How I probably appear to some of my students.
Each student enters the classroom with a strong yearning to absorb new information. Students are not motivated by grades, prizes, or competition, but rather, by their own curiosity to understand the world around them.
...Okay, we ALL know that is a lie.
Let's face it: A lot of students don't see the value in learning for the sake of learning. Some would rather spend their time taking selfies on their phones (Side note: why on earth are parents giving phones to middle schoolers?!) or playing video games for hours of the day than understanding how to balance a chemical equation or learning why the United States functions as a democracy.
I have found that a lot of middle and high school students think only in terms of the here and now. College is far away, so how I get there is irrelevant right now. Having a job in the future? Psh. I'll have the skills I need for a job when the time comes; it's too far away. If these students don't see the relevance or the value of their education, how does a teacher motivate them?
Over the past few years, I have experimented with student motivational techniques and have found a couple particularly amusing techniques that have worked. While deep down, I don't know how ethical these techniques really were (should I really have to "trick" students into learning?), they produced great results and maximized learning for students who were not necessarily motivated by the desire to learn for the sake of learning.
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1) That time I convinced two competing sixth graders do eighth grade work.
There were two sixth graders in one of my classes who were friends and had the top two overall grades in their class. Both of them were well over 100% in the class, and I found that I had a difficult time convincing them to try challenging extra credit assignments. I knew that they had mastered the material I was teaching, while a lot of the other students struggled, and I wanted to continue to challenge them.
Every few weeks, I would post the updated grades (listed by Student ID number, of course!) on the back wall of my classroom. One week, one of the students walked away from the grade sheet looking disgruntled. His countenance confused me, for I knew his grade in my class was rather high, so I could not comprehend why seeing his grade appeared to upset him. He proceeded to approach me and ask for extra work so that he could get his grade up. I told him that his grade was fine, but he replied that he wanted to have the highest grade in the class, and his grade was so close to being higher than his friend's grade. I gave him eighth grade work to complete.
The first boy completed the eighth grade work, and I entered the work as extra credit. This brought his grade up to 114%, just a little bit higher than his friend's grade of 113%. Of course, he bragged to his friend that his grade was now higher, and the friend stomped over to me and demanded eighth grade work, too. He was going to take that work home and ace it to reclaim his highest score in the class.
I was smiling on the inside. Maybe it wasn't the kind of motivation I wanted them to have, but hey, they wanted to learn, and they were finally being challenged!
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2) That time I used sibling rivalry to motivate two students to finish their English class.
The school at which I work this school year is a very non-traditional school. Much of the course work that students complete is online on a program called PLATO. Our students take three classes at a time, and they are told to aim for a pace of completing approximately 11% of each of their classes each week.
Two of my students are brothers, and earlier this school year, they were both taking the same English class. One day, one of the brothers was absent. I noticed that the other brother was a little behind the absent brother in his progress in the English class, and that the present brother was not feeling particularly motivated to work that day. I thought of a plan. I approached him and said, "You know what? You could very easily catch up to your brother in your English class today. Imagine how mad he would be if you caught up to him in the one day he was absent!" This lit a fire in the student, and by the end of the day, he was at the same point in his English class as his brother.
The next day, the other brother was back. When I had that brother in class without his sibling, I noticed that he was not feeling particularly motivated to work that day (maybe he was still feeling a little sick from the day before?) I walked up to him and said, "You know what would make your brother really mad? If you managed to make a lot of progress in your English class today. He caught up to you yesterday!" A fire was lit, and he increased his percentage completion in his English class by about 10% that afternoon. Wow.
I don't feel particularly great about promoting sibling rivalry, but the end result was that both brothers ended up working hard and finishing that class within a week of this incident.
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3) All of those times at various jobs when my co-workers and I have motivated students with gift cards, raffle prizes, and candy.
Again, it does motivate students, but I don't always feel great about using that method of motivation.
When I did a long-term substitute teaching job in November 2013, I would always reward the highest-scoring student on each test with a couple pieces of candy, and I would present it to them in front of everybody. Some of the kids appreciated the recognition and were motivated to continue doing well on tests, while some of the students were a bit embarrassed by the public attention (i.e.: those kids who hung around with people who didn't believe it was "cool" to be a good student.)
Then there is the question of whether it is a bright idea to motivate students with unhealthy foods. Ideally, educators want to encourage students to eat healthy diets, so are we really doing the students any favors by handing out candy and gift certificates to fast food restaurants as prizes? At the same time, so many students desire these treats and are motivated by the thought of receiving them as prizes.
------------------------------------------
Overall, I am still trying to tweak my student motivational strategies. It has been interesting to see what works and what turns out to be a disaster (honestly, I could not have predicted some of the results I have gotten ahead of time!)
You know, this whole student motivation thing would be much easier if everybody in the entire world was born with a natural desire and passion to learn about the world around them. BOOM, problem solved!
...But then this whole profession, and life in general, wouldn't be as interesting, now would it?
What are some student motivational strategies that you have used, and did these strategies produce the results you desired?
I'm sure every educator has a boatload of stories about this topic.
1) That time I convinced two competing sixth graders do eighth grade work.
There were two sixth graders in one of my classes who were friends and had the top two overall grades in their class. Both of them were well over 100% in the class, and I found that I had a difficult time convincing them to try challenging extra credit assignments. I knew that they had mastered the material I was teaching, while a lot of the other students struggled, and I wanted to continue to challenge them.
Every few weeks, I would post the updated grades (listed by Student ID number, of course!) on the back wall of my classroom. One week, one of the students walked away from the grade sheet looking disgruntled. His countenance confused me, for I knew his grade in my class was rather high, so I could not comprehend why seeing his grade appeared to upset him. He proceeded to approach me and ask for extra work so that he could get his grade up. I told him that his grade was fine, but he replied that he wanted to have the highest grade in the class, and his grade was so close to being higher than his friend's grade. I gave him eighth grade work to complete.
The first boy completed the eighth grade work, and I entered the work as extra credit. This brought his grade up to 114%, just a little bit higher than his friend's grade of 113%. Of course, he bragged to his friend that his grade was now higher, and the friend stomped over to me and demanded eighth grade work, too. He was going to take that work home and ace it to reclaim his highest score in the class.
I was smiling on the inside. Maybe it wasn't the kind of motivation I wanted them to have, but hey, they wanted to learn, and they were finally being challenged!
------------------------------------------
2) That time I used sibling rivalry to motivate two students to finish their English class.
The school at which I work this school year is a very non-traditional school. Much of the course work that students complete is online on a program called PLATO. Our students take three classes at a time, and they are told to aim for a pace of completing approximately 11% of each of their classes each week.
Two of my students are brothers, and earlier this school year, they were both taking the same English class. One day, one of the brothers was absent. I noticed that the other brother was a little behind the absent brother in his progress in the English class, and that the present brother was not feeling particularly motivated to work that day. I thought of a plan. I approached him and said, "You know what? You could very easily catch up to your brother in your English class today. Imagine how mad he would be if you caught up to him in the one day he was absent!" This lit a fire in the student, and by the end of the day, he was at the same point in his English class as his brother.
The next day, the other brother was back. When I had that brother in class without his sibling, I noticed that he was not feeling particularly motivated to work that day (maybe he was still feeling a little sick from the day before?) I walked up to him and said, "You know what would make your brother really mad? If you managed to make a lot of progress in your English class today. He caught up to you yesterday!" A fire was lit, and he increased his percentage completion in his English class by about 10% that afternoon. Wow.
I don't feel particularly great about promoting sibling rivalry, but the end result was that both brothers ended up working hard and finishing that class within a week of this incident.
------------------------------------------
3) All of those times at various jobs when my co-workers and I have motivated students with gift cards, raffle prizes, and candy.
Again, it does motivate students, but I don't always feel great about using that method of motivation.
When I did a long-term substitute teaching job in November 2013, I would always reward the highest-scoring student on each test with a couple pieces of candy, and I would present it to them in front of everybody. Some of the kids appreciated the recognition and were motivated to continue doing well on tests, while some of the students were a bit embarrassed by the public attention (i.e.: those kids who hung around with people who didn't believe it was "cool" to be a good student.)
Then there is the question of whether it is a bright idea to motivate students with unhealthy foods. Ideally, educators want to encourage students to eat healthy diets, so are we really doing the students any favors by handing out candy and gift certificates to fast food restaurants as prizes? At the same time, so many students desire these treats and are motivated by the thought of receiving them as prizes.
------------------------------------------
Overall, I am still trying to tweak my student motivational strategies. It has been interesting to see what works and what turns out to be a disaster (honestly, I could not have predicted some of the results I have gotten ahead of time!)
You know, this whole student motivation thing would be much easier if everybody in the entire world was born with a natural desire and passion to learn about the world around them. BOOM, problem solved!
...But then this whole profession, and life in general, wouldn't be as interesting, now would it?
What are some student motivational strategies that you have used, and did these strategies produce the results you desired?
I'm sure every educator has a boatload of stories about this topic.
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