Motivational+Ideas

Websites for Teachers to Motivate Students:
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[] = Placement ideas: =
 * === **Students will work to form the word "compliment" by acting so well in school that they recieve complimens from other teachers, staff, parents, etc. and once they do they will get a reward, such as a movie and popcorn session, extra recess, etc.** ===
 * == Check-In/Check-Out: If a student has a behavior issue and no other RTI interventions have worked, the student is asked to choose an adult in the school to "check-in" with in the morning, middle of the day, and end of the day. The student goes to that adult at those times and tells them how they have been and shows them their behavior sheet. If they have behaved for that portion the child and adult will do something the child wants to do (play something, talk, give a hug, anything just about); if not, then they have a talk about why they behaved that way and the adult explains that they are disappointed and what the student could do to change it. It really seems to work. ==
 * === Have students participate. One of the major keys to motivation is the active involvement of students in their own learning. Standing in front of them and lecturing to them (at them?) is thus a relatively poor method of teaching. It is better to get students involved in activities, group problem solving exercises, helping to decide what to do and the best way to do it, helping the teacher, working with each other, or in some other way getting physically involved in the lesson. A lesson about nature, for example, would be more effective walking outdoors than looking at pictures. ===
 * === Care. Students respond with interest and motivation to teachers who appear to be human and caring. Teachers can help produce these feelings by sharing parts of themselves with students, especially little stories of problems and mistakes they made, either as children or even recently. Such personalizing of the student/teacher relationship helps students see teachers as approachable human beings and not as aloof authority figures. Young people are also quite insecure, and they secretly welcome the admission by adults that insecurity and error are common to everyone. Students will attend to an adult who appears to be a "real person," who had problems as a youth (or more recently) and survived them. ===
 * === Reward. Students who do not yet have powerful intrinsic motivation to learn can be helped by extrinsic motivators in the form of rewards. Rather than criticizing unwanted behavior or answers, reward correct behavior and answers. Remember that adults and children alike continue or repeat behavior that is rewarded. The rewards can (and should) be small and configured to the level of the students. Small children can be given a balloon, a piece of gum, or a set of crayons. Even at the college level, many professors at various colleges have given books, lunches, certificates, exemptions from final exams, verbal praise, and so on for good performance. Even something as apparently "childish" as a "Good Job!" stamp or sticker can encourage students to perform at higher levels. And the important point is that extrinsic motivators can, over a brief period of time, produce intrinsic motivation. Everyone likes the feeling of accomplishment and recognition; rewards for good work produce those good feelings. ===
 * === Satisfy students' needs. Attending to need satisfaction is a primary method of keeping students interested and happy. Students' basic needs have been identified as survival, love, power, fun, and freedom. Attending to the need for power could be as simple as allowing students to choose from among two or three things to do--two or three paper topics, two or three activities, choosing between writing an extra paper and taking the final exam, etc. Many students have a need to have fun in active ways--in other words, they need to be noisy and excited. Rather than always avoiding or suppressing these needs, design an educational activity that fulfills them ===
 * === For a pizza party, have each student put a sticky note on their desk with the word "pizza" written out and if they get into trouble or make "bad" choices for students' sake, have them mark out one letter. In all reality they probably will still get to have the pizza party, but to improve behavior and get them excited to behave ===
 * === Have a "toy day" where students can bring in toys for a certain portion of the day if they have a good week, complete a word, etc. ===
 * === Tell students when you are proud of them. Don't only punish bad behavior, reward good behavior. Having a chart where students can not only clip down for punishment, but clip UP for good or exceptional behavior and have rewards for that behavior. ===
 * === To promote good behavior again, having a chart with each child's name and places for stickers where each child, when they do something you like or do what you asked they earn a sticker, in my particular class, they recieve "Monkey stickers" and every 5 stickers they get they can reach in the banana box. ===
 * === Have a "marvelous monkey" each day that brings snack and gets to help with calendar and various activities, such as being leader in line and picking a helper (Basically this student is the teacher helper for the day). The students get really into it and love being the teacher's helper. ===
 * === The student that the marvelous monkey chooses as the helper, helps the marvelous monkey help the teacher. They are the door holder, help pass out the snacks and various papers or notebooks, as well as get to be the second in line. ===