On M 1 Nov 2021, Jim Wright presented the workshop Finding the Spark: Strategies to Support & Motivate Middle & High School Students to staff from the Cleary School for the Deaf.
- PowerPoint: Finding the Spark: Strategies to Support & Motivate Middle & High School Students [1]
- Workshop Handout [2]
- Numbered Heads Together [3]: Class-wide cooperative learning activity ('nudge' technique).
- Classroom Support Plan Writer. [4] This free web-based app allows educators to create and print customized classroom intervention plans for individuals and groups!
These two online applications were shared to track student motivation:
Here are resources from Jim Wright's Motivating Students: A Toolkit workshop::
- PowerPoint: Motivating Students: The Full Toolkit (ES BOCES: 20 March 2019) [7]
- Handout [8]
- Workbook: Activities [9]
- Numbered Heads Together [3]: Cooperative Learning Activity
- How To: Create a Written Record of Classroom Interventions [13]
- Classroom Intervention Planning Sheet (Google Docs [14]
Motivation Challenge 1: The student is unmotivated because he or she cannot do the assigned work.
- How to Implement Strong Core Instruction (Direct Instruction Checklist) [16] (Interactive Form)
- How To: Create a Written Record of Classroom Interventions [13]
- Classroom Intervention Planning Sheet (Google Docs) [14]
Motivation Challenge 2: The student is unmotivated because the ‘response effort’ needed to complete the assigned work seems too great.
- FREE APP: Accommodations Finder. [17] Create a collection of classroom-friendly 'instructional adjustments' to help the student to successfully complete classwork.
Motivation Challenge 3: The student is unmotivated because of learned helplessness—lack of confidence that he or she can do the assigned work.
- FREE APP: Self-Check Behavior Checklist Maker. [6] Use this application to create and print behavior checklists.
- Managing Academic Anxiety Through an Antecedent Writing Activity [18]
Here are sample intervention ideas in which the student is able to take responsbility for and to manage their own learrning:
- Click or Clunk. [19]The student uses self-signals to monitor understanding at the sentence, paragraph, and page level--and applies 'fix-up' skills.
- Linking Pronouns to Referents. [20]When reading advanced texts, the student circles pronouns, writes their referents above them, and then rereads the text, inserting the referent for each pronoun.
- Read-Ask-Paraphrase. [21] The student locates main idea and supporting details for each paragraph and summarizes them on a graphic organizer. RAP Interactive Form [22]
- Ask-Read-Tell. [23]The student creates a reading plan and sets reading goals, monitors understanding while reading, and reflects on the reading once finished. ART Interactive Form. [24]
- Math Facts (and Spelling) Intervention: Cover-Copy-Compare [25]
- Cover-Copy-Compare Interactive Worksheet: Horizontal Math Facts [26]
- Cover-Copy-Compare Interactive Worksheet: Vertical Math Facts [27]
- HANDOUT: Academic Survival Skills Checklists: 5 Ways to Help [28]
- Academic Survival Skills Checklist Maker [12]
- Math Self-Correction Checklists. [29] The student creates a short checklist containing his or her most frequent types of math errors and uses this checklist to check in-class and homework assignments before turning in.
- Student Self-Regulation: Work-Planning Conference: Description [30]
- Student Independent Work: Planning Tool: Interactive Form [31]
- Learning Contracts [32]
- Version 1: Interactive Learning Contract| [33]Example of a Completed Learning Contract [34]
- Version 2: Interactive Learning Contract [35]|Example of a Completed Learning Contract [36]
Motivation Challenge 4: The student is unmotivated because classroom instruction does not engage.
Motivation Challenge 5: The student is unmotivated because he or she fails to see an adequate pay-off to doing the assigned work.
- VIDEO: How to Manage Behavior in the Classroom: Praise [37]
- Praise (Teacher Handout) [38]
- Jackpot! Reward Finder [39]
- Free or Inexpensive Rewards for Parents. [40] Psychologist Dr. Laura Riffel generated this very useful list of reward ideas for younger and older children.
Motivation Challenge 6: The student is unmotivated because he or she lacks a positive relationship with the teacher.
- Learning Contracts [32]
- Version 1: Interactive Learning Contract|Example of a Completed Learning Contract [41]
- Version 2: Interactive Learning Contract|Example of a Completed Learning Contract [42]
- How to Conduct a Student-Centered Problem-Solving Meeting: Teacher's Guide [43]
- Student-Centered Problem-Solving Meeting: Recording Form [44]
Online Tools for Motivation:
- Jackpot Reward Finder [39]
- Academic Survival Skills Checklist Maker [12]
- Behavior Report Card Maker [5]
- Self-Check Behavior Checklist Maker [6]
Resources for Student Self-Monitoring: