10 Strategies to Keep Your Students Motivated All Day Long
Keeping students motivated is a tricky feat. After all, what can you do when they’ve finished their assignments, and there’s nothing left to do? One of the most essential components in maintaining student interest and engagement in your lesson is motivation. We all know that keeping kids interested and excited about learning new things is no easy task, but it doesn’t have to be so hard! If you feel like your class has hit a wall when it comes to student engagement, these 4 strategies will come in handy!
When you’re an educator, motivation is everything. Keeping students interested can be challenging at times but not impossible. Motivation impacts student performance and how willing they are to learn something new. The key is to find ways to keep their interest piqued while also respecting their individual learning styles.
1. Have a Classroom Culture of Constant Improvement
If your students know that they’re expected to improve on each assignment they turn in, they will be more motivated to perfect their work. If you have a culture of constant improvement, students know that they’re expected to do their best at all times, and they’re rewarded for it. For example, if you have a grading scale that gives students a B on an assignment, but they know that you’re looking for improvement, they will likely go back and revisit that assignment to get an A.
2. Create Opportunities for Students to Learn by Doing
There are many different perspectives on learning and what is best for a classroom environment. Whatever your style is, it’s important to recognize that each student has a different style. As an educator, it’s important to allow students to engage in a variety of different activities in class. This will not only make their experience more interesting, but it will also allow students to direct their own learning process. Asking students to engage in something hands-on can be a great way to get them motivated.
That’s because students are more likely to remember information if they’ve applied it in some way. For example, if you are teaching a lesson about the water cycle, you might have students grow radishes so they can track their growth cycle. This hands-on learning experience will help students remember what you’re teaching them better.
3. Set Benchmark Assignments That Have an Institutional Purpose
While your students might not always realize it, there are certain assignments that don’t just apply to their specific grades. When you’re creating assignments for your class, think about the overall goal for what you want the students to learn. While you do this, keep in mind the different learning styles of each student when deciding which assignments to choose. By setting benchmarks and giving students assignments that have an institutional purpose, you’re keeping them engaged in the class while also preparing them for the future.
4. Using Games and Quizzes to Keep Motivation High
You can utilize a variety of activities and tests in your classroom to keep your students engaged. You might be surprised at how these can be a great addition to your lesson plan. Students are often motivated by competition, so incorporating quizzes or games that pit them against each other can be a great way to keep motivation high. If your class is reading a novel together, you might want to assign quizzes to see who has read the book the most. This will help level the playing field for those who are reading it for the first time.
5. Organize Student Discussions and Activities Around Big Ideas
When you’re looking for ways to keep your students motivated, you want to focus on what really matters. Instead of focusing specifically on a certain topic, look at the big picture of what you’re trying to teach. When you’re focused on the big ideas, your students will be, too. You’ll be able to engage them more effectively since they know what the class is truly focusing on. Not only will this keep your students motivated, but it will also help them understand the information more effectively.
6. Have frequent communication with your students
In every relationship, but particularly in one with your students, communication is essential. If you have frequent communication with them, they will feel more valued, and they will be more motivated to be a part of your class. To have frequent communication with your students, you should implement a few different strategies, such as holding regular check-in meetings, creating a two-way communication board, and having open-door Fridays.
7. Let students take up responsibilities and leadership opportunities
One way to keep your students motivated is to give them opportunities to take charge. For example, if you are teaching a leadership class and want your students to be more engaged, you can give them a project to collaborate on together. These projects don’t have to be huge, but they should be something that keeps the students engaged in their learning process.
8. Hold regular celebrations
Celebrations don’t just happen when something good happens, they can happen any time to show positivity, happiness, and gratitude. No matter how big or small, recognizing kids' accomplishments can help keep them engaged. Whether it’s giving out stickers, hosting a pizza party, or throwing a graduation ceremony, there are lots of ways to show your students that you appreciate their efforts. Celebrating their work also helps them feel more connected to the school and more invested in their education. This will show your students that you recognize their hard work, and they will likely be more willing to keep working hard.
9. Play a Morning Inspiration Game
One easy way to keep students motivated is by playing a morning inspiration game. Inspiration games are often designed to spark creativity and imagination, and many of them help kids learn valuable life skills at the same time. Most inspiration games are easy to set up and don’t require any materials, so you can use them at any time.
Once you’ve decided on a game, you can let your students know when it’s time to start. Some of the best inspiration games are designed to be played at a particular time of day. For example, you could start your day with a game that inspires creative thinking or inspires you to talk about the things that you’re thankful for. This is a great way to connect with your students and build positive classroom culture.
10. Accept feedback from your students
Make it a point to ask your students for feedback at least once every few weeks. You can do this in a few ways, such as sending out a form or asking them to leave a comment on a certain assignment. Doing this will help you to collect data on how they feel about your class, what they’re struggling with, and what they’d like to see changed if you’ve been doing the same thing for a long period of time.
Providing a space for your students to leave comments will make them feel more comfortable and engaged in your class. Students can feel shy about leaving comments, especially if it’s their first time taking a class on that site. Setting up a system that allows them to leave a comment without an option to sign up for the site will help to make them feel more at ease. You can also set up a survey that asks them a few questions about your class. Take regular feedback from your students to make them feel more involved
Conclusion
These are important strategies for keeping your students motivated. You must do your share if you expect your students to be involved in and enthusiastic about their classes. Remember that if your pupils aren't interested in the material you're teaching them, you can't make them care about it. Instead, you have to find ways to make the material engaging, and you have to let your students know that you care about them as individuals. Visit Educationalcraft.com to learn more ways to be able to keep your students’ attention easier, and they will be more motivated to learn.