Motivation

Motivating students can be difficult especially if the content is something they may not be interested in but need to learn. I would combat this many ways. First I would build a trust with my students from the beginning of the year letting them know that I will only teach information that is relevent to the course and their future studies. By doing this student will realize that it is important to be engaged and learn the information not because they have to but because they need to. I would also hold students responsible to their participation by making it related to their grade. Finally I would present the information in a way that makes the students want to participate. I would do this by finding ways to make my lessons fun and interactive whenever possible. One example I have seen of this in action was in my practicum this semester. The practicum teacher was having problems motivating her students to go up and present their projects. The students were afraid of speaking in Spanish in front of their peers and feared negative feedback from the other students. The teacher then pulled out hand held musical instruments and told the students that at the end of each presentation the students would be able to make as much noise as they wanted instead of clapping or verbal feedback. After this the students were open to volunteering and wanted to present in order to hear their classmates make a riot. What I learned from that is that order and productivity can come from chaos and it can even be beneficial.