After reading this chapter, reflect on your own thoughts about student motivation. When it comes to being motivated, how much responsibility do elementary age students have in regards to their motivation? How much of the responsibility is the teacher's?
I have actually noticed that student rewards (candy, prizes, etc) linked to motivation only work for a short time. I had never taken the time to consider that eventually students want "more" but after reading this chapter, it makes perfect sense that students continually want more monetary rewards. I am certainly guilty of trying to motivate students with what the text calls the "worse" rewards. Thinking back on student response to those rewards, the kids that are already self-motivated usually earn the reward and the students that are unmotivated don't usually work too much harder to earn the prize. Something as simple as rocket man is a good example. My self-motivated students work hard to pass all the sets and earn the pencil. Unmotivated students typically don't pass all their sets and don't seem to care either way. Realizing this tells me I need to work at being intentional at getting unmotivated students in the right state of mind for learning.
ReplyDeleteThe challenge I see is how to get elementary age kids to learn how to self-motivate while also sticking to a day full of rigorous lessons. I think most of the responsibility for building intrinsic student motivation is for the teacher to tackle. We can't expect students to come to school full of motivation and ready to learn everyday. The practical suggestions on page 107 seem like a good starting point for building student motivation, IF we can (remember to) fit them into our daily routines. I think a practical starting point in my classroom would be celebrating different levels of student success.
I commented earlier only to find that it didn't save so let me try again! :-)
ReplyDeleteI agree with Melissa that rewards only work temporarily. Students either get burn out or have bigger and bigger requests. I've tried to stop rewarding with little trinkets the past couple of years and reward with things the students can do instead.
Several years ago Melody Ward suggested the idea of students earning classroom money (She used sticks and dollars, but I modified to coins so that students could have practice counting money when they earned it.). We used to have store monthly. Realizing that students had much more than I could offer in store I switched to rewards that we could do as a class each nine weeks. In the fall students earn money when following class and school rules so that they can buy cookies and all the things to decorate them with. They share cookie toppings with those at their table and show their creativity while decorating cookies. At Christmas students are working towards earning enough money for a Polar Express movie ticket, popcorn, movie candy, hot chocolate, etc. Switching to rewarding each nine weeks has worked so much better. I still do the school wide marble system as well as a couple of other things, but am trying to lesson the amount of tangible awards. It's just hard to get first graders to understand the concept of self motivation or motivation with only a "great job" or "pat on the back".
This is the 3rd time I will be trying to post something about chapter 8. I am on my IPad and don't understand why it is not posting....therefore I will submit something very short.....as not to waste my time. I was agreeing with Melissa in that it is difficult for young children to be intrinsically motivated, especially because they may not understand the importance of what they are learning.
ReplyDeleteit is essential to help them get into the correct "state" for learning. I like to use music, movement and conversation to help children transition into the correct state. Often times, I don't feel I have enough time to do this and have to work immediately on their IEP objectives. After thinking it through, some children will be in the correct state anyway and won't need help so I shouldn't feel pressured to do this every time. it's all about getting to know your students and being sensitive to their needs.
ReplyDeleteI believe that in elementary school, a large part of student motivation is the responsibility of the teacher. Many students at this age don't see the big picture and can't see the importance of becoming a fluent reader or being responsible for turning in their homework each day. I don't like to give tangible rewards or treats all of the time because the novelty does wear off. However I do think students do need motivation and encouragement. We encourage and praise each other often, have a homework club lunch in the classroom each month, and have celebrations for losing our marbles. Last year I started giving out end of day awards to students I noticed working hard, being kind, or helping others. Only 2-3 students received a reward each day, so it was always a surprise. The next day I would notice students being sure to do the things that the students had been given an award for the previous day. Students seemed to like this and I think it encouraged other students to work a little harder or be a little kinder each day. This year I hope to incorporate more small classroom celebrations (without a concrete reward) to encourage intrinsic motivation.
ReplyDeleteThis chapter was an especially interesting one to me, with a strong background in behavior management. I agreed with most of the ideas about motivation, and really liked the focus on asking students directly what motivates them and what holds them back in learning. I also thought that two of the "demotivation" factors were especially relevant to us: learned helplessness (which I believe we sometimes foster unintentionally, especially in collaborative classrooms); and perception that class assignments or tasks are irrelevant. I also agreed with the idea that humans get just as much pleasure from the prediction of the reward as from the reward itself. I think that we as a staff SHOULD be moving toward more rewards that are experience-based rather than monetary-based (ex: extra lunch in the classroom VS treasure box item that has an associated cost); however, I strongly believe that MANY of our students need step by step help in getting there! That's why I think a MENU of reinforcers is crucial. What works for one may not be motivating for another. A VARIETY of reinforcers has the potential for the most behavioral change for the most students. I think we need to enlist the help of each other with motivation and reward ideas, as well as asking the students for suggestions. Tabor's and Kim's and others' ideas are good ones, great starting points for important discussions of motivation and reinforcers, as well as the changes in state that are required to get to the learning. Most of our population needs our help in getting to the development of intrinsic motivation in order to develop into the type of learner they will need to become for future success.
ReplyDeleteFor students who don't come to school already motivated to learn, it is the teacher's responsibility to find ways to motivate. Sometimes this is very difficult. The part about getting students in the correct state makes perfect sense. Our students come to school over-burdened. They are worried about things going on at home, on the bus, in other classes, with friends. Being able to read students is crucial. It might also be beneficial to have a place where students can leave private notes about things that may have an impact on learning.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, with 5th graders, I use rewards very sparingly. Some students need a daily or weekly tangible reward but others are perfectly fine with verbal praise. For most of my students, I only reward when a goal has been achieved. For me, the goal is usually based on an IEP objective.
I really enjoyed reading the comments above and gathering ideas for my own classroom! Motivation definitely seems hard to find, even in the Spanish classroom. And I know much of it has to do with the teacher. If I don't share and show the importance of Spanish, then students won't care to learn it. I know that I will work to do my part in showing excitement for learning Spanish and sharing ways and reasons for why it is important. I've already seen that using real-life experiences and situations helps to motivate students to simply listen. When the content relates to the students, they are already more motivated to learn it.
ReplyDeleteHaving now finished my first year of teaching, I also saw the good and bad effects of tangible rewards. I agree with Melissa in that self-motivated students are the ones to usually earn the prizes, and unmotivated students do not care either way. I'm definitely rethinking how I can include experience-based rewards within a class that only meets for an hour a week.
After reading this chapter I immediately thought of the motivation/rewards we do four our behavior RTI students. It's a little different take on it..similar to Jenny's, coming from the behavior point of view. I think it is a weaning process in which we teach students to feel reinforced by intrinsic rewards rather than tangible rewards. I think we need to keep this chapter in mind as we strive to change the "states" of our students' minds when meeting on some of our most behaviorally challenged students. I thought it was interesting how emotional management comes back into play here as well as movement to help change states so that motivation can be maintained. Rewarding students with charts/treasures/etc. has always been a tough discussion and a moral struggle especially when we get to feeling that we constantly neglect to "give" to our kids that do as they are asked day in and day out. If classrooms do start adding more classroom based experience-based rewards I wonder how it will effect some of the students with behavior goals.
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