Motivation The maker and the breaker of an education

Aspects of Motivation Motivation An internal state that arouses us to action, drives us in particular directions and retains our attention/engagement in activities (Shedd, 2008) Arguably, it is an “acquired disposition that is amenable to change” (Weinstein & Mignano, 2007 p. 186) This means that it is up to the teacher to create a classroom that motivates students to get involved

Aspects of Motivation Cont’d Expectancy x Value Motivation equal a students expectancy of success on an activity times their value of the activity If either is missing, there will be no motivation To foster motivation, teachers must help the students believe they can succeed while also making them recognize the value of the particular task The information above is from Weinstein, C. S., & Mignano, A. J. (2007). Elementary Classroom Management: Lessons from research and practice (4th ed.). New York: McGraw Hill.

Why is motivation important? Motivation increases energy and activity levels Motivation initiation of certain activities and a persistence in those activities toward a certain goal Gets students thinking deeper about the activities and making more abstract connections If a student is motivated to learn, they will work harder to learn the information and the information will stay in their long-term memory much longer The information above is from Shedd, Meagan (2008). Motivation in Relation to Literacy Learning. Presentation for TE 301, East Lansing, Michigan

What motivates children What motivates children to learn directly correlates to Brophy’s Strategies for Enhancing Motivation to Learn These Strategies are split into increasing expectation of success and increasing perceived value Weinstein, C. S., & Mignano, A. J. (2007). Elementary Classroom Management: Lessons from research and practice (4th ed.). New York: McGraw Hill.

What motivates children Cont’d Increasing expectations of success Provide opportunities for success If reading tasks appear too difficult, students may not even try to complete them Open-ended literacy assignments that provide for a variety of responses is one way to help this situation Another way is to vary instructional approaches so that students who learn differently from others have an equal access to the information Weinstein, C. S., & Mignano, A. J. (2007). Elementary Classroom Management: Lessons from research and practice (4th ed.). New York: McGraw Hill.

What motivates children Cont’d Teach students to set reasonable goals and to assess their own performance A sheet of literacy goals for the students to fill out at the beginning of the year/unit helps students visualize success A portfolio of written work/books read over the year helps students see if they’ve met their goals Weinstein, C. S., & Mignano, A. J. (2007). Elementary Classroom Management: Lessons from research and practice (4th ed.). New York: McGraw Hill.

What motivates children Cont’d Help students recognize the relationship between effort and outcome When students have difficulty with reading or writing, they often blame it on a lack of ability. What students need to realize is that it is more often than not, a lack of effort that leads to bad grades Whenever possible, commend students for their hard work Weinstein, C. S., & Mignano, A. J. (2007). Elementary Classroom Management: Lessons from research and practice (4th ed.). New York: McGraw Hill.

What motivates children Cont’d Provide informative feedback Providing feedback as quick as possible lets students know their grades and that their hard work/lack their of actually led to something Feedback should also be informative Any possible comments should be made so that the students knows what to improve upon and what they did right Weinstein, C. S., & Mignano, A. J. (2007). Elementary Classroom Management: Lessons from research and practice (4th ed.). New York: McGraw Hill.

What motivates children Cont’d Provide special motivational support to discouraged students Extra encouragement may be needed for students with limited ability in literacy When working in pairs, they should be with someone that is patient and helpful Encouragement should also be given to work extra hard and possibly seek extra help outside the classroom Weinstein, C. S., & Mignano, A. J. (2007). Elementary Classroom Management: Lessons from research and practice (4th ed.). New York: McGraw Hill.

What motivates children Cont’d Enhancing the value of the task Relate lessons to students’ own lives If lessons are relevant to students’ lives, they are more likely to value them Special effort should be made to relate literacy content to students in the class who are not from the dominant culture An example would be a report on their culture/history Weinstein, C. S., & Mignano, A. J. (2007). Elementary Classroom Management: Lessons from research and practice (4th ed.). New York: McGraw Hill.

What motivates children Cont’d Provide opportunities for choice Students experience a sense of autonomy and self-determination when given the choice of what to learn, which in turn gets them intrinsically motivated to learn Intrinsic motivation is when a student is motivated because of an internal desire to do the task Of course, opportunities for choice mostly refers to books to read individually and paper topics to write, not material discussed in class

What motivates children Cont’d Model interest in learning and express enthusiasm for the material The more enthusiastic the teacher is about literacy, the more enthusiastic students are likely Even if they seem annoying, the “peppy” teacher is always better than the “hate everything” teacher Weinstein, C. S., & Mignano, A. J. (2007). Elementary Classroom Management: Lessons from research and practice (4th ed.). New York: McGraw Hill.

What motivates children Cont’d Include novelty/variety elements These activities often don’t seem like learning to students because they are so much fun, but the academic content is there Provide opportunities for students to respond actively Actively engage in plays and poetry If nothing else, this technique gets students motivated when they know they will have to respond to the information they are learning Weinstein, C. S., & Mignano, A. J. (2007). Elementary Classroom Management: Lessons from research and practice (4th ed.). New York: McGraw Hill.

What motivates children Cont’d Allow students to create finished products Finished products give meaning and purpose to exercises and drills Writing letters that are actually sent and writing books that are edited, revised and “published” are both examples of this Weinstein, C. S., & Mignano, A. J. (2007). Elementary Classroom Management: Lessons from research and practice (4th ed.). New York: McGraw Hill.

What motivates children Cont’d Provide extrinsic rewards Extrinsic rewards triggers extrinsic motivation when a child is motivated because of the expectation of receiving the award Social rewards: verbal and nonverbal indications that you recognize and appreciate a students’ behavior or achievements (smile, thumbs-up and pat on the back) Special activity rewards: include free time and listening to music Tangible rewards: physical rewards that children actually receive (cookies, key chains, candy, etc.) The amount of extrinsic rewards should be limited though, since our main goal as teachers is to get students intrinsically motivated, not extrinsically

Classroom management and motivation A safe, caring classroom Students must feel safe from humiliation Understand that it’s alright to take risks Know they are accepted and respected Without this, motivational strategies are no use The above information is from Weinstein, C. S., & Mignano, A. J. (2007). Elementary Classroom Management: Lessons from research and practice (4th ed.). New York: McGraw Hill.

Assessments The pdf of Measuring Attitude toward reading: A New Tool for Teachers contained in this folder is a good assessment of a child’s motivation to read Taking an anonymous survey from the class over likes/dislikes of literacy concepts is another good assessment of motivation

References Weinstein, C. S., & Mignano, A. J. (2007). Elementary Classroom Management: Lessons from research and practice (4th ed.). New York: McGraw Hill. Shedd, Meagan (2008). Motivation in Relation to Literacy Learning. Presentation for TE 301, East Lansing, Michigan Mckenna, M.C.,& Kear, D.J. (1990). Measuring Attitude toward reading: A New Tool for Teachers. International Reading Association