How do we Motivate middle school students? Part one

8/30/2010

Made on Motivator

In the last post, I talked about how my new 7th graders were telling me they lacked self confidence. My orginal plan was to share a free website my wife had shared with me, however, I got off track. She attended the conference at Bowling Green a few weeks back and while Mike and I were presenting she traveled to a few sessions. One session showed her the website Motivator. It is a free site and I believe a good way to personalize motivational comments for your students. I plan to use this a few times a week, to add quotes and motivational comments with images of my student. I hope by the end of the year to have a room full of these images and quotes. Give it a try and let me know what you think about this free software. In a few weeks, I plan to address the question: How do we motivate middle school students in a more thoughtful way. Cheers, Garth

21 Comments

jasonUA

9/8/2010 04:34:07 am

I agree that motiviation does alot to prompt students growth and i feel that anything no matter if its osters or recorded speeches what ever it is should be used to promote a strong selfconfidence and motivation to do ones best

Kristen Nicole link

9/8/2010 03:02:14 pm

I love what you've said. I want to note especially the value of integrating classroom learning into real life. Cell phones and computers are important parts of students' lives today, and incorporating them into classroom activities makes these activities applicable to real life situations. We don't want students who mourn their lack of experience as Goethe's Faust; we don't want students whose only learning is contained in a classroom. If, suddenly, texting is connected to history, it makes the concepts more concrete rather than abstract.

AdamUA

9/12/2010 11:52:24 pm

I like the idea of having "personalized" motivation posters in a classroom, especially in middle school classrooms. It allows the students to take more ownership in the ideas or motivation indicated. Just looking at a picture of a golf course featuring an island green with a caption of, "Challenge Yourself" doesn't provided any motivation to someone who does not play golf. But, if the picture was of themselves in the classroom or something that everyone can relate too, it would have more impact.
I think it would also work well in outlining acceptable behaviors or expectations in the classroom. Pictures have a lot more power than words alone. In having students involved with the production of the poster, it allows them to "own" the creation and the idea/message behind it.

KyleUA

9/14/2010 10:39:01 am

I really enjoyed looking at the motivation posters that were put up. Motivating students is such an important aspect in the classroom, and is sometimes unacknowledged. I believe that it would be a fun activity if each student was able to make their own motivation poster that could be hung up on the wall. It would be very interesting to see the variety of work from all the students. It also might provide teachers insight on how to better motivate and challenge their students.

Garth

9/14/2010 10:44:58 am

Adam and Kyle,
I really like the idea of them making the poster on their own. I will try that and let you know how it works. Thanks for the idea. G

Carla Jackson UA

9/22/2010 05:17:30 am

Motivational posters are a great wy to reinforce positivity and self-worth into students. Having something that serves as a constant reminder of them striving for excellene and being great may be just the thing they need. Them having the opportunity to create such poster further fosters in them a since of acheivement and feeling of pride that will also build up their esteem and confidence. Incorporating unique and fun techniqus into larning is a motivator in it self, the using of cell phones in the class is bound to leave kids exciting each time they come to class wondering what new cool thing will they do to learn today. Personal touches in learning make it more relational and therefore I believe easier for kids to grasp. Motivation created for them by them is awesome, who better to motivate kids than other kids who understand their challenges and insecurities. This is simply great!

Danielle UA

9/22/2010 06:36:16 am

I think the premise behind this website is wonderful. The daycare I work at is very driven in the fact that they want everything in the room to personable and encouraging. In my classroom I have tons of pictures on the wall that are used to show the children learning and to encourage them to continue. I think this website adds a more personable and professional feel to the pictures. This would also be a look for the parents as well; they love to see their children’s pictures on the wall.

AbbyUA

9/22/2010 06:53:36 am

I have seen the word cloud website before (and promptly added it to my Delicious!) and thought it was fantastic for students to be able to create some visual and aesthetic to aid them in understanding a concept and/or the emotions that come with it--very helpful for a L.A. teacher who hopes students take excerpts from books to work with. Because you mentioned in class that so many students are visual learners, the concept mapping programs that allow students to create and see what they should be learning is probably very helpful. Nice resources--thanks!

Bethany

9/24/2010 06:27:44 am

There are several posters that I distinctly remember staring at in boredom while in high school. The sayings however have stuck with me from seeing it day after day. So inspirational posters really do make even a small difference in motivation.

Waymond Williamson III

10/6/2010 10:47:09 am

I think this would work well with high school students. Students seeing their own image on a motivational posters everyday is a good idea. The repetition seems like it would embed positive thoughts and images into the student's psyche. And the ability to customize your own captions makes it just awesome, the various ways you could you this software are almost endless...

Cindy link

4/6/2011 03:05:16 am

I think these posters are great. I can
see how they would be very impactful, especially if you could insert a picture of your own class!

Pam UofA

4/8/2011 03:51:40 am

I love the idea of having motivational posters with pictures of students in the classroom. One thing I have discovered through teaching (sub) and learning (as a grad student) is the difficulty that many students have with self image and self esteem. It can be especially difficult for students with special needs to see themselves as intelligent, quality, whole individuals. Schools are focused on student behavior and academic expectations. But children who lack positive self-awareness will have difficulty giving and receiving support; and feelings of inferiority can impede their ability to benefit from inclusion.

Thanks for offering the motivator software free to your class of future educators.

Marissa link

7/7/2011 03:11:06 am

I love the idea about having each student create his or her own motivational poster. I don't know that all the kids would be happy to put their face on a poster, but allowing them to use a picture of their choice would solve that issue.

ClaireUA

11/2/2011 08:09:37 am

Great Idea I love having motivational posters! I think they can be encouraging when they can see their own picture as well!

JoshuaUA

11/2/2011 08:20:24 am

Cool site. I've seen it only used in a humorous manner before, so utlitizing this site for the class room is a new idea to me!

Teisha

4/29/2012 10:42:21 am

What a thoughtful tool!! I can see myself using this tool to create and individual poster for each one of my students starring themselves. If they can visualize themselves in a good place then maybe they will work to get the. I love this ideal Garth!

Angie

11/3/2012 04:52:19 am

Love the motivator site. Great for visual learners and a great way to personalize the graphics.

Kevin Somerville link

11/9/2012 05:30:38 am

love the idea of personalizing motivation! Use images of a student hard at work is a great way to keep that student interested and excited.

Emily link

3/9/2013 12:22:06 am

we desire for an excellent work from you and there is no doubt that this is a good work done by you. thanks to you for your great effort on this post.

Jenny Sommers

9/25/2013 05:25:25 am

I need to look this free tool up. Maybe it will help motivate me as well!

Anne Lackney link

4/2/2014 10:15:20 am

I really want to like this but. . . these "motivational posters" have become such a meme that I can't take them seriously! I think that this tool started out as something nice, but kind of turned into a joke. I think motivational posters in a different format would work much better.

How do we Motivate middle school students? Part one

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