Motivation: What makes us tick?

I believe that motivation is the key to success not only in the classroom, but in life itself.

In school, if students are not motivated and engaged in a lesson, they will be less likely to deeply grasp the lesson or take much away from it. When motivation is lacking, investment is not there. We must figure out how to motivate our students. How do we go about doing this? In a study completed by Guthrie, Tabaoda, Tonks, and Wigfield, the authors examined nine components of reading motivation: interest, preference for challenge, involvement, self-efficacy, competition, recognition, grades, social interaction, and work avoidance (Guthrie et al, 1999). I think it is important that we look at motivation in separate parts. In doing this, we can see different things to focus on in our own classrooms.

For example, in my classroom, I focus on interest, social interaction, and competition. Although I would love to focus on all aspects of motivation, I have found that these three components work best with my middle school students. How do I do this?

1. I make SSR time a priority. I spend time surveying my students interests and hobbies. I get to know their families and their backgrounds. Along with their interests, I administer informal reading assessments. In doing this, I can better match them with books that will interest them and challenge them.

2. My students complete literature circles, idea circles, book chats, book critiques, and book talks in order to have time to talk, laugh, and review books.

3. We have friendly competitions, which my students love. We compete with: pages read, activities completed, etc.

Explicit Instruction to Teach Comprehension Strategies

I believe it is important to explicitly teach comprehension strategies. Why do I believe this? Simple: teachers assume too much! We often assume that as long as we are choosing ability-level appropriate texts, our students will automatically know how to read, interpret, and analyze them. Wrong! We must teach students how to effectively and appropriately use these strategies.

Besides practice, practice, and more practice, I believe THE BEST way to do this is through MODELING! We must show our students how we use these strategies in our own reading and what using the strategy looks like. I have found that being silly is a great way to go about this. For example, when teaching making predictions to my 8th grade students, I use a short story called, "The Story of an Hour." I chunk up the story so they are forced to read it in parts. I choose the first chunk and model how I make a prediction. I put a fake light bulb above my head, I turn my head to exaggerate pondering, I put my hand on my head and scratch my head, I sigh and hmph, etc. You get the point. I make it a big deal! I then explain WHY I made these predictions. What evidence from the story did I use? What background knowledge or prior knowledge do I have that made me think this? What other story have I read or movie have I scene that sparked these thoughts?

In conclusion, I believe in explicit instruction of comprehension strategies. And don't forget to MODEL MODEL MODEL!