The Motivation Equation in the classroom

NED talk:

What can we know about the students we teach? ► Their families and cultures ► Their affinities, temperaments, interests ► Their experiences out of school ► Their previous academic experiences Ask yourself ► How can you build on what you are learning about your students?

SUMMARY & REFLECTION

1. Make Sure you We’re OK.

In Which Teachers Make It Safe to Risk a Try

What gives learners a sense of safety and well-being? ► Enough sleep and nourishment ► Good health ► A distraction-free setting ► Group norms of trust and respect ► “Just-right” challenges, not too easy and not too hard ► A culture of learning from mistakes Ask yourself ► Have you ever stopped yourself before asking a question you thought might make you look dumb?

SUMMARY & REFLECTION

2. See That It Matters

In Which Students Discover a Reason to Care

SUMMARY & REFLECTION

Some reasons to care about a challenge ► The topic connects to our experiences, interests, or deep-seated affinities. ► We see the subject of study as useful to us, now or in the future. ► We admire someone who does that thing or we want to be part of the group that’s involved. ► The challenge helps us build relationships with others. ► We get to choose work and demonstration modes in which we expect success. ► The interest and commitment of an enthusiastic teacher draws us in.

Ask yourself ► What kind of things give you a reason to care about learning something, when otherwise you’re not that interested?

3. Keep it active

In Which Fun, Play, and Surprise Create a Culture of Curiosity

SUMMARY & REFLECTION

What makes a task fun, playful, or surprising? ► New and novel situations ► Competition ► Games of imagination ► Role-playing ► Puzzles ► Uncertainty ► Unexpected outcomes Ask yourself ► When has a playful or exciting situation helped draw you in, spark your curiosity, and keep you learning?

4. Get Us to Stretch

In Which Students See in Different Ways and Reach Beyond Their Grasp

SUMMARY & REFLECTION

What helps us see in different ways and reach beyond our grasp? ► Breaking projects down into manageable steps ► Pooling ideas with peers ► Imagining what it would be like to walk in someone else’s shoes ► Working backward or analyzing a problem from different vantage points ► Consulting experts

Ask yourself ► How have you learned from your peers, your students, or those outside your school?

5. Act Like a Coach

In Which Teachers Guide Practice and Reinforce New Skills

SUMMARY & REFLECTION

How do you guide someone’s practice and reinforce new knowledge and skills? ► Frequent, low-stakes quizzes ► Sensory associations with new knowledge and skills ► Sorting through and making sense of ill-structured material ► Action tasks with tangible results, linked to specific goals ► Timely, user-friendly feedback, including suggestions for next steps

Ask yourself ► What do you need to do to make sure you internalize new knowledge and skills?

6. Ask Us to Use It

In Which Students Explain, Teach, Present, and Perform What They Learn

SUMMARY & REFLECTION

What can learners do to apply and use new knowledge and skills? ► Explain new concepts and teach new skills to others ► Adopt and defend a position based on new knowledge ► Present or perform material based on new knowledge or skills ► Publish or exhibit work that requires new knowledge or skills

Ask yourself ► How do you know you have really taken ownership of new skills or knowledge?

7. Give Us Time to Reflect

In Which Students Think Back on Their Learning and Growth

SUMMARY & REFLECTION

What should learners reflect upon? ► What they learned and how they might apply it in their lives ► How they learned, and which strategies worked best for them ► How new learning is connected with—or built on—prior learning ► How they have changed after acquiring new skills and knowledge

Ask yourself ► Have you ever realized something new about yourself only after looking back upon a learning experience that had concluded?

8. Have Us Make Plans

In Which Students Figure Out Where to Go Next

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FONT: The Motivation Equation Kathleen Cushman http://www.whatkidscando.org/