Opening day for traditional K-12 campuses is right around the corner. Some schools have already started.
The opening of a school year is a good time to examine the importance of motivation when it comes to making young learners smarter and stronger.
Recently, EducationWeek bundled a group of articles together suggesting how teachers inside traditional classrooms can motivate students to be engaged with their learning – from day one.
One article focused on the importance of teachers greeting their students as the young learners walk through the classroom door:
“Teachers, what if someone told you that engaging in a daily classroom ritual with your students that takes less than five minutes and requires little to no training could improve your students’ mood and behavior immediately, make them more likely to engage in learning, and maybe even elevate your own teaching skills?”
“Yes, it sounds like a gimmick. But it’s not.”
“It’s a simple practice that involves greeting each student individually as they walk through the classroom door. Second grade teacher Kaylee Hutcheson has embraced the practice…, and has no plans of stopping.”
“For Hutcheson and her 2nd graders at Hawthorne Elementary School in Mexico, Mo., the ritual looks something like this. Every morning before the school day officially begins, she meets her students in the gym, then they walk together to her classroom. She stands at the door, with her students lined up, waiting to enter. Then comes the fun part. ‘I give them their choice of greetings: high-five, elbow taps. Lots of them are huggers; that’s their love language,’ said Hutcheson.”
Another article encourages teachers to start off the school year right by setting clear expectations, setting reasonable and explainable goals, and getting to know the students. After that, be sure to observe as much student behavior as possible, asking yourself “Is the student emotionally and/or academically stressed?”, “Is the student physically stressed?”, and “Is the student actually paying attention?” Finally, make sure to avoid common mistakes when it comes to student interaction like negative callouts, proximity control, and comparisons to other students.
But, if you are looking for something more than door greetings and setting expectations and goals while avoiding actions that might cause negative results, then look at these motivational strategies that come from educational researchers and gifted classroom teachers:
- Give students more control, even the youngest learners
- Foster students’ belief in their own abilities
- Practice the “art of questioning”
- Model enthusiasm for learning
- Make fun a high priority
In other words, make sure young learners are invested in their learning by helping them create their own learning plan.
Once a learning plan is created, make sure you, as the adult learning leader, help the young learner develop strong reading, writing, and problem-solving skills, so that the young learner possesses the tools necessary to eventually believe in their own cognitive abilities – learning how to learn.
Help your young learners arrive at groups of essential questions, questions that will help them meet their learning plan goals.
Make sure everyone is a learner, including you as the adult learning leader. Nothing is more of a turnoff than kids realizing that their “adult learning leader” really isn’t interested in learning at all.
And finally, even though learning is hard work and lots of struggle, adult learning leaders should teach their young learners how to have fun with their learning. Most important here is the commitment of everyone to celebrate learning whenever it occurs.
All of this takes time, time that is usually devoted to learning academic knowledge and skills inside the traditional K-12 classroom. But if you, and your young learners, take the time to work on building a culture of learning, then the sky’s the limit when it comes to how well each young learner defines, plans, executes, and evaluates their own learning plan.
So how will you use your time this year? Covering material? Or building learners?
Happy First Day!
Til tomorrow. SVB
A Better Path to Learning 
Leave a comment