Motivating Students

The one thing that challenged me the most when I was student teaching was how to motivate students in the classroom to learn and want to do the right things in the classroom for themselves and not for external factors and rewards. When I was student teaching in a kindergarten classroom a child came up to me and said, “I cleaned up two piles of beans. Now can I move my star up?” This particular incident along with many others made me wonder, “Are the children doing these things because they want to be a good helper or are they just seeking rewards and recognition from the teacher?” As I begin teaching in my own classroom, I want children to find internal motives for completing tasks and helping others in the classroom. My job as a teacher is to help children find that motive and what drives them to learn in the classroom. It’s also important for me to build a strong relationship with each child so that I can get a better understanding of what interests them and how they learn so that the content I am teaching aligns with what they know or want to know. Another way I could help students build on intrinisic motivation is by allowing children to make choices. Students are more likely to be involved and engaged in an activity when they have the ability to make decisions on their own. When they make decisions for themselves they are more likely to set goals for themselves that can be reached. For example, when I student taught in preschool our theme for two weeks was zoo animals. At the beginning of the week we discussed what the zoo was, what animals could be found at the zoo, and our own experiences at the zoo. Then, I gave the children a list of zoo animals that they could choose from to research. The children became the experts of each animal and were happy to share with others what they learned about their animal. The children were so excited because they had the freedom to choose and could select an animal that struck their curiosity. I know I will not always be able to let children freely choose topics in the classroom, but I can always encourage them to take ownership of their learning and care for their work in the classroom. I can start by setting an example for children, showing them how passionate and interested I am in teaching lesson that I implement.