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Wednesday, January 16, 2013 Motivate Me! Posted by Krystle Bond at Wednesday, January 16, 2013 10:36:03 PM MST Each student brings their own “baggage” to school. You will meet those few students who do not care. What are you going to do/try to “ignite that light bulb”? Share an example of a student you know/knew who was like this. What happened to that individual? I may be naive because I don’t have a lot of recent experience working with children in a school setting, but I truly believe that all students care about learning, they just not might be aware that they care. If a child is being raised in a dysfunctional household and they don’t have a good support system, they may not be aware of their potential and the importance of success. Perhaps an irksome student has someone putting them down and making them believe they will never amount to anything. Or maybe they just don’t have anyone to guide and encourage them. Low self-esteem leads children to believe they can’t accomplish things and they may be afraid to try. My parents tried their best, but they weren't around to help with school work and didn't really pay attention to what I did or where I was. I had incredibly low self-esteem as a child and I never wanted to try anything because I was afraid to fail. If you don’t try, you don’t fail, but you also don’t accomplish anything. I sought attention in negative ways and gave some of my teachers a run for their money. I actually would use my backpack as a pillow and sleep through grade 10 math. In middle school I sat on my desk instead of at my desk. This was a huge distraction and drove my teacher crazy. If not for my Parenting teacher in high school I never would have straightened up gone onto post-secondary education. It takes a teacher to look past the bad or indifferent behaviour and find ways to connect to the student and show them that they are worth the extras effort. Troubled students may fight your intrusion at first because they feel it’s pointless and they’re not worthy of your caring, but if you keep on showing you care day-after-day they just might warm up to you and follow your directions. Mrs. Paddington personally phoned home every time I missed class and would leave these sweet messages saying she hoped I was alright and she believed in me. I began to feel bad about skipping class and failing to complete my work. This motivated me to attend class regularly and not just complete my work, but put in an honest effort to do a good job. When I have a difficult student in my class who does everything to show they don’t want to learn, I intend on showing them that they matter and learning matters. I will follow the examples of Mrs. Paddington by getting involved. Other important factors that are important to encourage learning include always remaining positive! Negativity leads to students putting up their defenses and tuning you out. Don’t say what a child is doing wrong; rather point out what a child should be doing. Relate the subject matter to the student to get them interested in

How to Motivate Your Students

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Page 1: How to Motivate Your Students

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Motivate Me!

Posted by Krystle Bond at Wednesday, January 16, 2013 10:36:03 PM MST

Each student brings their own “baggage” to school. You will meet those few students who do not care. What are you going to do/try to “ignite that light bulb”?

Share an example of a student you know/knew who was like this. What happened to that individual?

I may be naive because I don’t have a lot of recent experience working with

children in a school setting, but I truly believe that all students care about learning,

they just not might be aware that they care. If a child is being raised in a dysfunctional household and they don’t have a good support system, they may not

be aware of their potential and the importance of success. Perhaps an irksome student has someone putting them down and making them believe they will never amount to anything. Or maybe they just don’t have anyone to guide and encourage

them.

Low self-esteem leads children to believe they can’t accomplish things and

they may be afraid to try. My parents tried their best, but they weren't around to help with school work and didn't really pay attention to what I did or where I was. I

had incredibly low self-esteem as a child and I never wanted to try anything because I was afraid to fail. If you don’t try, you don’t fail, but you also don’t accomplish anything. I sought attention in negative ways and gave some of my

teachers a run for their money. I actually would use my backpack as a pillow and sleep through grade 10 math. In middle school I sat on my desk instead of at my

desk. This was a huge distraction and drove my teacher crazy. If not for my Parenting teacher in high school I never would have straightened up gone onto post-secondary education. It takes a teacher to look past the bad or

indifferent behaviour and find ways to connect to the student and show them that they are worth the extras effort.

Troubled students may fight your intrusion at first because they feel it’s

pointless and they’re not worthy of your caring, but if you keep on showing you

care day-after-day they just might warm up to you and follow your directions. Mrs. Paddington personally phoned home every time I missed class and would leave

these sweet messages saying she hoped I was alright and she believed in me. I began to feel bad about skipping class and failing to complete my work. This motivated me to attend class regularly and not just complete my work, but put in

an honest effort to do a good job.

When I have a difficult student in my class who does everything to show they don’t want to learn, I intend on showing them that they matter and learning matters. I will follow the examples of Mrs. Paddington by getting involved. Other

important factors that are important to encourage learning include always

remaining positive! Negativity leads to students putting up their defenses and tuning you out. Don’t say what a child is doing wrong; rather point out what a child

should be doing. Relate the subject matter to the student to get them interested in

Page 2: How to Motivate Your Students

what is going on in the class. When they do something well praise them and let them know you believe they are capable of always doing a good job. Ask the child

what is going on in their life, seeing if there is anything wrong that you can help them with. Contact their parents to try and get them involved in their child’s

education. DON’T GIVE UP!!! If you give up you will confirm, in the child’s eyes, that the child is not worthy of your effort. Ask other teacher’s advice because they might have good insight.

This is me in Uganda volunteering at a rural orphanage. These children were in classrooms in excessive of 40 students with no individual attention. Most

had given up on themselves, simply showing up to class because they were forced too. When I first went to their class many of the children were convinced they

couldn't do the work and refused to even try. With even the slightest bit of attention, the poorest performing student began to excel. All it took was honest effort, persistence and a lot of patience. This was an awesome experience!