CLASSROOM AND ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS SHAPING MOTIVATION

Ten Ways to Motivate Students

1. Publish Student Work Seeing one’s work in print or posted on the Internet as part of a
classroom website can be truly motivating. This will allow students to have a goal to
work towards and they can see and share the results of their hard work with others.
2. Use Supporting Material and Props Bringing manipulative and props into the class can
be truly motivating. Some history teachers have been known to dress up as characters
from history like Abraham Lincoln or Theodore Roosevelt which is always fun for
students and teacher alike. However, even just bringing in items like foreign money that
can be passed around or posting pictures around the classroom about the topic at hand
can be interest building for students.
3. Provide Specific Rewards Students Can Work Towards Come up with one or more
rewards that students can work towards. Maybe you agree to allow them 10 minutes of
free time on Fridays or you will provide them with popcorn during the next lesson
specific movie. Whatever it is, come up with what the students need to do to achieve
the goal and stick to your plan.
4. Provide Choices for Students Whenever possible, allow students to have some choice in
what they are learning. For example, if you are having the students write an essay, you
might give them a couple of broader topics to choose from so that they can pick
something they are more interested in. Another area of choice can come in the method
of presentation for projects. The students may choose to create a website, a
PowerPoint, or a song. The ability to demonstrate learning through choice and a variety
of methods can be very motivating for students.
5. Have Students Work Towards Individual Goals Have students come up with one or more
specific goals of what they want to achieve in your class. You can attach a grade to these
goals in terms of how much effort they put into achieving the goals.
6. Give Students a Role Allow students to be as involved in possible in your classroom
environment. Try to fit in debates and simulations to give them the opportunity to
participate in a more direct manner.
7. Connect Learning to the Real World As often as you can, connect what students are
learning to the world around them. By connecting the classroom lesson to the students’
personal lives we can provide them with greater incentives and buy-in on what you are
teaching.
8. Mix It Up Too much of anything can quickly lead to boredom, including lectures, whole
group discussions, small group work, debates, and cooperative learning activities.
Therefore, make sure to vary your lessons accordingly. Similarly, vary homework
assignments so that students are not always doing the same thing every night.
 9. Get Students Involved in Contests Find contests, publishing events, scholarships, and
events that students can participate in and work towards outside of the classroom.
Maybe you have all your students send a submission for a story to a local magazine.
Maybe you have students write an essay for a college scholarship competition. By
connecting what you are teaching in the classroom to something that carries real world
rewards, you can help increase student involvement.
10. Bring Service Into the Classroom Most students have an innate desire to work towards a
goal greater than themselves. For some this might be that they want to help preserve
the environment. Others might want to help the poor or focus on individuals hit hard by
natural disasters. If you can tap into this while connecting the actions to lessons in the
classroom, you can build on these natural, altruistic desires.

Classroom Factors That Affect Motivation

Teacher Attitude Teacher attitude makes a difference in motivating students. Students quickly
sense when a teacher is disconnected with what she's teaching or when she really doesn't care
for or isn't connected with the students, not just as a class, but as individuals. An attitude of
criticism or favoritism disrupts good order in the classroom and motivates students to act out in
a negative fashion because the students do not believe the teacher cares, or believe nothing
they do will be good enough.

Home Situation Home situations affect student motivation in the classroom. If students come
from homes where they are loved and encouraged, the students will approach classroom work
with eagerness and with a willingness to learn. If the students do not have a positive home
environment or if the home situation doesn't provide appropriate levels of nutrition and/or
sleep, students attend school with a disadvantage and a lack of motivation because of physical
or emotional problems.

Teaching Approach Lectures and a recitation of dry facts and figures tend to motivate students
not to pay attention and to “tune out” a teacher they believe is boring. However, when the
students become part of the learning process, learning can become more enjoyable and
adaptable to those with different learning styles. Students can be motivated when teachers
help them “see” what they're learning in a different context. If teaching about a historical figure
or event, read stories about the time period. As long as the historical background is accurate,
fiction stories draw students into the historical setting and make the era come alive. When
students connect better with what they're learning, they can become more motivated.

Interactive Activities Using interactive activities such as having students act out skits or plays on
the topic--or writing scripts to act out--can be motivating factors for positive classroom
participation. Also, the use of puzzles, games, special speakers and bulletin-board displays are
factors that can affect classroom motivation. Encouraging students to set goals in the classroom
can also provide motivation.