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http://edweb.sdsu.edu/webquest/matrix.html http://oswego.org/staff/cchamber/webdesign/web_quests.htm http://edweb.sdsu.edu/webquest/webquest.html http://www.esc20.net/etprojects/ http://www.davison.k12.mi.us/academic/hewitt14.htm http://www.biopoint.com/WebQuests/Welcome.html http://www.macomb.k12.mi.us/wq/webqindx.htm http://www.macomb.k12.mi.us/wq/wqdmain.htm http://www.lfelem.lfc.edu/tech/DuBose/webquest/wq.html http://edweb.sdsu.edu/webquest/materials.htm |
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| Flow | We should actively foster enjoyement of learning phenomenology of enjoyment seems to be a panhuman constant. When all the characteristics are present, we call this state of consciousness a flow experience, because many of the respondents reported that when what they were doing was especially enjoyable it felt like being carried away by a current, like being in a flow. | |
| The Case of Eric | Experienced successful reading with teacher who slowed down, and told him to read aloud.The teacher said "out loud is better than in your head because in your head you lose whatever you are reading." | |
| Choice & Reading | Encourage
love of reading so that students will read for themselves.
For reading assighnments, allow choice. (Allen, Atwell, Nation At-Risk, 1995). BUT, choice does not come naturally to some of these students. (Roller, 1996) |
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| What to concentrate on | Emphasize reading and writing as accessing and communicating knowledge. | |
| How Do you Motivate Kids? | By being sensitive to students' goals and desires, They empower students to take control of their learning; they provide clear feedback to the students' efforts They help students concentrate and get immersed in the symbolic world of the subject matter. | |
| Controversial topics as motivators | Discussion can center on values and beliefs often considered to be private rather than public. Thus, those ideas which either confirm or question deeply held values will become controversial. Two studies (Ehman 1969,1977) reveal that focusing course content on controversial topics positively affected "students' attituded towad citizen duty, political participation, and political efficacy as well as their political trust, social integration, and political interest- if the teacher allowed open expression and promoted an open classroom climate" (Hepburn). | |
| General Motivation Tips | Think of questions you can ask students about the material even if they haven't read the night before. | |
| As you prepare a lesson, ask how you can explain the relevance of the content, why is this lesson important, what will your students need to know? | ||
| Connect with students- Use their names, e-mail them to offer help. | ||
| Every nine weeks, invite students to a homework breakfast. Students with 100% attendance will participate. | ||
| Share your enthusiasm! Why do you love the subject? | ||
| Have students create power point presentations, they love it! (Cathy Carroll, Teacher) | ||
| Good teachers help students concentrate and get immersed in the symbolic world of the subject matter. As a result, good teachers still turn out children who enjoy learning, and who will continue to face the world with curiosity and interest. | ||
| Tips on Projects | A wide variety of teaching materials and teaching techniques help provide for differences in students' ability to learn. Supplementary materials like newspapers, magazines, games, films, and audio and video tapes offer additional ways for students to acquire information. Any medium which stimulates students' interests and involvement is worthy of consideration. By asking students to complete projects at the end of their reading assignments, students may see a reason for reading. For example, developing a mural, making a diorama, or constructing a model encourages students to read a text for practical purposes. This is particularly successful when students are exploring subjects that are of interest to them. Projects or oral presentations also provide a chance for students to collaborate with others. Group work may reduce the apprehension poor readers frequently experience and motivate them to use language socially and purposefully. | |
| How do you get your students to prepare for class? | 1. Have them bring in questions. 2. Ask them to write responses to reading in journals. 3. Use whatever students have prepared directly in class. | |
| How to Improve "Connectedness" (From a Kids Point of View) | 1. Be Fair 2. Provide Encouragement 3. Put a quick end to confusion.(Lifers: Mueller, 2001) | |
| Positive "Psychological Environment" | A
positive "psychological environment" strongly influences student motivation,
says Maehr. School leaders can create this type of environment by establishing
policies and programs that:
* stress goal setting and self-regulation/management * offer students choices in instructional settings * reward students for attaining "personal best" goals * foster teamwork through group learning and problem-solving experiences * replace social comparisons of achievement with self-assessment and evaluation techniques * teach time management skills and offer self-paced instruction when possible. |
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| Are we asking the wrong question? | (From
BELIEFS, PRINCIPLES & STANDARDS FOR ENHANCING STUDENT MOTIVATION)
If we're asking the question, "What can we do to motivate our students?" we're asking the wrong question. Extrinsic motivators are powerful, but only work for a short period and can eventually become demotivators. Stand & Deliver "Jaime Escalante to increase the desire of his students to learn. He convinced them of two things - they could learn and what he had to teach was important. Standard 1: Safety- The learning environment needs to be such that the students feel safe from any physical danger. However, that's not enough. In addition, the students must feel safe from fear of significant embarrassment. Breaking down learning barriers: Enabling can be met in the following ways: 1.the instructional practices facilitate and do not hinder learning; 2.the learning builds upon prior knowledge; and 3.the multiple intelligence needs of the students are met. |
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| The Two Principles For Maxamizing Student Motivation for Learning In a Classroom | These principles provide direction so that students are most likely to have the feelings which tend to be present when people are in states of intrinsic motivation. The goal is that the students will legitimately feel . . . 1. smart or capable; 2. valued, important, and a part of the group; 3. safe and secure; 4. happy; and 5. in "self-control" or autonomous. Principle One: Operate From Understanding Stephen Covey, the author of Seven Habits of Highly Effective People and Principle-Centered Leadership, has expressed this same thought, "Seek first to understand, then to be understood." Regardless of how it is said, the message is clear. If we are to be successful in increasing the levels of student motivation in our classroom, we must make decisions based on a total understanding of our students' needs. Principle Two: Manage Context - Not Students People tend to resent being told what to do, when to do it, and how to do it. According to Dr. William Glasser, people have a basic need to feel free or independent. This need is greater for some than others, and it is greater for each of us at certain times than it is at others - but it is a need that is there. And yet, there are times when we as students want direction from others. The challenge we face as teachers is determining when and how we can provide enough meaningful options and, at the same time, the appropriate amount of direction and control. As one is designing lessons or units, or as one is making decisions while teaching and managing the classroom, constantly focus on establishing and maintaining conditions and not on controlling or dominating others. Focus not on how to make students do or want to do something, instead focus on creating situations in which students will want to do what needs to be done. The musical lyric " . . . a spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down" is very helpful in clarifying the principle "manage context, not students." It is not suggesting that sugar be offered as a bribe; the implied suggestion is to change the situation (context) so the child is more likely to choose to do what is desired. Note that the lyric does not suggest "watering down" the medicine, bribing the child, promising future benefits, or threatening punishment - it merely suggests changing the context. If the lyric had been written about school and not medicine, it might have been something like, "a motivating teacher helps the students to learn." The lyric would not have been "a bunch of points helps the students learn," nor "hopes of future benefits help the students learn," nor "fear of punishment helps students learn." The original lyric and the first school example presented above reflect managing context - not children. The humorous twists to the lyric represent managing students - not context. | |
| How can school leaders generate student motivation? | One
of the most effective avenues for engendering student motivation is a schools
culture. According to Deal (1987), school culture can be embodied and transformed
through channels such as shared values, heroes, rituals, ceremonies, stories
and cultural networks.
Davis (1989) suggests using a wide variety of activities and sybols to communicate motivational goals. "Visible symbols" he says, "illustrate and confirm what is considered to be important in the school. "He suggests using "school newsletters, statements of goals, behavior codes, rituals, symbols, and legends" to "convey messages of what the school really values." Staging academic awards assemblies, awarding trophies for academic success and displaying them in trophy cases, scheduling motivational speakers, and publicizing students' success can help them see that the desire to be successful academically is recognized and appreciated. |
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| What to Avoid: | Avoid "deadly homogenous" categorization and labeling of students. (68,Mueller 2001) | |
| De-emphasize memorization, emphasize making sense. | ||
| Teachers should NOT shoulder full blame for unmotivated kids, BUT we do need to make changes in education practices dominating the profession. | ||
| Reading aloud to a whole class is detrimental to at-risk readers. (Harris and Hodges, 1995) | ||
| Effective secondary school remedic reading program: | Should have a student-teacher ratio of 10:1 or less,use adult and peers model reading, focus on reading for pleasure, and focus on the use of trained specialist, not untrained aids or volunteers. (Grant and Metsala; Mintz 1993) | |
| Reading recovery | Can be adapted to high school curiculum so that older students may thrive. (Ballash, Karen. "Remedial High School Readers can Recover, Too") | |
| Invitation to private reading by Brian L.: | Shows a reading put on by a formerly troubled reader. | |
| Mary Clay's reading Rebound Adapted to high school students | Critical
features:
Teacher-Student ratio of 1:3, interesting literature( NOT workbooks), balance between reading meaningful texts and word identification instruction, writing activities that reinforce word recognition, ongoing assessment, aditional reading outside instructional setting, consistant teacher training. |
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of Lack of Motivation |
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| Causes | Can be physical, emotional, intellectual or philosophical. | |
| Disconnectedness | Students feel disconnectedness "or estranged from teachers who go way ahead even when they raise their hands to ask them to slow down." | |
| Nightmare of Failure | Problems associated with forms of perfectionism that focus on seeking success are relatively minor, however, compared to the problems associated with forms of perfectionism that focus on avoiding failure (Burns, 1980). Fear of failure (or of blame, rejection, or other anticipated social consequences of failure) can be destructive to achievement motivation, especially if it is powerful and persistent. Victims of such fear typically try to avoid or escape as quickly as possible from achievement situations in which their performance will be judged according to standards of excellence. When escape is not possible, they try to protect their self-esteem either by expressing very low aspirations that will be easy to fulfill or by expressing impossibly high aspirations that they have no serious intention of striving to fulfill. In the school setting, many such students become alienated underachievers. | |
| Helping to overcome perfectionist students | Start by building a friendly, supportive learning environment; * establishing the expectation that mistakes are a normal part of the learning process; * presenting themselves as helpful instructors concerned primarily with promoting student learning, rather than as authority figures concerned primarily with evaluating student performance; * articulating expectations that stress learning and improvement over perfect performance on assignments; * explaining how perfectionism is counterproductive; * reassuring perfectionist students that they will get the help they need to achieve success, following through with help, and communicating teacher approval of students' progress and accomplishments. Effective teachers identified the most ineffective strategies for dealing with perfectionist students as criticizing or nagging, threatening punishment for failure to change, controlling or suppressing perfectionist tendencies, and ignoring or denying the problem rather than dealing with it (Brophy, 1995). | |
| Students Point of View: | They (students) struggle because of the failure of teachers to give them the help when it was needed. | |
| What are the Benefits of Year-Round Education? | To the Unmotivated Student Students: · Reduced need for review (Serifs, 1990; Dlugosh, 1994; Bradford, 1993; Morse, 1992; Levine & Ornstein, 1993; O'Neil & Adamson, 1993). · Students can benefit from optional remediation programs offered during intercessions as opposed to lengthy repetition during regular session that might put them behind other students. Intercessions can also provide a means for enrichment activities for all students (Serifs, 1990; Dlugosh, 1994; Bradford, 1993). · May have a marked improvement in their overall school performance, especially if they come from a home environ ment that does not reinforce school learning (Morse, 1992). · Often feel more enthusiastic and motivated about school (O'Neil & Adamson, 1993). | |
| School-Based Mentoring Program | Through school-based mentoring programs, schools across the country are offering students new avenues for exploring educational and career paths, stronger incentives for staying in school, and increased confidence in their ability to succeed. For students in need of career direction, mentoring programs can pair them with professionals who can familiarize them with the world of work, serve as role models, and bolster confidence. For students having social or academic difficulties, or for students at risk of dropping out, mentoring programs provide friends who are personally involved in students' success and who can both encourage them and hold them accountable for going to class and getting their work done. And mentoring programs are not just limited to these scenarios. | |
| The Hard Truth About Motivation | The problem is not that many students aren't motivated to learn, it's that they're not motivated to learn what we're teaching or in the way that they're being expected to learn. | |
| Intrinsic Motivation | When we learn something primarily because we find the task enjoyable and not because it is useful, is a more effective and more satisfying way to learn. If educators invested a fraction of the energy on stimulating the students' enjoyment of learning that they now spend in trying to transmit information the results would be far more productive to learning learning. | |
| Enhance The Likelihood Of Intrinsic Motivation | Though
there is much disagreement as to what promotes or maintains intrinsic motivation,
here are a few quick tips that are consistent with the six standards presented
earlier.
1. Provide meaningful choices as often as possible while still adhering to rigorous curricular standards. 2. Provide frequent, specific, non-judgmental feedback focused on progress and growth - appropriate acknowledgment and recognition of specific learning behaviors. 3. Embed learning in contextualized activities that the students find enjoyable and worthwhile. 4. Protect each student from embarrassment while holding to high standards and expectations for him/her. 5. Build positive self-concept and high self-esteem through evidence of success provided by challenging and worthwhile tasks. 6. Avoid the use of extrinsic motivators. 7. Use varied and enjoyable instructional activities that match the learning style needs and multiple intelligences of your students. (The focus of the remainder of this book.) 8. Model whatever is to be learned with high levels of enthusiasm. 9. Provide celebrations including cheers, certificates of mastery, and other exciting, energy and endorphin producing acts. (Be careful, it is possible that while you are not using these as rewards, they may be perceived as rewards by the students or turned into rewarded events by others.) 10. Use effective cooperative learning techniques to promote friendship, bonding, and goal interdependence. 11. Ensure that the learning is challenging but possible for each student. |
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| Contributors to reduced student intrinsic motivation | 1. situations in which students feel embarrassed; 2. infrequent or vague feedback; 3. coercion and manipulation; 4. competitive situations in which lack of success is probable or feared; 5. sarcasm, put-downs, and criticism; 6. exclusion from decisions regarding goals, means, and standards; 7. insufficient examples and models; 8. insincere listening, recognition, and praise; 9. content and tasks that are perceived to be irrelevant, repetitive, not challenging, or beneath the learners' level; 10. teaching practices that are ineffective or mismatched to the learners' style and multiple intelligence needs; 11. responsibility and accountability without matching authority and autonomy; 12. feelings of exclusion by students. | |
| Research on Extrinsic Rewards | :Extrinsic motivators tend to over-power the effects and existence of intrinsic motivation. Extrinsic motivators increase the students' focus on the extrinsic motivators themselves (points, grades, parties, stickers) while decreasing their focus on desired behaviors extrinsic motivators tend to result in lower quality performance and behavior over time. | |
| Value | This is the most important standard. People apply themselves to the extent they believe what they are doing is valuable. If the students believe what they are being asked to do or learn is more valuable than the other options they consider available, they will engage in the learning. There are a number of ways that the standard valuable can be met. 1.The students believe the learning, or activity in which it is embedded, solves a problem they have; and/or fulfills a need they have. 2.The students think the learning, or activity in which it is embedded, is interesting or fun. 3.The students experience a sense of "flow" while engaged in the learning or activity. Flow and the research supporting it as a conducive factor in learning is thoroughly presented in the book Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience by Dr. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (Harper Perennial, 1990). | |
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| Addressing Low Motivation in Groups | Questions to Ask: 1. Is the group work well designed? 2. Is there accountability? 3. Set forth time for peer evaluation. 4. Are there outside personality conflicts? (Larry Michaelson, 1992) | |
| Tips | Have kids keep a homework sheet. Parents sign that saying they know homework was assigned to their child. (Christy Flynn, Teacher) | |
| How to help with anxiety | 1. Help students learn to take good notes. 2. Help with reading strategies. 3. Ask students at what moment that are most anxious. 4. Clarify ambiguity, then relate the concepts. 5. Tell students how to think like a_____. 6. Give samples of work (not just A+ work) 7. After poor exams or essays write comments "See me, I can help". (Oregon Learing Service). | |
| Conclusion | It has turned out that mass education is more difficult to achieve than we had anticipated. To close the gap between the rather dismal reality and earlier expectations, researchers and practitioners have placed their faith in teaching methods modeled on computers and other rational means for conveying information - which in turn were modeled on industrial production techniques and on military human systems design. The implicit hope has been that if we discover more and more rational ways of selecting, organizing, and distributing knowledge, children will learn more effectively. | |