Blogboard

I've got a pill for people who can't do fractions... ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2w93B7F4mw

If students care too little about their school work it is because it is not THEIR work. It is the teacher's work. It is hard to care a lot about school work that is assigned and probably of marginal interest. This is the consequence of forced unison education.

Madeline Hunter, Kids don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. Motivating today's students is a bigger challenge than in days past and it begins with building raport with your students. We use rewards and punishment as a means for motivating students. That still works to a degree with elementary students but becomes less effective as students move from grade level to grade level. Helping students develop internal motivation vs external motivation is a more valuable life skill. Developing internal motivation takes more class time especially at the begging of the school year. The time you save throughout the year makes it all worthwhile. Their are strategies and techniques that any teacher at any grade level can learn and implement. Like so many other challenges in life, getting students to be motivated is not a one step, one strategy accomplishment. It requires a combination of strategies and techniques that require some classroom time. Schools today are being expected to teach students more than the 3 R's. Motivating students is but another set of lessons that master teachers teach.