TEFL Elebaires: 4 Tips To Keep Your Students Motivated

Getting your students to be motivated to learn is easier than you might think.

These simple ideas for your classroom can mean the difference between a student who doesn’t care and one who really wants to make a difference in his or her own education.

Let them know where you’re going

For younger and older students alike, posting daily goals on the board before class begins will help them know what you expect of them each day. When your students know your expectations, they are more likely to engage in activities as well as feel a sense of accomplishment once those objectives are met, and this will increase their motivation to do well in school.

Give them what they need

Making sure you have the right tools, resources and environment for your students is essential.  Before your next class, think about what you want your students to accomplish. Then think about what you would need to accomplish that goal. Then add in the challenge of working in a second language and make a list of everything your students will need to be successful. If you have these resources in your classroom, your students will avoid frustration and will, as a result, stay more motivated in their language learning.

Give direction

Once you have communicated your plan and made the right resources available, you need to show them the way. Your students will have to think about what they are doing and saying and how they are using language. That’s what language teaching is all about – showing your students how language works and encouraging them to use what they know. But giving direction doesn’t stop there. Your students won’t know how to use the tools you have made available in your classroom unless you show them. Showing your students useful websites, effective study methods and the best ways to practice language will make a difference. In addition, giving them lists of books, specific magazines, television shows or movies that they can understand and learn from will help your students focus. Your students will feel more confident in what they are doing and that it will help them in their language learning efforts when they know they are doing things right.

Think about your style

The most motivated students are ones who feel they are valued and whose teachers make classroom activities work for them. This ties into a concept that most teachers have heard several times over: learning styles. Not all learners have the same success with every activity you will plan for class. Not every student learns the same way. That’s why targeting as many different learning styles as possible in your classroom will give you the most motivated students. When your students know that you are making efforts to meet their personal learning needs, and they will once you start including several types of classroom activities, they will match your effort with effort of their own and will become better overall students and language learners.

http://busyteacher.org/15835-keep-students-motivated-9-simple-tips-1.html