It's All About Motivation

How do you get fifty 6th graders motivated to learn and enjoy what they are learning?  That is the question we ask ourselves weekly as we set out to put together lesson plans for the week.  Motivating our students is one of the hardest parts of our job.  A lot goes into planning and keeping a student's motivation high.

We know that students engage in our lessons when...
* they see value in what they are learning.
* they believe they can be successful.
* they recognize the environment is supportive.

Here is what we think about as we put together those plans each week.

What learning experiences can we give them that will get them motivated and make them feel successful?
           *Set challenging but attainable goals.

            *Help students experience successes in small steps.
            *Encourage student choice in learning outcomes.
            *Set high expectations for each child and let them know we believe in them.
            *Create a positive climate where our students feel supported.
            *Generate opportunities for student-directed learning.

These are just a few of the things we think about each week as our plans our created.  We can see higher student motivation as our lessons are carried out each week while keeping the above thoughts in mind.  Keeping students motivated is a must to improve student achievement across all content areas.

Students working together on Team Building activities.

Students learning about the world around them as they work on Science experiments.

Students working on student-driven passion projects.

Students feeling success after class building activity.