Have you ever said this about a student? I know I did when I was teaching— usually when nothing I did worked with a particular student. But this is never true; we are all motivated by something. When you say this, chances

that you really mean that your student is not motivated by what you want or expect.

Let me explain using two examples. Philip is the class clown who never misses an opportunity to crack a joke. He doesn’t do his homework, and any time you ask him to respond in class, he turns it into an opportunity to perform a comedy routine. From your perspective, he is just a cutup who draws other students away from learning. You have tried to deal with this in a couple of ways, including referring him to the office for misbehavior. You noticed, however, that the next day at lunch, he was entertaining his classmates with the story of his visit to the office. Finally, out of desperation, you have

decided not to call on Philip anymore, to limit his opportunities to act up in class.

Tiffani, however, is quiet and doesn’t volunteer to answer questions. You always make an effort to include her in the class discussion, even though she never gives more than a one-word answer.When you ask her, even privately, if she needs help, her answer is always “No, I’m fine.” Her grades and classroom performance indicate that she has potential to learn, but her lack of response to your offer of help is hindering her from reaching her full potential.

Finally, you told her you are calling her parents in to talk about her work, and  she bursts into tears. Despite your reassurances that you are not calling to complain, she can’t stop crying.

In each of these cases, it’s easy to accept the myth the students aren’t motivated; on the surface, they don’t seem care. But, the students are strongly motivated by two powerful emotions: pleasure and pain. Philip craves attention and wants to be popular. His parents are divorced; and at lunch with his friends who laugh at his jokes, he feels good because he temporarily forgets that his parents argue all the time.

Tiffani, on the other hand, is reacting from fear. She has five brothers and sisters at home, and her parents have said that children should be seen and not heard. Her oldest brother dropped out of school, robbed a convenience

store and is in prison. Her sister was suspended from school so often that she

also decided to drop out of school. Her parents were so angry, they made her

live with an aunt and uncle in another state. Tiffany overheard her parents tell her grandmother, “Tiffani is the good one because she is quiet and doesn’t cause problems. At least she doesn’t get into trouble at school.” Tiffani is scared that if her teacher calls home, her parents will think she is just like her

older brother and sister.

In each case, the student is motivated—just not by you or your classroom. This happens far too often. To combat the myth of students just aren’t motivated, learn as much as you can about your students and their interests.

This is a double-edged sword. It’s true that you can motivate someone to

perform a particular action (think of trained seals), but you aren’t truly motivating him or her for any length of time. If the stakes are high enough, and if you use the right rewards or punishment, even the most resistant person will conform long enough to get the reward or avoid the punishment. But, to motivate the student to continue, you would have to ratchet up the stakes.

I have seen this happen with a popular reading incentive program. Students earn points by passing a test showing they read the book. Then, students cash in their points for rewards. This sounds pretty good (I know I like the rewards I can earn with my frequent flier points), but it can take a negative turn. I’ve been in schools where the prizes are pencils, or bookmarks, or books; but as students get older, they want or need more and better prizes to keep reading. The prizes become electronic games or CDs. I was appalled to read a news story praising an area high school for their innovative reading program. The school wanted to encourage reading, so it purchased the incentive program; and to motivate their students, they gave away a car!

You’ve probably seen the same thing in terms of using punishment as a motivator. Eric constantly misbehaved in my class, and he quickly progressed through all the negative consequences in my behavior plan. Isolating

him didn’t work, so I tried lunch detention. When that didn’t work, we used in-school suspension. Of course, the next time, that didn’t work, so we tried out-of-school suspension. By the end of the first nine weeks, I realized that I had already used every single negative consequence in my discipline plan

along with several others that I tried just in case. I believed I could motivate him (myth two), but because I never found the real reasons for his behavior, I was only able to get short-term results.

This is the other edge of that sword. As I just discussed, you can motivate actions for the short term, but let’s take a long-term view here. Although you cannot make someone else be motivated, you can set up an environment or situation where they are more likely to be motivated. Kendra Alston, former Academic Facilitator at Kennedy Middle School, shared a lesson she learned during a high school social studies class. She wasn’t excited to study the 1920s and 1930s, but her teacher,Mr. Baldwin told them he was giving a show me what you know final exam. “He didn’t care how you showed it, as long as you showed what you know. Things flashed before my eyes, but I was into theatre. So I researched the vaudeville circuit at time and

found Bessie Smith in theatre. She was a blues singer who sang in speakeasies; and I learned about the 20s and 30s through her eyes. On day of the exam, I came in singing, stayed in character (others did essays, etc.). He asked questions and I answered based on what Bessie Smith would have said. It’s the only way I got through it.”

This is a perfect example of a teacher creating an opportunity for a student to be motivated about learning. Rather than learning for the purpose of answering a question on a test, she channeled her interests into learning the content. And the lesson still resonates with her more than 15 years later. “What I would say about motivation is to find what your students love to teach them.” She applies this lesson now with her own students: When you are introducing something they aren’t into, you have to connect. Michael was in my 4th-grade class. His mom told me,“he hates to write, I know this year he has to, I’m worried about the test [state writing test].” All I have to do is know what they love, and he loved sports. So, I start with prewriting. One day, I had them bring something from home; I didn’t tell them why to bring it in (the assignment would be to make an inanimate item talk). He brought in a soccer ball, and I asked him why it was his favorite item. He immediately told me about playing soccer, and that he won a championship. I started writing down what he said, and then I asked him to write about it. He told me all about the game he won, how his dad looked when he kicked for goal, etc. I knew everything because he loved it. So then, every time we had a topic, Michael would write about something sports related. He had to take his strength, sports, to help out in writing. The myth that you cannot motivate someone is only partially true. You cannot motivate them, but if you make specific efforts to connect with your students, they will respond.

This is also not true. James, the son of a friend, loved to read. His parents read to him from infancy, and I provided a regular supply of books. By the time he was in the second grade, he was reading far above grade level. His teacher said she needed to work with those who did not know how to read, so she put him on a computer reading program every day. Reading changed for him because he was limited to reading books on an approved list. He was frustrated because some of the books he wanted to read were not on the list,and he was no longer allowed to choose his own books. Also, the value of reading was limited. Previously, he read for the pure joy of discovery and the discussions he could have with other people about what he had read. Unfortunately, his teacher didn’t let him talk to the other students about books; his task was to take a test about the book instead.

Kendra had a similar situation as a student. When she was in the third grade, she loved to write; she still does. During each of the first two days, the teacher asked students to write about a certain topic. Although she always loved to write and everyone else was writing, she just sat in her desk—upset because she had always loved to write. On the second day, Kendra again wrote nothing, thinking, “I was the dumbest thing in the world.” The teacher called her parents and informed them that Kendra had a U in writing. During the subsequent parent conference, her mother asked, “What did you ask her to write?” On the first day of school, the teacher told the class to “write about time you had a sleep over,” and on the second day, students had to write about the “time you had fight with a brother or sister.” Kendra’s mother explained that Kendra had never been on a sleep over, because she and her husband did not allow that until junior high. Also, Kendra was an

only child. “How can you ask her to write about something she doesn’t know about?” Despite a request from her parents to let her write about something she knew or was interested in, the teacher refused.

In each of the situations, a teacher was able to unmotivate a student. Whether it’s because of intentional efforts, or simply a lack of understanding, our actions can have a negative effect on a student’s motivation. I truly believe that we should treat each student in a way that nourishes a sense of hope for the future. But at a minimum, we should follow the same rule as physicians and first, do no harm. Betsy Rogers, 2003 National Teacher of the Year, posted a quote on her online blog (http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/brogers/) that encapsulates this for me. She notes, “Rick Stiggins states as educators, our motto should be ‘Do not deprive of hope.’” When we buy into some of these myths, that’s what we do; we deprive our students of hope.

Book: Improving Teacher Morale & Motivation: Leadership Strategies for Success

by Ron Williamson & Barbara Blackburn

Published by Routledge Eye On Education

Article: Four Myths About Motivating Students

by Barbara Blackburn

Published by Sharemylesson.com

Article: 5 Keys to Motivating Struggling Learners

by Barbara Blackburn

Published by Middleweb.com

Article: 5 Helpful Student Engagement Strategies

by Barbara Blackburn

Published by ShareMyLesson.Com