The Long Awaited "More Resources" post

There were a number of articles we consulted for this project; the full list is below, with the ones we found most useful in bold. The one at the very top is one I just added today.

Some of the articles not bolded were quite good, but rehashed information we already knew from our practice or other materials. Some of the bolded ones did a bit of rehash too, but presented their information in especially clear ways. How useful a particular article might be to you has a lot of dependence on how familiar you already are with the particular tactic or strategy they are talking about.

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Added to the List After the End of the Study Group

Strategies to Build Intrinsic Motivation

https://www.edutopia.org/blog/classroom-self-persuasion-david-palank

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Listed During the Study Group

10 Ways Teachers Can Create a Positive Learning Environment

https://freespiritpublishingblog.com/2016/11/29/ten-ways-teachers-can-create-a-positive-learning-environment/

Center for Teaching at Vanderbilt University

https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/motivating-students/  

Taking Action on Adolescent Literacy

Chapter 1. Student Motivation, Engagement, and Achievement

http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/107034/chapters/Student-Motivation,-Engagement,-and-Achievement.aspx

How to Motivate Students: Top 12 Ways

http://www.teachhub.com/top-12-ways-motivate-students

Using New Research to Improve Student Motivation

https://www.carnegiefoundation.org/blog/using-new-research-to-improve-student-motivation/

Why is motivation important..

https://www.reference.com/world-view/motivation-important-aca304092a873af6#

Ames, Carole A.  “Motivation: What Teachers Need to Know” University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

http://www.unco.edu/cebs/psychology/kevinpugh/motivation_project/resources/ames90.pdf

Persaud, Raj. “How Vital Is Motivation In Our Lives?”. Gresham College. 6 October 2005

http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/how-vital-is-motivation-in-our-lives

Mark R. Lepper, Stanford University; Jennifer Henderlong, Corpus Reed College; Sheena S. Iyengar, Columbia University.

Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivational Orientations in the Classroom: Age Differences and Academic Correlates. Journal of Educational Psychology Copyright 2005 by the American Psychological Association 2005, Vol. 97, No. 2, 184 –196

http://www.unco.edu/cebs/psychology/kevinpugh/motivation_project/resources/lepper_etal05.pdf

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Articles from Academic OneFile

(peer-reviewed journals)

Bartholomew, Barbara. "Why we can't always get what we want." Phi Delta Kappan, vol. 88, no. 8, 2007, p. 593+. Academic OneFile, http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=AONE&sw=w&u=nysl_sc_seton&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA162172257&it=r&asid=b514b0aac975585d2e682af04bfcdaaf

Gale Document Number: GALE|A162172257

Cushman, Kathleen. "8 Conditions for motivated learning: schools and teachers can be more intentional about encouraging student motivation." Phi Delta Kappan, vol. 95, no. 8, 2014, p. 18. Academic OneFile, http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=AONE&sw=w&u=nysl_sc_seton&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA367421136&it=r&asid=d3a4c59c48c18fce8889f7659f1f5f17

Gale Document Number: GALE|A367421136

Kavandi, Elham, and Reza Kavandi. "The effect of using humor on high school students' grammar performance and motivation." Theory and Practice in Language Studies, vol. 6, no. 7, 2016, p. 1466+. Academic OneFile, http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=AONE&sw=w&u=nysl_sc_seton&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA461970626&it=r&asid=c5333c954b4baa35461918b3798aa826.

Gale Document Number: GALE|A461970626

Kittrell, David L., and Gary E. Moore. "Student motivation." NACTA Journal, vol. 57, no. 1, 2013, p. 94+. Academic OneFile, http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=AONE&sw=w&u=nysl_sc_seton&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA321463940&it=r&asid=cf443ae98c16688e764a1d81d0dd5006

Gale Document Number: GALE|A321463940

Lang, James M. "Small changes in teaching: giving them a say; three ways to improve learning by giving students a measure of control." The Chronicle of Higher Education, 22 Apr. 2016, p. A34+. Academic OneFile, http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=AONE&sw=w&u=nysl_sc_seton&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA452051454&it=r&asid=0ac630153160ec981875d0b29bec79f2

Gale Document Number: GALE|A452051454

Sallis, Derek, et al. "Cartooning your way to student motivation." Science Scope, Summer 2009, p. 22. Academic OneFile, http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=AONE&sw=w&u=nysl_sc_seton&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA202014728&it=r&asid=370dc547473315c092e2ec458c878dc6

Gale Document Number: GALE|A202014728

Slaughter, Rachel. "Getting to know you: using students' passions to unlock their internal motivation for reading." Literacy Today, vol. 34, no. 1, 2016, p. 20+. Academic OneFile, http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=AONE&sw=w&u=nysl_sc_seton&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA459425017&it=r&asid=8c799ce095e1e82db58d9d3e096b32ab

Gale Document Number: GALE|A459425017

Resources

     We started this blog as part of a Study Group we're doing through the Broome-Tioga BOCES Teacher Center. During the Study Group we've used several resources to improve our understanding and focus our discussions among ourselves.

Books:

Pink, Daniel - Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us
Lavoie, Richard - The Motivation Breakthrough: 6 Secrets of Turning On the Tuned-Off Child
Gladwell, Malcolm - David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants
Tammy Heflebower. et al - The Highly Engaged Classroom 

     In the end, we concentrated mostly on the first two books.

     We found Drive to be very good on general motivation principles for business, but rather scanty on specific applications for education.

     The Motivation Breakthrough was excellent on applying principles to practice. Though he was rather focused on special education, the techniques shown within could be used with any class and grade.

     David and Goliath was composed of chapters focusing on various people who achieved something against the odds; many of whom had an impact on others. Great reading though not directly applicable to the classroom save as inspiration.

     The Highly Engaged Classroom was focused on technology in the classroom and when and how to use it for teaching and engagement. Again, a worthy topic, but not quite what we were looking for.


Webinars / Online Talks:

20% Time Workshop with Kevin Brookhouser
March 9, 2017
http://www.edchatinteractive.org
     As we have been discussing the possibility of implementing 20% projects as part of increasing student motivation, this webinar seemed like it would be very applicable. However, we found that it approached the topic slowly, so that it only actually addressed 20% Time projects toward the end of the session, and had no suggestions for grading these beyond grading student blogs, etc. as if English assignments. (Not quite so helpful for a science teacher.)

Motivating the Gifted but Reluctant Learner
Presented by Diane Heacox
Tuesday, Mar 14
http://home.edweb.net/webinar/motivating-gifted-reluctant-learner/
     This webinar seemed to have much more for us on our topic of motivating students, both from the teacher's presentation and from the comments of other attendees. Some of what was discussed dealt with techniques for helping students to be - and feel - more in control of their learning and better able to achieve. It also dealt with helping students deal with fear of failure and with other issues which impede their learning and motivation, such as boredom, peer pressure, and bullying.

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Workshops:

How to Motivate & Engage Students in Literacy PreK-5
Given at the Broome County Teacher Center
2/8/2017 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm
     While we hoped to find information which could be used with middle and high school students as well as the workshop's designated elementary range, we found that this workshop actually focused on engagement rather than motivation per se. While that is certainly a worthwhile topic, and it covered a lot of ideas, it wasn't really what we were looking for.

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Next post: articles and websites!

Empty Buckets

As teachers, what motivates us when we feel we have nothing to give?  What do we do when our own personal troubles challenge the face we put on at work as instructor, counselor, colleague?  As Christian teachers, we gain motivation from a different source, from a renewing source, from a holy source. Still, when encountering crucibles our faith can be tried.   

Joyce Meyer proposes the bucket analogy: some days your buckets are empty and you will find it a struggle to get through the day, let alone be a resource of strength to others.  Last year I followed a demanding routine: I woke two hours early at 4 am to prep and grade, stayed at work an extra hour, and then continued to prep until 7 pm before I went to bed.  What motivated me to do this?  A third-year teacher, I was still a go-getter.  I wanted to reach every student, to create impressive lessons, and to organize my department.  Then, pain wasn’t a constant companion but it was a familiar friend. Yet, I ignored my discomfort, pushed aside any pain, and pressed forward.  I felt that my success and my students’ success were more important.  My buckets were empty then, but I continued to carry them and make it by step-by-step.

Some days, however, the empty buckets themselves become a burden and weigh you to the ground.  This year the pain is constant, it is disorienting, it is faith-shattering.  I keep going.  Minute-to-minute or class-to-class, I just keep going.  Why?  The alternative is to accept that my life, my current state, is valueless.  This is not true.  Even in pain, even in crisis, I still have value: I can still teach, I can still comfort, I can still pray.  Though my faith has been tested this year—these past five years—it still motivates me.

There is a stretch of road at the bottom of my hill where the sun shines so brightly in the morning that I can not see.  Whether I put the visor down or put my sunglasses on, it makes no difference: I am blind.  I know the road is there and I trust I will see the pavement again, but within those seconds I exist completely in faith: faith that I am in the right place, faith that no one will strike me, and faith that I will see the way again.  I live every day in the same “blind” faith.  I trust that suffering will end.  I trust I will see the purpose of my pain.  I trust Him.  And I’ll follow the warmth of the sun.

To Discipline or to Motivate?

I enjoyed edWeb's presentation "Motivating the Gifted but Reluctant Learner," finding that it had information we hadn't encountered yet in our study group and that it provided a practical analysis of the issue of student motivation.

The webinar began by characterizing what we see as discipline issues and motivation issues: this registered with me.  Those interruptions that interfere with teaching and learning, that create an unsafe environment (physically, emotionally) or that result in the destruction of property are not motivation problems; instead, they are discipline issues and must be handled with different interventions.  I also appreciated Diane Heacox's definition of key terms like underachievement, non-producer, selective producer, and underachiever.

Within Heacox's definition of underachievement is an apt observation: underachievement is a severe and persistent discrepancy between potential and performance that is not attributable to a learning difficulty.  So, firstly, teachers must be able to clearly and effectively identify a student's capabilities; only then can underachievement be recognized.  Secondly, the discrepancy must be repeated and must be severe enough to affect the student's work.  Finally, underachievement is not the result of a learning difficulty: expectations have to be tempered for those students with disabilities.  Since each student's potential is different, the point at which they can be considered underachieving is different, as well.

There were many great pearls of motivating wisdom in this presentation.  Personally, a lot of the issues I have in class can be put into the discipline category as I struggle most with classroom management.  There are situations, however, when I'm confronted with "This is too hard," "I can't do this," or "Why are we doing this?"  These statements expose issues with confidence, anxiety, and purpose that signify a motivation problem.  It seems to me that the classroom is a constant cycle of separating discipline and motivation, evaluating potential and results, and creating and implementing the most effective interventions.

Next Steps

Off to a slow start with our blogging on Motivation in our Classrooms. We have talked about what we do in our classes to encourage students:  things like demonstrations and videos in Chemistry class; while English class gives special time for 'free writing'. We have read one of our three books, but unfortunately it was more about motivation in business than in education. And last week I participated in a webinar on EdChat by Kevin Brookhouser that was supposed to be about the 20%Project and of the hour discussion, only about 5 minutes or so really discussed the Project. The webinar mentioned a number of other things like problem solving and the type of problem solving we need: algorithmic vs heuristic.He also mentioned Daniel Pink's book, Drive; The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, which is the one we read in our Study Group. It was a good read, but very little that was applicable for us. Next for me is another webinar from this past Tuesday;  "Motivating the Gifted but Reluctant Learner". I'll let you all know how it goes next time.

Hello, hello, is this thing on?

Is this thing on?

Oh right, of course it is. Being on is what this blog is to be all about. On. Motivated. Eager to learn and interact. We've got some great resources we're looking at and more which we will be reading and viewing.

What is motivating? How do we work to get students as motivated in the classroom as they are out of it - and on topic, as Sarah noted. We're going to dig down and see what we can see. The three of us are motivated about this subject, at least; now to explore ways of sharing our excitement about learning with others and getting them excited too.

(Un)Motivate Me!

What I realized today is that all students are motivated.  Some of my students are motivated to play games on their Chromebooks; some of my students are motivated to yell across the classroom; some of my students are motivated to discuss the difference between Romeo's character and Juliet's character in Act II, Scene II.  This was a welcome epiphany!  Knowing that my students are all capable of being motivated, my job now is to redirect or further encourage these motivations.

An engaging and motivating activity I learned about today is using My Maps.  Diana Simpson, sorceress of technology and wizardess of Chemistry, shared this resource with me today.  In this app, students can create maps of their own; her students are using their maps to identify natural resources that have been degraded.  Hearing her describe this activity, I wished I had been in her class today!

There are some enlightening texts and useful videos that we've had access to in our Motivation! Study Group, but by far the most relevant, delightful, and heartening suggestions have come from my peers.  I am so looking forward to "stealing" these tips and tricks for my classes.

WELCOME!! To our Motivation Blog

We three teachers from Seton Catholic Central HS in Binghamton, NY are part of a Teacher Center of Broome County Study Group. We are investigating ways to motivate our students to WANT to do better in our classes and in school in general. We have several well known books to discuss and also are looking forward to participating in some webinars in March to help us understand what motivates our students and then how we can learn to motivate them. Keep reading as we go along this journey of discovery about what Motivates our students to do their best always.