Motivating Middle School Students

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Motivating Middle School Students

• CAN it be done? YES!!!!!!!!!!

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Break-out Questions

• Working with the teachers at your table, discuss
  your answers to these questions.
• What do you believe to be the most important
  things in the lives of the middle school students
  that you teach?
• What have you observed as being motivational to
  middle school students?

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Discussion Did you group come up with answers
like these?

• Whats important?
• Friends
• Lunch
• Socializing
• Sports
• How they look in front of their peers
• Extracurricular activities

• What motivates?
• Fun activities
• Competition
• Being with friends
• If the subject is interesting
• If the topic is relevant
• Getting good grades

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• Humans are a unique creation. Each student has a
  mind that can think, learn, reason, and solve
  problems.
• Cognitive theory, currently the primary
  perspective used to describe and explain human
  learning, recognizes the importance of the
  processes used by the brain to learn.

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Assumptions of Cognitive Theory

• Some learning processes are unique to humans.
• Individuals are actively involved in the learning
  process by controlling their learning.
• Learning involves an internal, mental change.
• Knowledge is organized by association and
  interconnectedness.
• New knowledge is related to previously learned
  information.
• Inferences about mental processes can be drawn by
  observing student behavior.

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Implications of Cognitive Theory

• Learning is a function of how information is
  processed.
• Therefore, we as educators should be concerned
  with students cognitive processes. We need to
  be aware not only of what students are learning,
  but how students are learning.
• Piaget and Vygotsky determined that kids develop
  more complex reasoning processes over time.
• Therefore, when planning units of study and
  methods of instruction, we must consider the
  students current cognitive level of functioning.

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Implications of Cognitive Theory, continued

• As people learn, they mentally organize new
  information.
• Therefore, it is important to present material in
  an organized fashion.
• Learning is more likely to occur when people
  associate new material with previously learned
  material.
• Therefore, we must help students relate new
  information to old information.
• Students control their own learning by being
  mentally involved in the classroom.
• Therefore, we need to monitor students to ensure
  they are paying attention, thinking, and
  processing.

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Why do you

• work out?
• go shopping?
• get involved in a book study?
• read a novel?
• watch a movie?
• cook dinner for your family?
• modify your lesson plans?

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What motivates people to engage in an activity?

• People engage in activities because they are
  enjoyable and/or rewarding.
• People might engage in an activity because it
  results in something rewarding.
• think of something you dowhat do YOU GET OUT
  OF IT???
• How many things do you do that arent fun or that
  arent beneficial? WHY??

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Definition of Motivation

• Motivation is an internal state that
• arouses us to action
• pushes us in particular directions
• keeps us engaged in certain activities
• Motivation determines to what extent a student
  will actually learn.

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Importance of Motivation

• Students will always be motivated by something.
• It is our responsibility to determine WHAT
  motivates students.

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Discussion Question

• If a student walks into your classroom motivated
  to learn, what behaviors does that child exhibit?

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If a student is motivated to learn, he will

• engage in an activity with greater energy and
  activity.
• set goals for himself.
• increase time on task by initiating work and by
  persisting despite difficulty and interruptions.
• be cognitively engaged, i.e. actually thinking
  about whats being taught.

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Extrinsic Intrinsic Motivation

• Extrinsic motivation occurs when the source for
  motivation comes from outside the person and
  task. ( desire for rewards, fear of punishment,
  need for positive recognition, etc)
• Intrinsic motivation occurs when the source of
  motivation comes from within the individual and
  task. The individual sees the task as enjoyable
  and worthwhile.

• Group work With the people sitting at your
  table, make a list of both extrinsic and
  intrinsic motivation that occurs in school.

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Both can be effective, but
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Intrinsic motivation is more beneficial than
extrinsic motivation to promote learning.

• Students who are intrinsically motivated are more
  likely to
• Begin a task on their own
• Pay attention
• Learn material in a meaningful way
• Show creativity
• Be persistent despite failures
• Enjoy the activity
• Evaluate their own progress
• Achieve at high levels

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The bad news for middle school teachers

• Although most students start school with a high
  level of intrinsic motivation to learn, they tend
  to lose this motivation as they get older.

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So how can we promote intrinsic motivation?

• Relate units of study to the students lives.
• How are the effects of the tsunami in December
  similar to the destruction caused by Mt. Vesuvius
  in 79 A.D.?
• How would you have reacted if your mother
  embarrassed you in front of your peers like this
  character did?
• Talk about intrinsic motives.
• You must be proud of yourself for getting a B on
  that quiz.
• Im glad you enjoy doing this simulation.
• Its important you understand how to reduce
  fractions. You use this when you..
• Pursue and discuss your own individual interests.
• I really enjoying watching the Mavericks it
  makes me want to get there and play basketball!
• talk with your tablewhat ARE they interested
  in???

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Group Work with your department

• Working with your department, come up with a list
  of ways to promote intrinsic motivation among
  your students. Make your methods specific to
  your subject matter.
• Again, the 3 ways to encourage this are
• Relate subject to students lives
• Talk about intrinsic motives
• Pursue and discuss your own interests

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Group Workwith your team

• Now that you have come up with some ways to
  encourage intrinsic motivation within your
  subject matter, you are going to be working with
  your team.
• Make a list of ways to intrinsically encourage
  students to excel. Since everyone on your team
  teaches the same students, you may want to think
  of specific methods for individual students who
  might need more encouragement than others.

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Discussion

• What do you feel is the most important need for
  middle school students?

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Theorists have studied several humans needs which
have implications for the classroom

• Maslows Hierarchy of Needs
• Need for Competence and Self-worth
• Need for Relatedness
• Need for Affiliation
• Need for Approval
• Need for Achievement

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1. Implications for Maslows Hierarchy of Needs

• Safety Students need to be aware of classroom
  expectations and to have routines established.
• Love and belongingness Students need to feel as
  though they are part of a group. This can be
  manifested by a M.S. student conforming their
  dress, speech, and actions to be like other
  students.
• Esteem In order to be respected, a M.S. student
  may act in ways that will bolster his image in
  front of peers. Conversely, some students
  exhibit low self-esteem.

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2. Need for Competence and Self-worth

• Robert White (1959) suggested that humans have a
  basic need for competence, a belief that they
  can deal effectively with their environment.
  (Ormrod,2004)
• Martin Covington (1992) suggested that self-worth
  (defending ones competency) is a primary need
  for humans. This can be done by
• Consistently succeeding
• Avoiding failure
• Setting low expectations
• Refusing to participate in an activity or to
  complete an assignment
• Making excuses
• Cheating
• Procrastinating
• We see these behaviors on a daily basis, dont
  we?

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Addressing the needs described by Maslow the
need for competence self-worth

• Allow students to take restroom breaks.
• Allow students to drink water in the classroom.
• Refer sick or troubled students to the nurse or
  counselor.
• Change classroom activities frequently.
• Encourage students to ask questions.

• Acknowledge students achievements.
• Have an orderly classroom.
• Have students follow procedures for daily tasks.
• Be consistent in dealing with students.
• Clearly define expectations.

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Group Activity

• Brainstorm with the people at your table. Can
  you come up with 10 ways to meet students basic
  needs, as well as their needs for competence and
  self-worth? Be as specific as possible.

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3. Need for Relatedness

• Middle school students want to be connected
  socially to others. They feel this leads to love
  and respect. It might be manifested in the
  following ways
• Prioritizing socializing over working on school
• Trying to look popular, smart, foolish, athletic,
  etc.
• Showing concern and helping others

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4. Need for Affiliation

• Need for affiliation describes students who
  desire friendly relationships. Some students
  have a high need for affiliation, whereas others
  have a low need.
• Students with a high need for affiliation might
• Be nervous when watched by others
• Communicate frequently
• Be affected by peer pressure
• Be more interested in relationships than tasks
• Earn lower grades than their peers
• Thrive in a classroom with a nurturing teacher

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5. Need for Approval

• Some students have a strong desire to look good
  in front of others.
• How this might be observed
• Seeking teacher recognition/approval
• Seeking peer recognition/approval
• Which of these 2 do we see more in the middle
  school?
• Note Students with a high need for approval
  tend to be less popular than their peers.

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6. Need for Achievement

• Some students have an intrinsic desire to achieve
  excellence. These students might be persistent,
  be realistic about tasks, and set high standards.
  
• Can you think of a student this describes?
• Covington and Omelich (1991) have proposed that
  learners can be divided into four groups
• Over-strivers
• Optimists
• Failure avoiders
• Failure accepters
• Can you think of a student who could fit into
  each of these categories?
• The need for achievement might be influenced
  more by
• specific tasks and subjects rather than true for
  all areas.

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Addressing the needs for relatedness,
affiliation, approval, and achievement

• Foster healthy teacher-student relationships
• Take a student to lunch.
• Get involved in the mentoring program.
• Attend extra-curricular events.
• Show interest in their lives.
• Ask about a students day and then listen.
• Give students birthday cards.
• Give small gifts to the class.
• Acknowledge them
• Encourage students.

• Allow students to communicate with their peers.
• Discussion with a partner
• Cooperative learning
• Skits
• Peer-evaluation
• Inform students what material will be evaluated
  on a test i.e. tell them specifically what to
  learn.
• Challenge students.
• Q Which of these do we already do successfully?

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Group Activity

• Brainstorm with the people at your table. List
  ways you could meet students needs for
  relatedness, affiliation, approval, and
  achievement. Be as specific as possible.

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Homework Assignment

• Individually, make a list of 5 ways you think you
  could help to ensure your students needs are
  being addressed.
• Set a goal How many techniques can you commit
  to implementing over the next couple of weeks?
• (Dont over do it, though!)
• Team Leaders In an upcoming team meeting, set
  aside 10 minutes for your team to share their
  experiences.

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Resource

• Ormrod, J. (2004). Human learning. 4th ed. Upper
  Saddle River, NJ Merrill Prentice Hall.