3231. How to Motivate Our Students: Some Hint


 
Self-motivation is adequate for learning. Of course! Some geniuses, like Edison, Einstein and Steve Jobs weren’t motivated and good at regular learning at school. Otherwise they were motivated for the knowledge areas they showed they were so good...
Also we teachers have to be careful and prone to discover the areas or skills our students are good at.
And what can we do to help our students become motivated about the school subject we teach? Maybe we can make them work at the area or subject we teach and eventually they’ll become motivated, when they see they’re progressing.
If our students are not motivated, we have to gently praise the small achievements they make, and little by little they will become motivated and happy at our school subject, math, science, English as a second or foreign language, religion, sports, grammar, history…
I had a student, at private tuition, who was poor at that school subject (English), and over time, by praising his achievements, he eventually became better and better.

I said “praising”: okay we can do it with our students but we have to avoid flattering or adulating. Also we can contribute to our students’ motivation by talking with them, both at tutoring sessions and in the classroom: often when we explain to our students what is right they adhere and stick to what is good for them. In other words, we have to make our students think, reflect and ponder about what’s good for them and for society.

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