Readers: Five ways to motivate students

Readers say getting to know your students and empowering them to be leaders are good ways to get students engaged

By Meris Stansbury, Associate Editor
Read more http://www.eschoolnews.com/2012/07/13/readers-five-ways-to-motivate-students/2/

Motivation has been, for as far as I can remember, the one factor baffling teachers and administrators alike. Concern over the lack of it and over-expectations when consciously applying motivators soon enough lead to frustration, both for students and teachers alike. Coaching, coaxing, motivating, inspiring and so on, is something that first must be understood as coming from within the individuals and can only work if the one doing it is indeed inspired and motivated to get things done.. Most of our stories around teachers motivated students are spun around a much motivated individual itself, inspiring other teachers as well students to act. Learning organizations foster motivation among all their members. Only when educational institutions grow into learning organizations themselves, is that we will see true joy, inspiration and motivation to learn and help the organization move along its learning path.
Read more by Meris Stansbury

“Students need to know that someone truly cares about them when they are in a classroom,” said one reader.

We recently highlighted a report from the Center on Education Policy that looked at how schools can motivate students. Now, here are some of the best ideas from our readers.

We asked readers: “What are some ways/tactics/activities you implement to motivate students?” Their advice ranged from “be there for your students and let them know you care about them,” to “entice them with technology they use with their friends.”

Here are five of the best responses (some comments have been edited for brevity). What do you think of these ideas? Do you have any stories of your own for how to motivate and engage today’s 21st-century learners? Be sure to leave them in the comments section!