Motivating Students to Enjoy Education
Encouraging the Middle School Student to Excellence in Learning
Nov 20, 2008
Part of being an effective teacher is motivating students. Often, a student will work harder for a teacher he likes than for one he does not. While the goal of a teacher is not to make a student his or her best friend, it is important for students to gain a level of respect and trust. How does one gain that respect and motivate students? Just how can one become an effective teacher?
Utilize Humor in the Classroom
Something students enjoy is humor. When used correctly, humor has a phenomenal impact on a student. While teachers should never put down a child for ANY reason, gentle chiding often will turn around a student who is misbehaving much easier than a verbal reprimand.
If Johnny is talking, saying, “Okay, Sir Talks A Lot, let’s get back to our work,” succeeds better than, “Close your mouth and get back to work!” The student will respect the teacher for not embarrassing him or her in front of the classroom. The other students will also appreciate that the teacher will "joke" them out of a bad mood.
Respecting the Student
Respect is a two-way street. Students should be addressed by their names, and in a respectful manner. According to Harry K. Wong in his book, The First Days of School, Harry K. Wong Publications, Inc., 2004, a student’s name should never be used in an angry tone, as this impacts the child’s dignity.
Teachers often expect students to remember their manners; teachers should do so as well. Saying, “Please” and “Thank you” models effective communication to the student; it also conveys a level of respect.
Invitational and Disinvitational Teaching
Wong states that there are two types of teachers – ones that are invitational and ones that our disinvitational. Teachers that are inviting let the student know that he or she is important as a human being. Teachers that are disinviting make a student feel as if he or she is unimportant.
Levels of Education
According to Wong, there are four levels of education:
- Intentionally disinviting. Teachers at this level make remarks like, “Could you do your homework just ONCE?”
- Unintentionally disinviting. Teachers at this level say things like, “That’s not my job.”
- Unintentionally inviting. At this level a teacher might say, “Way to go, Johnny! You’re amazing.”
- Intentionally inviting. A teacher at this stage is a consummate professional. Statements that they make show the students that they care. An example would be, “If you try, you can do it!”
Teachers that are intentionally inviting make learning fun; they make a student feel like he or she can achieve anything. This is a teacher who gets results from his or her students. Motivation is both intrinsic and extrinsic. The goal of the teacher is to help students become intrinsically motivated. With intrinsic motivation, the student is excited about learning because of what it means to him or her, not for what he or she can get from the teacher.
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