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A teacher’s first concern in the classroom is health and safety which is something that can be easily established. A teacher’s second priority is to ensure students are working to best ability. This is not easy to ensure considering the multiple external forces beyond your control in the child’s life. When a student is unmotivated they become hopeless and apathetic towards their learning. The best way to increase motivation within your classroom is to have high expectations for effort, keep it fun with different modalities and to understand the students beyond academia. When students are resistant to working hard it sometimes has to do the relationship between the teacher and pupil. Take time in the beginning of the semester to get to know who these people are in your room. Don’t rush into course objectives. Provide a space where students feel comfortable. A teacher is more than just a teach and drill professional. They are confidants in learner’s world. Ask about their family, find out what their interests are and what they do outside your classroom. When you have established that relationship, the student wants to work for you and themselves. They want to try their best and you now created an environment where it is safe to make mistakes. Most times, students are unmotivated because they are afraid to make mistakes. Mistakes are the best part of learning! As their teacher you have to look at their mindset and instill in them best attributes of a good learner. It’s crucial to establish this mentality with students and the only way to get their is to first establish a rapport. Another important aspect to good teaching is having high expectations for their performance. A cookie cutter approach assuming all students will meet the same level of competency is a path that will lead to disappointment for all involved. That is why it is crucial to pre assess where the student is currently at. Diagnostics offer insight as to where the student needs to go. Once that is established, individual goals should be made that are attainable with a good degree of effort. If a teacher sets goals too high or too low the student will become disengaged and learning outcomes are poor. To be a lifelong learner it is important to have that mindset of high expectations and difficult challenges are good for me. Lastly, keep it fun. Students learn differently; having the same routine every day tends to bore students. Play games, role play, be silly, offer small prizes and let them know that learning doesn’t have to be tiring. Energy in the classroom increases motivation because the teacher is motivated. Be creative when delivering content. Get them out of their seat, have them walk around the room activating the lesson objectives in multiple ways. Ask the students what they prefer to do sometimes. Have options that sparks the interests of the students. When you have variety, children will be motivated. The best way to increase motivation within your classroom is to have high standards for effort and to make relationships with students so that they trust you when they are most vulnerable. Curriculum agendas take a back seat, because when approaching the whole child we must start with their heart before we begin to enhance their mind.
