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Motivation is the key to learning. When it comes from within, it’s intrinsic; however, it can be developed and created extrinsically. The following are 5 practical tips to keep your students motivated all the time.
1. Promote a positive atmosphere:
Smile at your students, deal with them in a respectful manner and establish rapport with them. This could be your nature, if not, fake it until you make it. It makes students more valued, confident and have a positive experience which helps them keep motivated.
2. Link courses to big aims; and learning outcomes to big contexts:
I mean to elicit / remind students of why they learn English in the first place, and why we do each (set of) activity (ies). By doing this, the whole learning experience is seen in a meaningful context rather than attending some lessons and doing some tasks in isolation. Consequently, students keep motivated, and regain motivation in case of any ‘downs’.
3. When there’s a communication issue, intervene to fix the issue:
This is an example of mine: 2 days ago, I was teaching a class when one student mentioned a comment in L1, I echoed the comment in a disapproving manner (to highlight that using L1 in this situation is unnecessary). It was apparent that the student got embarrassed because my reaction was a bit off-putting. About 10 minutes later I noticed that the same student was erasing a wrong answer in her colleague’s book, so I said, “Well done for helping your friend; this is a small action but it counts, thank you!” Although it was something minor, I didn’t want to miss this chance to put the student on track again and to make her feel more appreciated.
4. Give students opportunities to express their opinions about learning and suggest improvement:
I do this informally, by having discussions about student’s learning preferences and how they would like to learn; for example I ask them about what kind of activities they enjoy more and why. Formally, at the end of each level, we distribute a questionnaire through which students can say what they find positive and what they need to change; and I react to their needs. Such a way promotes students’ sense of ownership to learning.
5. Not to be an ‘innocent bystander’ all the time:
I mean, sometimes the teacher can become involved in classroom activities (while monitoring of course); for instance, tell your students when they prepare questions for a mingling activity that they can feel free to ask you the questions. They feel more at ease and they like knowing more about their teacher, and, as a result, they maintain motivation.
