Newsletter 01.10

Motivating Students

Is there a teacher who hasn't asked herself at least once "how do I motivate Jack or Sue or, for that matter, the whole class?"

Is motivating students an art or is it a skill? Can it be learned perhaps by trial and error, or from a great mentor, or even from a book?

In fact, there is a book: "Motivating Students Who Don't Care: Successful Techniques for Educators" by Allen Mendler (2009). More on that in a bit.

There's also a "wiki" that might prove interesting.

If you haven't yet visited wikiHow.com you might be surprised at the extent of the collaborative effort of "The world's how to manual." At this writing there are 69,847 articles available (free) on a myriad of topics, including "How to Motivate Students."

The beauty of wikiHow is that anyone with a great idea can place an article on the site and it then becomes available to the world for editing and discussion. The current article on motivation was jointly written by at least five different people. It opens with this:
    "Teaching students is not exactly easy. Motivating students is even more difficult."
This is followed by eleven suggested steps including such thoughts as "Dare to Jump Out of the Box." Each step is expanded upon with some practical thoughts on implementation. But note, by the time you visit this wiki page some information may have changed. The content of a wiki is built to be edited, expanded, modified, debated and deleted. As an educator, your input to the page will be valuable. Add your two cents. You'll see "edit" buttons thought the page - try it.

In addition to the eleven steps, the wiki lists a number of "Tips" (like "Do not talk slowly and deliberately. This gives students the impression that you don't think they'll get it if you talk at a normal pace."). Again, the tips are ripe for edits. Don't hesitate to add your own.

In fact, don't hesitate to write your own articles for the site. This is an excellent vehicle for teachers to exchange ideas on what works and what can be improved. A quick search on the phrase "classroom management" revealed 41 articles written on the subject. And "student discipline" has 58 articles.

But if you're the type who would rather sit down with a good book, written by a proven, successful educator, you might want to look at Allen Mendler. Dr. Mendler spent over twenty five years developing discipline with dignity classroom management methodology for both regular and special classrooms. His emphasis is on developing effective frameworks and strategies for educators to manage behavior and classrooms. He is an expert at helping youth professionals, teachers, administrators, and parents to help difficult youth succeed.

Mendler's book "Motivating Students Who Don't Care: Successful Techniques for Educators" is a practical guide for reconnecting with discouraged students and reawakening their excitement and enthusiasm for learning.

He delineates proven strategies from the classroom, identifying five effective processes the educator can use to motivate students who aren't prepared, don't care, and won't work. These processes include emphasizing effort, creating hope, respecting power, building relationships, and expressing enthusiasm. Each process is fully explained and illustrated with proven strategies from the classroom. Questions for reflection will help the reader identify motivating strategies and apply the five key processes to the challenge of changing students' lives.

After reading it, we came away thinking what a valuable tool it would be for both the new teacher and the veteran who might be wondering "what in the world has happened to the youth of this country?"

One positive on Mendler: he's succinct. Between planning lessons and grading papers educators don't have much time to spend poring through hundreds of pages of text just to cull a couple of ideas. Mendler's "Motivating Students" is only 80 pages long.
If your students become bored and act out in class, why place them in a detention room where they will become even more bored, and perhaps act out again? Give them something to do that will not only keep them active, but will help them set goals to prevent future misbehavior. The Advantage Press, Inc. publishes a number of motivational packets ready to use "right out of the box." No learning curve, no working at understanding basic theoretical concepts -- students simply read material that can help teachers successfully manage student behavior. Our motivation program consists of proactive lessons for students in grades seven through twelve. The program provides an immediate and effective tool for motivating students. You are welcome to try our free samples.

A free sample is provided at our website.

All new for 2009-2010: Truancy Packets. Our Truancy Packets are designed to keep kids in school and in class. They packets focus on the most common reasons for truancy and provide positive and rational reasons for students to drop their truancy habits and set goals to attend school regularly and graduate. Try a free sample.