The Secret of Motivation and Inspiration
Effective teachers do not
bring their personal problems into their classrooms. They just act as if
everything is OK – even when it might not be. If you were counseling
beginning teachers, what suggestions from the chapter do you feel are the most
relevant in guiding these teachers? What are the reasons for your
thinking?
“Students
respond best to enthusiastic, highly motivated teachers. If the teacher can convince the students that
he or she sees the lesson as relevant, motivating, and exciting, the students
are much more likely to see the lesson as relevant, motivating, and
exciting. The very best teachers can
take seemingly boring content and bring it to life.”
From my
experience in the position of student, I know that any otherwise boring subject
can be made interesting by the enthusiasm of the teacher. Also, if we can present content in an
interesting way, any topic can be captivating.
“…make them
all feel like they’re special to me.”
I do my
best to look every student in the eye as they enter the room. With a big smile I welcome them to the class
and maybe a little “cheesily” say, “Yay, It’s time for language arts!” I try to look into every student’s eyes to
see how they are doing on that particular day and to make a connection with
them. I think that if I take the first
step toward connecting, they will follow my lead during the lesson by trying to
do their best. If the attention I give
each individual student causes him or her to feel important, then the
connection will be successful.
Teachers
should be specific when doling out praise.
The action that gets praised is the action that will get repeated. If students don’t know precisely what they
have done correctly, they cannot respond with any specificity by repeating the
action. On the other hand, if they are
told, “Good job, Joey, in getting right to work on your bell ringer,” the next
time he has to do a bell ringer he will be more likely to get right to
work.
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