Motivation

Why is motivation in the classroom so important?  Just imagine a classroom without it, it would be disastrous. The students have no reason to try, their grades are down but why would they care. Homework is just a suggestion to them and coming to school for some is not even a thought. Do not just think that this affects the students, teachers are affected just as much as the students. Without motivation the teacher slacks off too, not properly teaching their own students and setting a bad example for their students. This is unfortunately the case in a lot of classrooms all over the world. Now let me tell you what my classroom looks like. Most students are doing what the teacher has told us to do, completing assignments and homework with as much effort as possible. Also  if the chance for extra credit pops up, everyone is on top of it trying to get it done. Our teacher is on top of her work to. Pre-planning each lesson making sure we can get the tasks for the day done. If you noticed, I am at a pretty good school, students care about learning and teachers care about students. I am fortunate enough to have never been exposed to a non motivated classroom. I can not imagine where I would be now if I was exposed to that. So how do we make all classrooms with motivation flowing out of it? I believe it all starts with the teachers.

I think teachers are just like parents but in a different environment.  Just like parents, teachers set examples for their students and should be teaching important life skills. There is a trust between the student and teachers just like the trust between a parent and child. The teacher should be motivated to teach on a regular basis, wanting to help their students understand what it is they are trying to learn. Doing this shows students that even when they are confused, they always have a helping hand, teaching the students about collaboration which is very important. Now what if that motivated student gets a non-motivated teacher next year, the one that does not bother to clarify the things for the students? That motivation that the student had begins to deteriorate, the important bond that he once had with his teachers begins to fade. The students begins to push themselves away from learning, feeling helpless because they do not understand the material. That student then has no motivation and become the student I described in the first paragraph. Just like a parent shapes who their kids are, a teacher forms who their students are.

Now in some cases the students must have the responsibility to do assignment they might not find interesting. There are always these types of assignments in every classroom. Even if the teacher tries to motivate their students for this, it may not work. This is when the students must find their own motivation. This had happened to me just like I am sure it has happened to everyone reading this blog
It was at the end of the school year and this was the final project. It was not the most interesting thing in the world but it was worth a lot of points. I slacked off doing the bare minimum at times. When it was time to preset the project I saw all the others with amazing visuals and lots of fun interactive things built into them. Then I presented. I was nervous and I talked really fast speeding through the little information I had. My final grade dropped and all the hard work I had done that year had not paid off because of that one project. I use that scenario to motivate me to work harder so that that would never happen again. Although, scaring myself to get things done may not be the best way to motivate myself, it has proved to be very effective.

Teachers may want to be motivation their student but may not know any effective ways to do so.
There are l lots of effective ways to motivate, starting off with the one I just mention. Scaring your students. I am not talking about the way you would on Halloween, I mean telling them about how important this certain assignment is and what could be the outcome if it is done improperly. I would use this one in moderation though because this can stress your students out when it is often unnecessary. Another method to motivate your students is to give small rewards. If you say that "if every students get an A or above on this test, we can watch a movie the next class, chances are a lot of the student are going to work their but off for that A. Change the size of the prize depending on how big or small the assignment is. These are both great ways to motivate your class and you can customize the methods to fit your class the best.

I am a student athlete along with many other students at my school and I have noticed that most of the student athletes get more stuff done than the students who do not play a sport. I think this is because the student athletes have a very small amount of time to get things done. On the other hand, the students who do not play sports have a lot more free time so the put it off. I am a natural procrastinator, I did often put things off because I had more time to do them. Now that I have sports I have less time to procrastinate and have no choice but to do my work right when I get home or It would never be finished. Also this does not only have to do with athletes, but with any student who does not have a lot of free time.

Motivation is not something that sticks with you for ever. That is why staying motivated about something over a long period of time is tricky. Like if you are assigned to read a book over a school break. You may start off my reading a lot, but then gradually begins to pull away. To prevent this from happening you have to go over why this certain thing is so important. I really liked this one quote I found explaining my point really well. “Of course motivation is not permanent. But then, neither is bathing; but it is something you should do on a regular basis.” To keep motivating, you should be re-visiting the motivation you initially had. If your a teacher and you have assigned a long term project that the students should be working on at home, while you guys learn other things in the class, Frequently go over that project and for example tell them about the prize they get if they all do really well on it. 

I hope that I have gotten my point across that motivation is an important piece in the puzzle of school. Without it school is not complete. it is the driving factors in Many peoples success in school and the key to hard work. There is no price tag on motivation, everyone can have it, people just have to go out and get it.






Ziglar, Zig. "Quotes about motivation." Good Reads. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 May 2017.