How To Motivate Your Students

Student recognition in the classroom is a necessity to keep students working their hardest. It becomes easy to overlook the student who is always doing what is expected, and to always notice the child who is misbehaving. But, consciously recognizing students as they achieve great things is vital to motivating children throughout their school career.

Think about the last time you were praised by your superior. How did it feel? Did you remember whether or not you smiled? Were you then more likely to continue working at that specific something in order to improve it even more? I know I am always grateful when my boss takes notice of something special I have been working on. Make sure your students also have these too-rare experiences. Without them, they are less likely to continue working as hard. Children, in particular, work to please you. Intrinsic motivation only goes so far in school, until extrinsic motivators (positive or negative) take over. Make sure you create those positive choices in each child's frame of reference.

Take a class roster quickly this week and start noting what talent(s) each child is particularly good at, or has been working extra hard at accomplishing. At first, the list will be easy - you always have shining stars. On the opposite end of the spectrum, you will also easily be able to jot down how behavior students have made strides at certain things because they tend to take up so much of your time. But, the middle-of-the-road students become more challenging. These are the students you want to zone in on because they are the students that typically get overlooked. They are not star students, but they also are not time-consuming behavior issues either. You may really have to work hard throughout the week to notice talents that you may have not seen before.

By focusing in on all students, you will have a complete list of subjects or talents from which to recognize each individual in your class. You can then make it be a special awards day, complete with a party. Or do something simple like make a call home or send a note. Whatever way you choose to celebrate, every student will feel special and continue to want to please. Extrinsic or intrinsic, as long as they feel good, that is all that matters.

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Don't Let Your Students Forget You

Teachers come in all shapes, sizes, backgrounds, and colors. But what are some common threads that make some outstanding teachers and others just mediocre, forgettable educators?

1) Be there- If you are not in your classroom, you are not teaching. Yes, teachers must take days of occasionally, but do not make it a habit. If you are feeling a little sick, unless it is serious, show up! A sick regular teacher is ten times better for his or her students than a healthy sub is. Regular attendance is a must. Be proud to have a perfect attendance record.

2) Be Accessible- You need to help your students at all times. That means before school, during lunch, and after school. No, you do not have to do it all the time. Start out with something like two days a week before school, lunch, and after school. You are the best tutor your students can get. Teach them!

3) Know your students on a personal basis- Talk to them during lessons. What is their favorite music? TV? Movies? Talk to them in the hallways. The more you know, the more you can adapt. It is easy to converse during class time. Little comments between concepts can go a long way. If some show up early for class, you can really get personal. No class time? Pass out a questionnaire. Above all, learn their names quickly!

4) Know the parents- Get phone numbers. Make two calls a day to parents. If you can, make more. They do not need to be long. Just a short hello and that you are interested in their child. In just a short time, you can indeed make contact to at least one parent of each student. Parents can be your biggest ally. Students will perform and behave better if they know you are talking to their parents.

5) Know your subject- If you do not know what you are doing, how can you teach? This involves complete preparation.

6) Attend school events- Make yourself seen at school sports and performances. Being seen in this setting shows students you care about them and support them.

7) Visit the neighborhood- If you do not live in the same place as your school, make some visits on weekends. Go to a local place to eat. Shop at a local store. Many of your students may have parents who own local businesses. Patronize them. Visit a church. The more your students see you, the more they will be willing to behave in class. They will see you as someone who is willing to be on their level.

8) Eat Lunch on Campus- Wander around at lunch and sit at a student table. Buy a school lunch and join them. Many students help sell food. Make a point to buy something.

9) Be fair- Expect the best, but be flexible. Fairness does not have to mean leniency It simply means to grade your students on a balanced scale.

10) Never lose your cool- Bite your tongue. All things will pass. Never carry a grudge. Things in your classroom will happen. This goes hand in hand with being professional. Acting like a raving lunatic is a sure way to shorten your career.

Teaching is a difficult profession. One that requires more off-duty time than other professions. But a little effort will pay handsome dividends.

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Teaching Tips: Teach Them The Way They Like It

Kids don't want to be taught, but they love to learn.

If your goal is to be a better teacher, then the first thing you must realize is that students don't want to be taught. But, students do want to learn and it is your responsibility to get their attention. So, if you are going to capture your students attention you must:

know your audience

create a memory

craft your presentation

anchor the memory

Know the Learner

In order to prepare a lesson that will be remembered, it is important that you know your audience. You must take the time to learn about the likes and dislikes of your students. The more you know about them the better you can serve them.

"How do I find out about them?", you ask. Well, you ask them!!

Ask your students questions that require more than a yes or no answer. You will be surprised how much they will reveal to you once they realize you care. Then use this information to build a relationship with your students. People don't care what you know, till they know how much you care.

Create a Memory

Your lessons must create memories. You can create these memories by attaching the desired information to actions. Possible actions could be a rhyme, a song, or a silly story. Humor is always a surefire way to create a memory. Remember, if a memory hasn't been created then learning hasn't taken place.

Craft the Presentation

A very important element of the lesson is how you present the lesson. Your presentation should be professional, entertaining and informative.

Determine the information you want to present and narrow it down to an appropriate amount for your class to absorb. Then arrange the information into three points, if you have more than three points you might consider creating more than one presentation from this material. Three points are usually the limit when you consider that you will need time for reflection and review.

Now practice how you will deliver the material. Practice your tone of voice, your gestures and your movement on stage. That's right, I said stage. You should be working to give your students a performance not a lecture. So, give them a performance and you'll have them eating out of your hand.

Anchor the memory

Once a memory has been created and presented it needs to be anchored. When you anchor a lesson it can be recalled over and over whenever needed and that's real learning. One of the best methods for anchoring a memory is use a story that can be associated with the information being presented. People loves stories and a good story can keep your audience on the edge of their seats.

You can incorporate your points into one long story or you can use a different story for each point. But be absolutely sure that your stories are full of action and color. Actions and color are like the cement for your anchor.

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Teachers: Use Internet Effectively

Teachers and the internet can make a terrific combination. But using it improperly can cause problems. First and foremost, you must understand that the internet is not a replacement for good teaching. It is not a crutch for bad teaching. It is a resource and an information tool. Teachers should use it mainly for these purposes.

Using the Internet as an Information Tool.

Many site are available with teaching strategies, helps, hints, and tips for the classroom. But these must be used only for enhancing your teaching. They are not a replacement for what you have been taught and gleaned from fellow teachers and past experiences. Too many teachers use the internet as a replacement for all other resources, including their own style and imagination. You can find much teaching wisdom, but putting it in practice is something different. Find some good teaching ideas and run them by your teacher colleagues. Incorporate some into your teaching, but always personalize it. The internet for teachers has basically become a replacement for print books and magazines. You will find some good ideas, but all ideas must be put into perspective. For some reason, many teachers have put the internet above all else. Do not fall into this trap. Never use the internet for this purpose during or just before classroom time. You will need duty-free hours to peruse the wealth that is available on the internet. Think of it as a long-term teaching guide and reference.

Using the Internet as a Resource for Quick Teacher Ideas

This is where the internet shines. Teachers no longer need to sort through cabinets and books looking for a worksheet or lesson plan guide. All of these are readily available, and many times free, on the internet. For example, if you need a lesson plan, coloring page, or worksheet on dinosaurs, boom! A quick search will yield plenty. If you need a math worksheet, again, you can find it quick. The internet is the perfect solution to finding lesson plans and other teaching and classroom materials. Over time, you could actually come up with your own folders, filled with material without ever spending a dime in a book store. But there really is no need. Just bookmark your favorite websites and you will never need a cabinet filled with reproducible again!

To restate the purpose of this article, a teacher should never think that planning, strategies, and classroom teaching can be replaced by the internet. It cannot. One should never have the attitude of, "I do not need to plan, because I have the internet."

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A Guide for Teachers: Make Learning A Pleasure

The main problem faced by today's teacher is that they feel students are losing interest in studies. If we look from the student's perspective then students feel that whatever is taught to them in schools is boring. Being a teacher, I faced these problems and tried to solve them. Based on my experiences, some of the solutions to increase interest and curiosity in students towards studies are:

1. In a class of 30-40 students there may be more than 20-25 hobbies now the teacher's job is to correlate these hobbies with their studies. Suppose a student has a hobby of collecting stamps. The History teacher can ask the students to bring all stamps with Famous personalities printed on it and with the help of these stamps, the lesson can be made interesting. Other student may like something else that can make our classroom teaching well.

2. What would happen if ..... For example a science teacher while teaching about sun and universe can ask what would happen if these will be no nights/days. Let student give different answers and write all of them point wise on the Board. This will develop imagination and creativity among students and they will learn importance of the rotation of earth and the functioning of solar system.

3. Generally a few students leads group discussion and others remain quite. This tendency create inferiority complex among those who did not participated in discussion. We know that all students are not equally skilled. Therefore it is better to make 4-5 groups in the class have almost same level of communication skill. This division is good only not for slow learners but also effective for the high achievers.

4. Boring theory classes make student dull and inactive. Suppose a teaching about germination of seeds and reproduction in plants. The best way to teach this concept is to assign students some task such as they may be instructed to put same grains in a wet cotton cloth and observe after 8-12 hours. The student will learn more effectively while doing this.

5. The teacher should not expect correct response from the student, every time. In case, the student unable to give correct response, the teacher must not scold his/her rather than doing this the student must be given some clues/hint and encourage to reach the correct answer.

I have successfully implemented these techniques to make learning a pleasure for my students. The results were encouraging and they inspired me to think more about making the process of learning a joy for students.

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