Creating Motivated Students

Danica Reinhard

University of New England ED 600

February 24, 2016

The best way to see success in students is to get them excited, or intrinsically motivated, to learn

and be at school. In this paper there will be discussions on how to increase student motivation, along with
some of the reasons that students can become unmotivated to learn. I believe that a teacher is the major

factor in helping a student learn and that if a teacher can create the right environment they will be able to

motivate their students. Lastly we will talk about how behaviorally challenging students can become

more motivated to learn. Curwin, R. L. (2010) put it very nicely stating it is important to be motivating

and energizing ourselves.

As teachers we always want to make sure we are motivating our students. One of the easiest

ways to create a motivating classroom environment is to be motivated ourselves as teachers. Think about

the days that you go into work and you dont want to be there, you most likely did not try your best, and

your students saw that and got the vibe that you didnt care. Curwin claims that to build motivation you

should Build hope. Believe in students. Genuinely care about students. Refuse to give up on students,

no matter how hard they try to make us quit. Stop thinking What difference can I make? and start

making a difference. Teachers have the power to change lives (2010). When you go to work excited

there is more of a chance that you are going to get your students excited.

Along with making sure your are ready to provide a positive behavior in the school setting it is

important that your classroom environment is conducive to learning for the population of kids you serve.

Not only does that mean having topic and age appropriate displays in the classroom, that means what you

are teaching is catering to what your students need. We all know that every student is unique, which

brings us to the fact that all students learn in their own unique way and have their own unique knowledge

base. This fact, that no student is completely alike, brings us to the topic of fairness. Every classroom

environment should be fair. To successfully motivate, we must accept that fair is not the same as equal

that is, applying the same motivational strategy to all students may be equal, but if one student responds

well to that technique and another student does not, it is almost certainly not fair, Curwin (2010). It is

important that your students understand that what might be fair for one student is most definitely not fair

for another. In thinking about creating a positive environment in your classroom you should stress this to

your students. This is a great way to feel more comfortable teaching your students in different ways and

assigning different grades due to the effort that is put forth. Curwin (2010) states:
 In school, fair should be defined as each student getting what he or she needs to succeed and act

responsibly. Let your students know that your goal is for each of them to improve his or her

learning in your subject every day. Remind them that their improvement should be measured

against their own progress, not anyone elses.

I believe that it is very important to make sure you know what your students academic performance is as

they enter your classroom. You cant measure progress if you never measured their current knowledge

base.

The students that have a really hard time learning math, but are trying very hard to do so, should

not earn a lower grade than a student that puts forth no effort and still does very well. As teachers we

need to think about how the goal of motivation is to increase effort, Curwin (2010). If we are

motivating only the students that are struggling, what is happening to the students that are just flying

through? We should be trying to increase all students effort and if we are boring to different populations

of students we should be prepared to analyse why and change up our teaching style. Afterall, the true

determiner of motivation is effort...great motivators stress effort, appreciate effort, and encourage effort,

Curwin (2010). You will know if your classroom environment is motivational if your students are all

putting forth effort.

After doing this research I have found that even I have placed blame of motivational issues on my

students when in reality the problem isnt theirs to worry about. When we, as teachers, are trying fairly

hard to teach a subject and follow the guidelines and standards placed upon us by our district we fall into

the mindset that there is nothing else we could possibly do. In reality there is a lot more we can do.

Students arent motivated because they arent interested, and it isnt their fault. It is our job to connect

what we are teaching to our students personal learning style or interests. If we arent interested in finding

out how all of our students learn best and what they are interested in then we should just forget about

motivating the students that fail our class. Just accept the fact that it isnt the students job to be

motivated, it is our job to help motivate the students.

 Some things that we should keep in mind when it comes to motivation is what is it that will help

all students feel more comfortable in the classroom. Curwin suggests teachers to Maintain a physical

presence in the room. Continually move around the room so that you are near every student during the

lesson for at least a short time. Students need to feel you as well as see and hear you, (2010). If a

student cant see or hear the teacher they are most likely going to become bored and lose interest. If, in

your classroom, there are students that have behavior challenges then you should try to keep all the

students on task and interested. If a behaviorally challenging student becomes bored there is more

opportunity for them to act out.

If your students are acting out it is important to keep in mind that ineffective behavior solutions

can kill motivation(and) Once a power struggle begins, regardless of who wins the battle and it is

usually the teacherthe students motivation greatly diminishes, Curwin (2010). It is very easy to get

frustrated with students when they misbehave especially because all teachers have the right to expect

appropriate behavior in class and school, Curwin (2010) and No single strategy is effective in reducing

student misbehavior and violence, Dupper, D. R. (2010). You have to play with different strategies to

reduce undesirable or unacceptable behaviors for each student that misbehaves frequently.

I find that in my profession as a special education teacher for the behaviorally challenged students

that it is hard to get students to follow directions if they arent excited about the results of the direction. If

a threat of laptop loss or going to the office is offered I will usually see more resistance to get the

direction followed. If the student knows that they will earn something for following the direction, such as

points to buy something from a school store they are more likely to follow the direction. If sufficiently

feared, threats can produce behavior changes, but students who are continually threatened often develop a

psychological immune system that can render such attempts at coercion useless, Curwin (2010).

Dupper states that serious and violent student behavior is preventable, and schools must do everything

they can on a daily basis to reduce the risk that minor incidents and disruptions will escalate into serious

violence and result in suspensions or expulsions, (2010). In the current district that I work in there is a

PBIS (positive behavior interventions and support) system that is in place, which increases positive
behaviors school wide by awarding the students with tickets that are put in a pool for random drawings of

exciting things within school events. This system is inline with what Dupper (2010) and Hulac, D. M.

(2011) suggests because it is reinforcing desirable student behaviors(and) subjects responses that are

followed by pleasant or satisfying stimuli will be strengthened and occur more often in the future, Hulac

(2011).

On top of playing with different methods to reduce classroom and school wide disruption It is

important to remember that isolation and grouping should be balanced. Students with disabilities should

not be singled out as being different more than absolutely necessary, Casas, M. (2011). When doing

research there are other environments that require motivation such as people that are trying to quit bad

habits. A source that discusses rehab environments states:

Through this attentive process of building motivation (often referred to as the first phase of

Motivational Interviewing), the patient may become ready, willing, and able to change...The

therapist aims to help the patient consider how current behavior conflicts with important goals or

values and how positive behavior change might resolve the discrepancies...Motivational

Interviewing seeks to hasten this natural change process by creating an interpersonal situation

wherein the patient can engage in a collaborative dialogue that supports behavior change from the

patients perspective. Arnaout, B., & Levounis, P. (2010).

This brings up the idea that just simply sitting down with a student and talking about their behavior and

social interaction goals can be beneficial. I would suggest that if you have students that are always acting

out they be seen by a school social worker or guidance counselor. If this is incorporated it can assist in

student self motivation to have more positive behaviors.

Another way to increase a students positive behavior is to foster what they are good at, along

with excited about, and incorporate it in their daily activities. If a student acts out and is good at telling

jokes, have that student tell jokes in front of the class while you are handing out papers (Curwin, 2010).

Remember that your greatest potential for growth is in the area of your strength Too much time is

spent on detailing the problem areas of students development, and insufficient time is spent teaching
students how to maximize their strengths, Jones-Smith, E. (2011). If we can look at the positives within

all of our students, behaviorally challenging and not, we can help them foster their strengths into

enormous gains to succeed with later in life.

Overall to make our future as teachers successful we need to take all of the tools that we know in

order to help our students become motivated to learn in our school or classroom. I hope that after reading

this paper you have analysed yourself as a teacher, as I did when doing my research, to become more

focused on what you can do to help all of your students. Students need someone who believes and cares

about them and introduces joy into the classroom (Curwin, 2010). There are many different teaching

styles, and there is no one correct way to motivate all students. Teachers should learn to be flexible and

adapt with who their students are in order to foster success. I highly recommend reading Meeting

Students Where They Live : Motivation in Urban Schools by Curwin, R. L. if you are interested in even

more specific ideas to motivate different students.

References:

Arnaout, B., & Levounis, P. (2010). Handbook of Motivation and Change : A Practical Guide for

Clinicians. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Publishing.

Casas, M. (2011). Enhancing Student Learning in Middle School. New York: Routledge.

Curwin, R. L. (2010). Meeting Students Where They Live : Motivation in Urban Schools.

Alexandria, Va: Assoc. for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Dupper, D. R. (2010). A New Model of School Discipline : Engaging Students and Preventing

Behavior Problems. New York: Oxford University Press.

Hulac, D. M. (2011). Behavioral Interventions in Schools : A Response-to-intervention

Guidebook. New York: Routledge.

Jones-Smith, E. (2011). Spotlighting the Strengths of Every Single Student : Why U.S. Schools

Need a New, Strengths-based Approach. Santa Barbara, Calif: Praeger.