ABSTRACT
This chapter contains answers to some of the questions we are most frequently asked in our workshops. Also included are some of the more difficult questions we struggled with while shaping the strategies described in this book to address the unique needs of our students. At the end of our workshops we always allow time for questions and answers and typically find that participants are at varying stages of building their collection of useful strategies for increasing student effort and motivation. We hope that the answers to these questions will help you keep moving forward.
Question: How can I fit motivation related activities into my already busy schedule?
Answer: Many motivational activities can be built into your routine or daily plans. Offering choices, completing charts, working in groups, and varying modalities can all be a typical part of your day. Including them in your routines or daily plans strengthens their effectiveness as they become a part of existing classroom processes and your instructional procedures. Extra activities can be scheduled monthly or quarterly and can be held during lunch, recess, or other noninstructional time.
Question: How can I best utilize support staff to improve motivation?
Answer: Many motivational activities can be adopted schoolwide or across many classes or grade levels. Different teachers can be given responsibility for maintaining special bulletin boards, hosting literacy-based celebrations, performing other tasks routinely; special area teachers (e.g., those who provide instruction in library, art, physical education, or music) can encourage student participation in the activities, include some or other similarly appropriate activities in their classrooms, and also participate in most activities. Many students look forward to recognition and/or participation from the principal, special area teachers, community members, and parents.
Question: What is the difference between “unmotivated” and “highly unmotivated” students?
Answer: Students who demonstrate highly unmotivated behaviors may not respond to some of the typical motivators that are appropriate for their grade level (e.g., praise, good grades, and rewards). Also, their lack of motivation is often pervasive, affecting all or most academic areas as well as social areas. Many have also have struggled with motivation difficulties for some period of time.
Question: Why does it seem that lack of motivation is becoming a bigger problem with each passing year?
Answer: There is a wide range of reasons why motivation seems to be hindering more students’ achievement each year. Standards and expectations continue to change requiring students to raise their performance. Outside stimulation and activities, such as television and video games, may make it more difficult for students to focus, or may cause them to spend less time on academics. Additionally, students have busy after-school schedules, which are increasingly demanding of their free time. It also seems that there are more distractions during the school day that may interfere with classroom routines. In sum, we may not be able to pinpoint exactly what is causing the decline in motivation, yet we must attempt to address the challenge.
Question: Isn’t it unreasonable to expect that high-need students will show the same motivation as students who reach academic success with ease?
Answer: No. We find that our struggling students often show the best overall effort. We often encourage students to set personal goals and to make forward progress. It is important to help each student recognize his or her effort separate from his or her grades.
Question: What can I do during a lesson to improve student motivation?
Answer: Offering students many opportunities to stay active and participate in class rather than sitting passively increases the likelihood that they will stay engaged. Allowing for student-selected activities and assessments also improves students’ connection with the class and raises motivation. Pacing lessons in a way that allows students success and repeated practice helps to build confidence, which also helps with motivation.
Question: What if my school doesn’t supply funds for rewards/prizes?
Answer: Praise, displaying work, photos, names on a bulletin board, sending a note home, earning free time, and special events are all motivational rewards that have no cost. Other methods of funding incentives could be through your Parent-Teacher Association or by using your teacher book club incentives, such as using your accumulated points to buy books or other incentive offers, including freebies (free products or materials) that are available to teachers.
Question: When can I expect to see results? For how long might I need to support a student?
Answer: These are difficult to determine as the answer to both questions is based on the uniqueness of each student’s needs. Although you might see positive results immediately, we often see inconsistent growth at the onset of working with a student as the student learns new skills and perhaps struggles to make changes to long-standing behaviors. The length of time you may need to support a student can be determined as you begin to try to gradually lessen it. Should you need to try again, simply adjust your routines as necessary (possibly with some minor changes) and go forward. Remaining flexible is critical. Additionally, some practices may be intermittent, whereas others become part of your routine.
Question: Can these activities be used in subsequent grades as students move from grade level to grade level?
Answer: Yes. Teachers at higher grades levels can review how the activities, strategies, and tools were used at the lower grade level and plan to either include them at the higher level and/or adapt them in a way that might be more age appropriate. They can also link them to the students’ higher-level curriculum.
Question: Will these activities, strategies, and tools be effective if I’m unable to get assistance from my colleagues or from a student’s parents or caregiver?
Answer: Yes. You can easily integrate many of these activities and plans into your classroom routines without the assistance of others, yet some are better designed for districtwide use and/or some degree of involvement from colleagues. We recommend always seeking family or caregiver support. Even if they are unable to participate in an ideal way, their support is valuable and necessary. It is also important to note that many of the strategies encourage students to gradually assume responsibility for their success.
Question: If we provide too much support might we be encouraging a student’s learned helplessness?
Answer: No. Although this may be a concern, the Gradual Release of Responsibility Model (Pearson & Gallagher, 1983), which has proven effective for different kinds of academic instruction, seems a valid model to apply to the more tailored strategies—Student-Guided Plans and Contracts—which involve instruction (for example, learning new behaviors to replace existing behaviors). However, if this model is not used, the possibility may exist. Keeping in mind that your initial effort and subsequent support may be very different for each student—what works for one student, may not work for others—is a way to keep in check your need to monitor each student carefully as you begin to lessen your support.
Question: Might our best intentions to encourage student motivation backfire if others disagree with the process?
Answer: Although this is a possibility, keeping other professionals and parents involved and abreast of the motives and goals should lessen the chances, even if others are unable or unwilling to assist your efforts. Carefully documenting and monitoring the plan and making adjustments when needed is essential.
Question: How might you coordinate the use of all of these activities, strategies, and tools among all students in a classroom?
Answer: The Superhero Strategies and Underdog Strategies are integrated into our classroom routines and help to motivate and encourage improved effort in the majority of the students. The strategies used with students demonstrating highly unmotivated behaviors—the Student-Guided Plans and Contracts—are used with relatively few students. These figures vary from year to year and from class to class.
Question: Are you always successful in helping every student with these activities, strategies, and tools?
Answer: No. Although we see varying degrees of improvement in nearly all students with whom we’ve worked, there are some students whose lack of progress warrants further action. In such cases, working together with school and outside professionals may be necessary. They can initiate contact with other outside support resources who are qualified to assist in ways beyond the scope of this book. Keeping your principal involved in all of your plans is one way of knowing when the involvement of school professionals as well as outside professionals may be appropriate.
Question: What role do state standards play in your strategies and in your instructional approaches discussed in the book?
Answer: Our state and district are very standards based, and we are required to document the standards that align with the content of our instruction, as well as support our selection of instructional methods. In addition to this, teachers and administrators within our district have completed the lengthy process of creating curriculum maps for grades K through 12. These maps not only demonstrate our alignment to state standards, but also reflect our accountability for accurate grade-level progression of curriculum content. All discussions regarding instructional content and methodologies are supported within this context.
