Motivational+Ideas

v My first placement, Mrs. Lynn’s EIP, did not have many obvious motivational ideas. Her motivational strategies were more undetectable and not as noticeable. She was a strong advocate for using positive reinforcement. She would praise a student when they understood something, accomplished something on their own or tried hard. She also used games and movement activities as a motivational skill. She was able to always keep the students interested and motivated to learn by getting the students to work together or moving around in the classroom. I feel one of her most strongest motivational strategies was the environment she created. She created a safe, undiscriminating, friendly and positive environment. The students really picked up on that vibe and were able to work together and be successful in her classroom. Another tool she used as motivation was encouraging students to work together in groups and learn from one another. v My second placement cooperating teacher had many great ways of motivating her students. She is always enthusiastic and motivating. She would always say things like great job and good work. Some other ways she helped motivate were:  **Smiley Faces on Classwork **** à **If the students do a good job and keep their work neat, clean and follow directions she will go around and put big smiley faces on their work. She will also circle some areas that are really good and point them out to the student. For example, on their handwriting, if they write a really good letter she might circle it and say “way to go or great job!” ü **Fun Friday **** à **This is a great way to motivate students to behave throughout the week. ü **Incorporating Technology **** à ** Examples of this can be the promethean board or iPods. I did a lesson that incorporated the promethean board and the students really took to the lesson. They enjoyed working with this type of technology and it was obvious that they felt it was a treat to use it. Mrs. Pardue also used iPod to motivate her students. The iPod all have educational games on them but the students love working with this technology. They will work very hard on behaving in order to get to use these. ü **Games/Movement **** à **These are great ways to create motivation. All children love to play games and when they feel like they are not learning but in reality are, there is a great success rate. Movement is a great way to help the students learn as well. Children have a lot of built up energy and giving them the chance to release some of it is beneficial in many ways. ü **Giving Special Permissions **** à **This could fit in to the management category as well. The teacher can give special permissions to the student who behave, does things without being asked, does work correctly, follows directions, etc. For example, during my kindergarten morning message the students who were sitting correctly and following directions and not blurting out answer were picked at the end to come up and read the message to the class.
 * __Motivational Ideas/Strategies __**
 * Kiss Your Brain ** à  Whenever a student says or does something good she will tell him kiss your brain. It is a way of “thanking your brain” for being so smart. The students love it. Whenever she tells them kiss your brain they give it a big kiss and have a huge smile on their faces. It is a great motivational device to keep the students engaged and listening.
 * <span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Batang','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Yes We Can, Yes We Can, Yes We Can **** à **<span style="font-family: 'Batang','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Anytime a student’s says I can’t do that or I’m not smart, etc she makes them say this. It is a great way to keep the students working together and feeling motivated. I like how she says we instead of I. I feel it is a subliminal way to get her students to stay unified.
 * <span style="color: #00b0f0; font-family: 'Batang','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Good Hand-Writing Fairy **** à **<span style="font-family: 'Batang','serif'; font-size: 16px;">If the students do really good working on their handwriting books then she will put out notes and candy for her students while they are gone. They believe it is the handwriting fairy that came to leave presents because they did so well on their handwriting skills. This is a fantastic way to get the students to feel motivated to do well on their handwriting. The students love this and get so excited when she comes.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Batang','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Researched Ideas: **