Synopses & Reviews
Motivating Students: 25 Strategies to Light the Fire of Engagement is a practical handbook for educators to make all students excited about learning. Authors Carolyn Chapman and Nicole Vagle realize the importance of motivation in the classroom and the repercussions when students are unmotivated and unengaged. They describe how to create a welcoming learning environment with diverse and challenging learning opportunities for each student. They also explore the teacher's role in both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, as well as how to reengage bored or frustrated students by finding the source of the disengagement. Not only do students learn through challenging, appealing, and rewarding experiences, but they also continue trying when they can see where they are going and how to get there. Effective motivation creates an internal desire to grow academically, cognitively, and emotionally.
Chapter 1 describes the seven types of unmotivated learners discussed throughout the book as well as possible contributing factors for disengagement. Chapters 2 through 6 unpack twenty-five strategies to motivate students to engage in learning, which include get to know your students' cultural background and context, use rewards carefully and with intention, and create links to prior knowledge. A campfire talk is used in each chapter to guide the reader through the main points; they can be used individually or through group professional development. Motivating Students also includes multiple reproducibles to help teachers implement the strategies.