Motivating Students What Works for You?

Mr. Radley's Class: Part 1 It is the beginning of Mr. Radley’s third week teaching 7th grade physical science at Edgewood Middle School. On Monday morning, he enters his classroom five minutes late to find the homework bin half full. The class is full and his students are sitting on the counters and desks talking and playing with the meter sticks. On the way to his desk, he agitatedly commands “Everyone sit in your seats; class has started.” The students slowly fill their seats as Mr. Radley jots the objectives on the board. “Alright, today we’re going to take half of the period to discuss the chapter reading and the other half performing a lab. Who can start discussing section 1?” The students sit in silence. “At least the people who did the homework should speak up; Joseph, I see your paper in the stack, what can you tell me?”

Mr. Radley’s Class: Pt. 1 Questions -So far, what do you think are a few of Mr. Radley’s mistakes? Is he doing anything right? Why do or don’t you think so? HW Grades

Mr. Radley's Class: Part 2 “I didn’t understand it,” Joseph replies. “Did anyone understand it?”, asks Mr. Radley. No one answers. “Well, let’s skip to the lab and hopefully we can discuss the concepts from the chapter you pick up along the way. I am going to add a chapter quiz to the syllabus for Wednesday.” In response the class lets out loud grumble and rustling of papers, accompanied by a few book slams. Later on during the lab activity, Mr. Radley spends most of his time keeping the students on track and clarifying his instructions. He removes two students for being disruptive and shortens the lab by having each group perform only one trial to compile the data as a class. The next day, several of the students participated in the chapter discussion. On Wednesday evening Mr. Radley is surprised and frustrated as he scores the quizzes. The class average for the quiz is C-, with almost half of the students scoring in the D range.

Describe your Experiences with Motivation What have been your experiences with student motivation? Do you have any challenges with student engagement? Do you have any motivating strategies that you use in your classroom?

Engagement How do you define engagement? Phil Schlecty (1994, cited in Strong et al.) asserts that students who are engaged exhibit three characteristics: –They are attracted to their work –They persist in their work despite challenges and obstacles, and –They take visible delight in accomplishing their work

Strategies for Increasing Motivation Tips for the classroom Level: –Ensure classroom expectations for performance and behavior are clear and consistent, –Work to build quality relationships with students, –Break large tasks into a series of smaller goals, –Promote mastery learning, & –Evaluate student work as soon as possible after project completion, and be sure that feedback is clear and constructive.

Motivating Students to Engage in Class Activities More tips: –Ensure course materials relate to students’ lives and highlight ways learning can be applied in real life situations, –Allow students to have some degree of control over learning, –Arouse students’ curiosity about the topic being studied, & –Design projects that allow them to share new knowledge with others.

References Strong, R., Silver, H., & Robinson, A What do students want (and what really motivates them)?. Retrieved June 23, 2004 from Brewster, C., & Fager, J Increasing Student Engagement and Motivation: From Time-on-task to Homework. Retrieved June 23,2004 from