Sunday, November 23, 2008
Movtivating Students
Tom, This is a problem all teacher new and experienced share. Students are so different and what movtivates one doesn't motivate another. I have found that teachers are willing to share their strategies. I have attended more workshops on this subject in my career than any other. I will share some things I do in my classroom to involve all students. I poll the students to see what they like to read and most say nothing. I read books aloud to my students and I let them chose after I read the summary. I model fluency and humor as I read. The students love this. I then teach the students to read with the same fluency. Many students however don't want or like to read so I give them a small section to read so they aren't overwhelmed. I am going to have students sign up to read a section of the story with a purpose for reading after Christmas. I also let the students know as they read how well they are doing. This encouragment helps tremendously. After a few weeks most of my students don't mind reading. I also encourage the students to share what they are reading for pleasure to get other students interested inreading as well. I have books on different reading levels and interests in my classroom. I also use the Seven Habits of Effective Readers with my students. I can get you a copy if you would like. I keep it on my overhead cart so I can see it often. I also went to Best Practices this past summer and attended a workshop and was given Fit it Strategies for students. aI copied this for my students to keep in their notebook and I refer to the list often. I try to show the students practical ways to figure out what they are reading. This keeps students from becoming frustrated. I have also used small group and partner reading to allow the students to read to an even smaller audience. My students this year haven't likes this as much as my older students. The key to keeping kids movtivated is keeping them interested. I haev found the World Wide Web very helpful too. Let me know what you think you can try or want me to help you try. Just remember you aren't alone in making student learning fun and motivational.
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2 comments:
You are so right on this subject. I have also seen that a big part of motivating students comes easier when the student feel as if you care about them. Relationships with your students is a must in the world where the streets in some part call out to them loud than the schools. We must make the effort to keep them motivated or lose them to the streets.
Motivating students is must. If you want students to want to do the work you are teaching, they need to understand why it is important and how they would use this information in their lives. It is possible to be strict, but caring. If the children know you care for them, they will be more willling to work for you. Engaging activities also help motivate students. For the difficult to motivate, find something that they are interested in and try to motivate them toward achieving a goal.
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