As I am standing in front of my class, I can see varied interests and expressions. I know that these creations of God have so many expectations from me. And, very well, I consider it a great opportunity and a privilege.
However, I am quite overwhelmed as to how to bring them into a state of readiness. How do I give them something I have? How do I capture their interests? How to stimulate them to learn at their best? How do I keep them alert?
Are we on the same table now? Teachers like you and I fully understand that learning is an active process. Students have to get in or else they will be left behind. Our presence should not annoy these young people so to speak. Let’s do our amazing part toward desirable ends!
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Teachers have so much on their plate every day but motivational techniques for students should not be overlooked. Additionally, students who lack motivation obviously always bring them the power of negativity that will surely impede learning.
I know that some of my students are very excited to learn and participate while others need my strong motivational techniques and it’s quite challenging!
Each day, the students are waiting on what to transpire and others are maybe curious about how to get on with things for the day. On the other hand, there may be a handful of them who are just there for the sake of going to school and are looking forward to the end of classes for the day.
This can be a difficult task but once I get into their world and capture their interests, it’s more than worth it. I just need to perceive these common fluctuations in the classroom to keep things smooth sailing.
Recognize the Importance of Motivation in Learning
As the manager in the classroom, I know that these students are either intrinsically or extrinsically motivated. Intrinsic motivation is a natural desire that arises from within the individual without considering rewards or outside factors. On the other hand, extrinsic motivation happens when a student aims to do something out of rewards, recognition, and punishment.
Intrinsically motivated students are motivated to learn because it is their inner drive and they are inspired to learn while extrinsically motivated students are engaged to learn because they need to.
Improving students’ motivation is one of the challenges that teachers face. On my part, I always include in my daily plans intrinsic and extrinsic motivation techniques to engage the learners.
Tap Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation Techniques
A teacher like me should know how to tap intrinsic and motivation techniques to engage learners. The motivational learning patterns of students should be made clear to me as their teacher.
According to psychologists and researchers, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation are both important. Both influence human actions and can affect the behavior and perspectives of individuals in pursuing their goals in life. As a teacher, I understand that my students are diverse and that their range of interests varies. It is in this light that I am doing my best to cater to their different learning needs.
As expected some are eager to receive instruction and some are just so indifferent. How do I go about that? This is quite a question that most of us teachers have answered in different ways. Why? It is because we carry out different motivational techniques for different groups of learners. That is why sharing best practices is the best way for us to collaborate to make teaching and learning really productive.
Motivation Should Be Emphasized
As I plan the daily lesson, I always consider the levels of interest of my students. How will I know that they are passionate about the subject matter at hand? The previous records of my student’s performance can be used as my basis to determine essential actions to increase their motivation. Furthermore, their interests and willingness can be noted in their reactions to the preliminary activities.
As the facilitator of learning in the classroom, I am fascinated by getting my students hooked on instruction. I weigh their interests, styles, and experiences. I also believe that no matter how knowledgeable we are with current educational pedagogy, if we lack a meaningful connection with the students, still, productive learning will not be achieved.
I need the right skill and ability to have these students take a ride on my carpet. I should make them persistent to finish the task by sustaining their interest. It isn’t magical, I know. But I know the spark I create will make them shine all the way.
Sustaining the students’ interests in the classroom requires a certain skill from the teacher. It might as well be an assessment of your strong motivation as a teacher. Students will certainly notice if the teacher is really interested in the material to teach. It is a fine test of energy and enthusiasm.
Motivating students may sound easy but in reality, it has been one of the difficulties of some teachers. Introducing a concept requires a certain motivational activity that will increase the student’s energy and interests.
Initially, motivation has an important part in lesson planning. It all begins with crafting our daily lesson plans. As I spend a night before the presentation of the lesson, I should think of a scheme on how to engage my students to be at their best.
Every day should always be a big day for my students. Engaging the students should be an important part of the preliminaries that will set the mood and tone for learning. It can be a form of a rhetorical question or it can be an interactive activity.
Every teacher has the most concern about motivating their students to learn. Know that students have diverse needs and interests. When they lack proper motivation, productive learning will be impossible. There will be no smooth flow of lesson transition if students are not highly motivated.
How do they bring out their interests? How to deal with their differences? As we face them almost every day, we should have at least known by now what interests them. However, it’s not the end of it all. How to execute the best actions to engage learners will still be a problem. However, this article will give us practical techniques to engage students to study and learn.
How do we make our students engage more in their studies? Here are equally motivating techniques that we can apply in our classes that will surely give us positive results.
7 Teaching Motivational Techniques For Students
1. Promote a positive and friendly learning environment
I am sure my personality as a teacher creates an overall impact in the classroom setting. Displaying a caring attitude will encourage students to participate in class discussions and to perform in different learning tasks. With this, I always do my best to show enthusiasm to teach. My accommodating attitude fosters positive responses from my students. The positive learning environment I create keeps my students engaged and perhaps sustains their interests.
In my class, I always involve my students in crafting classroom rules and norms. We post the specific spot on the classroom wall. Of course, discipline has to be implemented in a way that will not intimidate students to express their opinions and ideas. When some of my students misbehave, I will make sure that I will make them understand the consequences of their actions without ridicule.
The importance of a positive classroom is in my heart. I know that it’s the place where interaction with my students takes place. It is particularly the space in school where I transfer learning most of the time. A friendly learning environment is essential to student learning.
With the dozens of learners every day, I keep in mind that these learners have personal lives. They have their problems and worries which could really affect their behavior in class. They have their own stories of failures that somehow drill out their love for learning. I should be more understanding and accommodating.
The Essence of Room Structuring
As their teacher, I make them feel that they are always welcome in the classroom through my constant display of supportive and friendly attitude. Besides my welcoming attitude, I always see to it that the room structuring has been done accordingly. The physical structure of the classroom has to be made really attractive and interactive.
Photo by Kimberly C. Silencio
The structures and color of the walls play an important role in maintaining a positive classroom environment. What students see in the classroom will affect the way they learn. The colorful setup will somehow bring out their interests and curiosity.
During my years in the teaching profession, I have encountered factors that would affect the student’s motivation but this didn’t stop me to connect with my students. I give them a sense of belonging.
Such is the essence of promoting a positive and accommodating classroom environment. A positive classroom motivates the students to do their best to learn.
2. Define objectives and expectations
If learning goals are clearly defined, students are more interested in doing better in class. Learning objectives and expectations should be made clear to them so they will be guided in the process. Otherwise, the students will show dissatisfaction to participate in class discussions.
As a teacher, I know that there are difficult and challenging topics. However, I believe that if these learning competencies are being simplified and are translated into interactive lessons, students are more likely to get motivated and participate.
The relevance of learning objectives to students’ experiences will make learning more meaningful. I always integrate into my instruction the experiences of my learners to make teaching more personal and more practical. Thus, they will feel that they matter to me and this will add up to their confidence.
3. Constantly check students’ progress and achievement
How far have you gone with your teaching? What about your students? Do you have an idea where they are in their learning? How to analyze the student’s current performance level?
Monitoring students’ progress on an ongoing basis is helpful so we will know if our instruction techniques have been successful. Moreover, giving out assessments, whether formal or informal, will let us know if students are really motivated to learn.
Furthermore, the results of the assessments will give us the reason to reflect on our own teaching methods. As I carry out regular assessments, I always make an analysis of the student’s performance data I have gathered. I will use it as a basis for my future actions in the classroom. This will let me know where my students are placed in the learning goals being set beforehand.
Eventually, constant monitoring will give me the best reason to re-evaluate my teaching methods. Are my delivery methods and strategies really working? The pre- and post-test results will let me know where we are in our learning goals. Is there a need for me to adjust my instructional strategies to better meet students’ needs? These I should know to ensure the effectiveness of my own teaching.
4. Be generous with praises
As I enter the classroom, I always look for praiseworthy actions so my students will know that they are being tracked closely. I know that the majority of the class has a natural love for learning. This is my stepping stone in reaching out to others who are quite indifferent.
I believe that motivating a child to learn has something to do with developing the child’s self-esteem. One of the best ways to do it is to make use of rewards such as praises to influence good behavior. For me, praises are a form of positive reinforcement that students need. I know they need my approval from time to time as a form of encouragement to get them going.
I understand that developing students’ confidence is critical to promoting learning achievement in the classroom. As an educator for years, I am aware that my students need compliments in order to boost their confidence. Therefore, why should I limit it if it will foster a good relationship and influence good behavior?
With the aim of increasing motivation, I should be aware of some noteworthy praising techniques that will be more meaningful to my students. Are my styles steering my students toward the achievement of learning goals or am I drifting them away from the best preference of learning?
Researchers suggest that teachers have to equip themselves with the best ways of praising as a form of reward to make students respond to tasks actively and accordingly.
Furthermore, praising students to be more effective and to increase motivation should be done appropriately and spontaneously. Praises should be focused on the student’s achievements to keep their spirits high. They need to feel that their efforts are recognized and valued.
“You must have tried harder”, “You did great in class” “Good job” “Keep up the good work” “Always be enthusiastic” “Nice work!” should be said in the right way and it can go a long way. These expressions if being said intentionally and sincerely will inspire the students to keep trying.
5. Vary your teaching techniques and strategies
Motivate the students to achieve the most amazing things by using varied teaching techniques and strategies. The most fitting delivery technique will give teachers immeasurable results. Hence, as a teacher, I always harness the power of using the most appropriate delivery technique to increase my student’s motivation.
Here’s how!
If students are not motivated, most likely, the learning tasks no matter how sound will be useless. So, to buffer the negative effects of the lack of motivation among my students, I reflect on what strategy to use to best catch their interests.
Are my teaching strategies narrowing students’ focus or making them active participants in the teaching-learning process? I should be conscious about it or else I will end up recording poor results.
6. Increase determination to teach
I am aware that motivating students is somewhat challenging but as a teacher, knowing my passion, I am persistent with my action to help my students learn. This has been one of the reasons why I always wanted to become a teacher. Through the fruitful years of my teaching career, I clearly understand the profound importance of motivating students in productive learning.
For my students to learn effectively, I acknowledge the great importance of considering my motivational techniques. As one of the aims in the classroom is to transfer long-lasting learning, I facilitate in the classroom like a pro. Ultimately, my students are to retain information and practice the skills for lifelong learning. How do I do this?
I know that some of my learners have difficulty in learning and that they need special attention. They need to be properly motivated or else they tend to become distractions in my class.
This situation calls for my great enthusiasm and passion. My determination to inspire my students to reach their full potential is my guiding light to push through. No matter how tough and shaky, as a teacher, I have to get my students excited about learning.
7. Give students responsibilities
One of the most effective methods to keep students interested is to give them some responsibilities in the classroom. While our supervision as teachers is essential to keep students on track and motivated, providing our students with enriched opportunities can give them enough choices that keep them engaged.
Assign them different tasks and they’ll love it. Moreover, assigned classroom jobs can be our terrific approach to fostering a feeling of community and motivation.
Students are encouraged to do more if they gain control of the different activities because they can feel our trust and confidence that they can do better. They feel important and respected. Furthermore, students will work diligently to ensure they meet expectations and they’ll enjoy taking turns doing the different activities.
To come to the point…
Getting the students on track is our responsibility as teachers. Unmotivated students will make teaching and learning ineffective. As teachers, we should inspire our students to develop a love for learning. We should be motivated to motivate our students to learn!
As teachers of the 21st century, let’s join hands to make our daily encounters with our learners really fulfilling! Are you always willing to be inspirational despite the challenges of teaching life? Share your deepest motivations as a teacher and together let’s reach a common goal!
Are you new to the teaching profession? Are you interested in developing your skills as a teacher? Well then, let’s get in touch and collaborate.
Such a great article and very well explained and yes, it is necessary to check the progress of kids on regular basis. And make them understand about things. Thanks for the article.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts! Gladly shared!