Posts Tagged Motivate Students

Levels of Development and Homework

On August 1, 2019 / Classroom Management, Parenting

One thing teachers and parents continually struggle with is getting students to do their homework. But if you review the Levels of Development, you actually have a nice framework for encouraging students to do their homework. Think of it as a “Homework Hierarchy,” which may assist in more students completing home assignments.

Using the Levels of Development for homework may encourage personal reflection and create a desire to put forth more effort. Therefore, guide your students to quickly create such a hierarchy. There’s no need to write it down. Just do it orally. Here’s an example.

LEVEL D – Motivation for doing homework is internal.

Completes home tasks and is proud of its quality
Starts assignments without adult reminders

… >>> READ MORE >>> →

The Stress-Fee Way to Motivate Students and Children

On June 27, 2019 / Discipline, Discipline Help

Teachers and parents are always looking for ways to motivate students and children. Whether it’s inspiring them to do their homework or clean their rooms, adults try many different techniques to get the youth to comply.

Unfortunately, many adults use external motivators at school and at home. These include telling young people what to do, threatening and punishing them, and rewarding them for things that they should do. These approaches do little to motivate students and children. Rather, they teach young people OBEDIENCE. The shortcomings of obedience appear when teachers and parents are not around to use these EXTERNAL motivators.

I created the Levels of Development to help teachers and parents focus on internal motivation. This is important because internal … >>>

What Makes a Great Teacher

On March 31, 2016 / Effectiveness, Learning

Great teachers understand that they are in the relationship business. Many students—especially those in low socio-economic areas—put forth little effort if they have negative feelings about their teachers. Superior teachers establish good relationships AND have high expectations. These teachers communicate in positive ways, such as letting their students know what the teacher wants them to do, rather than by telling students what NOT to do.

Great teachers inspire rather than coerce. They aim at promoting responsibility rather than obedience because they know that OBEDIENCE DOES NOT CREATE DESIRE.

Great teachers identify the reason that a lesson is being taught and then share it with their students. These teachers inspire their students through curiosity, challenge, and relevancy.

Great teachers are inspired … >>>

Motivating Students to Learn

On March 17, 2015 / Learning

If you want students to take an interest in what you’re teaching, begin each lesson by giving students a problem to solve. Grappling with a problem creates interest and curiosity, both of which are great motivators. Students can then share how they solved or attempted to solve the problem. After this discussion, use direct instruction followed by guided practice.

This approach follows the Japanese model of teaching. It’s in direct contrast to our usual approach to teaching, which is to give direct instruction followed by guided practice. The western approach does not consider motivation; it assumes students are motivated by a responsibility to learn what is taught. Of course, what is lacking here is the teacher’s responsibility to create an … >>>