Secret Sauce of Great Teachers: 10 Strategies to Keep Students Motivated
What differentiates a good teacher from a great one? A great teacher implements these strategies for motivating students.
Motivation Is Key to Student Success
Being a teacher is a little like cooking for young children.
You prepare the most nutritious meal for your children, complete with protein, carbs, and vitamin-rich veggies.
You put thought into the planning, shop for the freshest ingredients, and labor in the kitchen.
Then you serve the meal to them, and they refuse to take a bite.
Even though that meal is good for them in every way, they don’t receive the nutritional benefits.
They have to decide to take a bite.
At that point, you have two choices: you can give up, or you can find a way to make that meal more appealing to them.
It’s the same with teaching. You put a lot of time and energy into your lessons.
Your lessons may meet all of your objectives and tick every box on the standards chart.
But if your students are not motivated to learn, you might as well dump that plate of chicken and broccoli in the trash.
The only students who learn are the students who want to learn.
As their teacher, you can use these ten proven strategies to motivate your students and make them want to learn.
Don’t throw the chicken and broccoli away! Just smother it in secret sauce.
This article contains affiliate links to things that you might like.
Why Students Aren’t Motivated
It’s easy to become frustrated with students who aren’t motivated.
Students sense this, and it can cause them to disengage further.
Instead, think through some reasons why they may not try in school.
They Feel Like a Failure
You don’t know your student’s entire backstory.
Some students stop trying because they have failed repeatedly. Rather than experience further discouragement, they stop trying altogether.
They may also have learning challenges, language barriers, or lack of support and encouragement at home.
They Don’t See the Point
If learning is too far removed from the “real world,” you may have trouble motivating students.
Students need to know the “why” of what they are learning.
Students may also place a low value on academic learning if they are experiencing difficulties at home.
In the face of more significant issues, they stop focusing on school.
They Zone Out
Most people cannot sit and listen to someone talk for hours every day and pay attention. Could you?
10 Strategies That Will Motivate Students
These ten proven strategies for motivating students will help students overcome barriers and engage in their education.
Build Strong Relationships
Building relationships is the first and most important way to motivate your students.
If students know you are for them and you care about them, they will try for you.
Get to know your students, ask them about their weekend, and greet them by name and with a smile when they enter.
Create a Safe Space for Risk-Taking
You want students to feel safe enough to take risks in your classroom (and taking risks is what it means to try).
How do you do that? It starts with connection and continues with encouragement, humor, and low-stakes learning opportunities that focus on creativity and problem-solving.
Try some of these tips to build a safe and supportive classroom environment.
You can also shore up the relationships between your entire class by building classroom community.
Make Learning Relevant
Some students really need to know why a subject or skill is important.
You need to supply that information to get them to buy in.
Connect your lessons to real-life situations or student interests.
Are you learning about percentages in math? Connect that to discounts at students’ favorite stores.
Are you studying about the American Revolution? Talk about how that inspired other struggles for independence (and still does).
Make It a Game
Mary Poppins had it right when she said, “In every job that must be done, there is an element of fun. You find the fun and snap, the job’s a game.”
Games are ideal for motivating students. Young or old, who doesn’t like to play?
You can use educational games in math, reading, history, and more to reinforce learning.
You can also create larger games, like classroom challenges and rewards.
Look over your daily lesson plans and find that element of fun.
Make It a Story
People love stories, and a narrative will draw in your students.
Share personal stories or historical examples, weaving them into your lesson.
You can also create an imagined narrative.
You can use this technique in math, science, language arts…anything!
Make It Hands-On
So much of school involves only visual and auditory learning. That leaves some students disengaged.
Kinesthetic learning appeals to everyone!
Incorporate hands-on science experiments, math activities, art projects, and review games.
Hands-on activities don’t have to be complicated! Try these five basic hands-on activities that work for any subject.
Provide Choices in Learning
Students have little agency in their lives. Giving them choices will boost their engagement.
Give students the freedom to choose their own research topics. (Or let them choose from a list.)
Provide several options for project-based learning.
For example, if you are studying geography, let students pick the country they will research.
Then, they can choose whether to create a travel brochure, make a traditional tri-fold display board, or do a presentation on a culturally significant recipe/dish.
Allow students some liberty in choosing how they will demonstrate their learning: written reports, videos, presentations, etc.
Celebrate Progress
Some students really need a win. This is especially true if setbacks and failures have repeatedly daunted them.
Help them set S.M.A.R.T. goals. Then, define the milestones along the way and celebrate their progress.
This celebration could include words of affirmation, goal charts, displays of stellar work, treats, rewards, or even an impromptu class party.
Acknowledging their continued effort and their small wins will go a long way in motivating students.
Integrate Technology Wisely
Students love tech. Incorporating technology into your lessons may boost student engagement.
Consider using multimedia like videos, podcasts, and digital quizzes in your lessons.
You can also review content using learning apps or online games (like digital escape rooms).
Remember: great teachers use multimedia as “frosting,” not the core of their lessons. A little tech goes a long way.
Surprise Them
Keep your lessons fresh with novelty and surprises.
You can do this in a small way by starting the class with a riddle, joke, or fun fact.
You can also add surprises like guest speakers, in-school field trips (even if it is just to the library or outside), games, or special snacks.
If your students expect the unexpected in your class, they will pay closer attention.
Motivating Students Is a Process
It takes time to build a class of motivated students. Remember that this is a process.
If you feel overwhelmed by all the strategies, try starting at the top of the list and working on one for two weeks.
Start by focusing on building rapport with your students. Work on that every day for two weeks.
At the end of those two weeks, some of your efforts may become second nature. (Now you always greet your students by name and with a smile and a fist bump!)
Then, work on another strategy, like creating a safe space for learning. Add in some hands-on learning activities that focus on creativity and problem-solving.
Sprinkle in these activities for a few weeks before you move on to the next strategy.
In this way, you will grow with your students and become that great teacher with the special sauce!
