivated to learn than when the task is simply assessed with a sterile grade and incomprehensible judgment. Make a commitment to show that their success is important to you and that you would like to help them improve.
If you have time, you can schedule meetings with your students to take stock of their progress. By giving each your attention, you will show that you really care and that you are monitoring the work being done
Step 6. Clearly state what you expect
Provide your students with clear explanations and instructions, as well as illustrate the work done correctly by others, in order to show what your expectations are. If they have no idea what you want and how to achieve good results, they will be much less motivated to work well. On the contrary, having clear instructions and a teacher willing to answer all questions about the assignment can motivate them to do so.
Give space to questions after explaining the assignment. Students may give the impression that they have understood everything, but if you push them to ask questions you will find that there is always room for clarification
Step 7. Alternate a variety of classroom activities
Although the explanation of a topic is important, if you manage to include a series of activities within the lesson, you can further motivate your students. Explain for 10-15 minutes and then assign a group work where students can demonstrate that they understand the concepts just covered. Then write an activity on the board, listen to the report of an extra task or show a short video on the subject. Organizing the lesson in a dynamic way will allow you to maintain the interest and concentration of your students.
Having a schedule for each class, written on a billboard or on the chalkboard, can help motivate students and let them know what to expect at each stage of their learning
Advice
- Make your involvement feel natural. It doesn't matter if you are talking, explaining, listening, tidying up the desk, reading something: your actions must seem totally spontaneous.
- Don't snap at every little negative attitude. Your students need to feel that their education comes before your authority.
- Don't speak too slowly. In this way, you will give the impression that you do not consider them capable of understanding a more complex discourse.
- Don't put the teacher-student relationship at risk. Don't act like you are a friend and not a teacher. It is necessary not to overstep the limit. You are a teacher, even if you are competent and original.
- Do not overdo the attention.
- You can't let your "humanity" out too much. If it's a bad day, don't show it. If you are sad or angry, don't show it. You have to be a superhero in the eyes of your students. In this phase of their life, the reference figures are humanized: they get sick, they disappoint, they divorce, they go into depression and they lean on them. The student interprets this as a sign of weakness that prevents adults from facing the adversities of life. Kids need to be able to lean on someone when they need it. Your "humanity" will jeopardize the possibility of becoming a point of reference. Don't talk about your problems, don't show your weaknesses (unless it's a trivial matter, like not knowing how to draw a straight line). If they come to you about a problem, respond by saying "It happened to me once too" rather than "Oh gee, I know what that means."
- If you normally speak slowly, try to speed up the pace.
- Do not smile too much and do not smile at anyone within the class. Smile occasionally and only at certain people.
