While there are plenty of ways to get oneself motivated – like motivational videos, motivational songs, or inspirational words and sayings from great minds – how do you get your students motivated in the classroom?
As a teacher, you may be great at your job. You may know the subject like the back of your hand, you may be able to recite entire chapters of whatever text you teach from line by line, but somehow you can’t get your students to absorb the information.
What’s wrong? Is it your teaching style? Is it you? Or is it the students themselves? The following are a few ways to get your students motivated, so that you can finally get them to absorb the information and go on to become successful, well educated people.
1. GAMES
Whether you’re teaching children or adults, one great way to get your students motivated is to let them have fun. If you just go on and on about the Napoleon or the Spanish Inquisition, your students are likely to zone out and they won’t absorb a thing.
But if you make your lessons fun, they’ll not only look forward to coming to class, but they’ll absorb more than they ever have before. A great way to make them have fun is to play games. Trivia games, memory games, or Family Feud type games are perfect for motivating students in the classroom.
2. GET THEM INVOLVED
Many teachers just drone on and write on the blackboard and they really don’t get the students involved. They may ask the occasional question, but it’s usually the same A students that answer. Instead, get them all involved. Have every single student you have participate. If the student knows they’ll be called on, or asked to participate, they’re more likely to pay attention, resulting in an increased motivation in the classroom.
3. ONE ON ONE
Actors, before they film a scene, need to find their motivation. If they’re filming a sad scene they may think of their childhood pet dying, or if they’re filming an angry scene they may think of a fight they recently had with someone.
If you want to increase motivation in the classroom, take your students aside one by one and find what motivates them. What makes them want to learn? What would make them pay attention? The one on one attention you give them, may be motivation enough for them to want to participate more.
4. WHAT DO THEY WANT TO LEARN?
Another way to increase motivation in the classroom is to find out what they want to learn. Of course, you may not be able to tailor your lesson plan exactly to what they want to learn, but you can come close. Try to compromise. They’re stuck in the classroom the same as you are, so find out what makes them want to learn more, and what makes them want to be better.
Increasing motivation in the classroom requires listening to your students, giving them the knowledge they need in a fun and entertaining way, and most of all it requires the teacher to be motivated. Because if the teacher isn’t motivated, the students are going to be even less motivated.
