How to Encourage Students
It is natural for students to keep struggling and losing motivation along the way. They have their own personal struggles that they are battling with and, as a result, could lose interest in their studies easily. That’s where you, their teacher, come in. You have to make sure your students don’t lose their motivation.
Be excited, and get them excited about learning. Study the latest innovative methods for teaching your students. Be creative, and keep them going. Besides encouraging all your students daily, you need to look out for those who may need it more at certain times. While they are many ways to encourage your students and keep them in high spirits, here are our top 10!
1. Offer incentives
The best way to get students to work harder is by offering them incentives. These can be as small as them getting a gold star sticker to motivating them with cupcakes and other food items. This will give them something to work towards and make them feel a sense of accomplishment when they receive the reward.
2. Be creative
To keep students engaged and motivated, avoid monotony, and be innovative with your teaching methods. Stay up to date and come up with new, fun strategies to teach your students. Instead of using the same old lectures and textbooks, make it interactive by having them engage in debates, playing games related to the subject, etc.
3. Motivating classroom
Make sure the environment in your classroom is motivating and has a stimulating environment for students to learn. The classroom can have a huge impact on students’ state of mind and motivation. Put up posters and quotes, add color, and have good reading material on bookshelves. Create a comfortable and inspiring environment to encourage your students to keep working hard.
4. Positive reinforcement
You need to keep praising your students and give them positive reinforcement. Praising them will keep them motivated and encourage them to do better. This is especially true if they have done something to deserve it, like getting a great score on a test. You can’t let it go unnoticed and should make an extra effort to compliment them, both verbally and through written words. This will lead them to want to do better the next time as well.
5. Set goals
Set goals with your students to have something concrete to work towards and can put in the required effort. This will keep them going as they are not working aimlessly and have an end goal in mind.
Besides that, it is equally important that you point out your students’ successes along the way. Show them their accomplishments and tell them how proud you are of them. Sometimes, students don’t see their progress until their teacher points it out to them. Celebrate each of their achievements, no matter how big or small, and show them how they are getting closer to the goal.
6. Give students some freedom
Students need to feel like they are in control of their journey. They need to have some say in decisions related to the lesson plan to keep them motivated and interested. If they are dictated everything that needs to be done from start to end, it may start to bore them and make them participate half-heartedly.
Students who have some say in how the lesson plan is followed or how the class is conducted will be able to include what they want and have some responsibility. The responsibility will ensure them to work harder. Of course, the teacher is the ultimate guide, but students can have their say in matters like choosing topics for assignments, choosing reading material, etc.
7. Change of scenery
While an inspiring classroom is a great place to learn, sometimes all that your students need is a change of scenery to get those creative juices flowing and get the inspiration they need.
Once in a while, take your students on a walk or take the lesson outdoors. You will be surprised at what this can do. Besides this, you can even arrange field trips for the students so that they get a hands-on learning experience and take a break from the books.
8. Healthy competition
There’s nothing like some healthy competition to motivate students to work harder. However, make sure that the competition remains friendly and doesn’t turn into something too serious that could have the opposite effect of what you are trying to achieve. You can do this by having debate competitions or friendly games related to the subject you are teaching.
9. Draw connections to real life
Sometimes students don’t feel motivated to learn as they feel that what they are learning is useless and will not help them in real life. Therefore, you need to draw links to present-day usage from time to time. You will have to show them the importance of that subject or topic and how it will help them in their lives.
To do this, you might have to research first so that you are better equipped to answer their questions. Intrigue them by giving them real-life examples. This will definitely change their outlook on that subject and encourage them to study harder.
10. Be enthusiastic
Keep a positive attitude and be energetic and enthusiastic in the classroom. Positive energy is always contagious, and your positive attitude will lead students to be enthusiastic about learning. Your students will also find you more approachable when you display a positive attitude in the classroom.
They will pay more attention and be excited to learn from someone so eager to teach. A happy teacher is also someone they would turn to if they have a problem or need help.
With these 10 tips, you will be successful in encouraging your students and keeping them highly motivated to work hard. Remember, the most important part is staying motivated yourself so that you can motivate them.