As an educator what would you do that helps each child to develop and realise their potential

Teachers, as well as parents, are often faced with challenging situations regarding their students and children. How do you keep motivating students? It’s a familiar worry when a student doesn’t work to their full potential.

Therefore, motivating students is a conspicuously important task when it comes to bringing out the best in students. Part of a teacher’s job is helping their students realize their capabilities.

Ideally, it is imperative for a teacher to conduct a deeply rooted analysis on the issues that may potentially lead to an unmotivated student. For instance, social factors like complicated family matters. And sometimes, physical conditions may hinder a student from achieving their best work.

So part of a teachers’ role is motivating students to ensure that they overcome their individual challenges and excel in their studies. The following are techniques teachers use in motivating students:

Providing a conducive learning environment

The first thing that a teacher would want to ensure is that all students find the learning conditions favorable regardless of culture, build, and academic skills. This method of motivating students instills confidence since there’s equal opportunity in the classroom.

Further, taking into account some physical disabilities e.g. hearing, sight problems. Correctly placing them in the classroom will go a long way in creating a stable environment.

A positive atmosphere will help any student with issues at home, take their mind off of their worries. It will also assist them to focus on the school’s activities.

Identifying students’ passion

Motivating students means becoming a constant cheerleader. Not that you have to dress up to fit the role. But, it is important to identify what each student is good at and what they enjoy doing.

When this is achieved, the teacher should continually praise the student for their exemplary skills while challenging them. Challenge them to work on their skills, and to discover hidden talents. This technique of motivating students is particularly useful as it ensures that the students to test themselves.

Boosting the students’ self-esteem

Typically, most students are not even aware that they can surpass their current level of achievements. So they sit in a web of self-doubt. Primarily, this may have arisen from previous encounters of failures resulting to a low self-esteem.
In motivating students suffering from an injured self-esteem, it’s important to assure them they are victors. Show them that they can do anything if they try. When motivating students, it is important to start off with the basic tasks which are easier, then build to more complex problems.

This gradual trajectory ensures that the students develop self-confidence hence are more prepared to handle the challenges.

Getting the students involved

Most students will always perform better in processes where they feel that they are thoroughly involved. It is advisable that in motivating students, teachers should strive to involve their students in as many aspects of learning as possible. For instance, assigning students tasks to clean up the blackboard is a fun and engaging way to make sure that students are involved.

Similarly, students may take turns in reading sections of literature aloud when instances allow. This helps in motivating students by helping them develop the courage while ensuring that they are kept attentive through class work.

Teachers should get creative in teaching techniques

Students often lose concentration fast especially when the classroom becomes more of a routine day in day out. To prevent this monotony, teachers should help in motivating students by crafting fun ways of passing on knowledge. For example, teachers should strive to move away from the traditional lectures and embrace discussions and debates. Further, enriching the area of study with different enhancements like charts, graphs, videos, and other visual aids will greatly help in motivating students.

Similarly, use of models and geometrical illustrations could be incorporated to ensure that the idea of the subject matter was understood. Also, to motivating students, teachers should more often draw real life experiences and relate them to the class work under study. Notably, when students perceive the close relation of what they are doing in class to what is being practiced in the life outside the classroom, they are more likely to pay close attention.

Motivating Students Through Offering Incentives

Among the old-fashioned ways of motivating students has been to reward those that have achieved a pre-set milestone by offering incentives. Motivating students through this particular way assures that there is healthy competition within the entire class. This collective effort ensures that even those who were weak in the class are relatively lifted to greater levels.

Notably, these incentives may range from consumables like candy or educational aid materials. It is important that the kind of incentive given will further challenge the student to achieve even more. For instance, plan an educational trip, so the class attains a set target mark. Having rotational trophies that are presented to the best of students in specific disciplines could help in motivating students to get to the top while maintaining those already on top to support their positions.

However, care should be taken to ensure that not only the high achievers are rewarded. Noteworthy, it is a fact that if this criterion is used, some students would most likely not receive these incentives. Avoid classroom issues, provide other categories of most improved in different tiers could be incorporated and other group incentives like best class in mathematics and so on.

Set Goals Together

When motivating students, it is essential that you as a teacher help them set goals. For instance, in crafting mean target scores, let this not entirely be the preserve of the teacher. A tabulated graph should be made of the previous performances; then a debate should ensue on what would be the most appropriate mean score to set. In doing this, the students feel obliged to perform and meet their set target.

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