Motivation: Six Key Ingredients (D-CBUPO)

Sources:
"Lessons from Skateboarders" by Richard Sagor
Kaleidoscope

1. Discipline and Classroom Management
Harry Wong, in a "Wire Side Chat" with Education World, said,: "The most common mistake is that teachers don't do classroom management. They present lessons, and if something goes wrong, they discipline... Classroom management is not discipline. You manage a store. You don't discipline a store... I talk very little about rules. A procedure is not a rule. A procedure is a task. Procedures reduce the need for rules and discipline."

• According to Harry Wong, what are the most important procedures and routines teachers should establish?
• Step-by-Step Guide to Handling Over 100 Misbehaviors: Discipline Help.com

2. Competence
"The greatest good we can do for our children is not just to share our riches with them, but to reveal their riches to themselves." (Swhali Proverb)
Dr. Mel Levine answers the question, "What is the most important thing to know about a student?"

• The Aliens
• Caves of the Code Breakers

3. Belonging
Once you know the strengths and interests of a student, you can tap into them to create opportunities for that student to feel a sense of belonging to the group. In contrast, the student who feels excluded in a classroom is unlikely to invest in its activities.

• Engage all students with quick and easy reflection activities.
• Use democratic classroom practices, such as class meetings and purposeful student involvement in decision-making.

4. Useful
When we know our students' strengths and weaknesses, we are in a better position to help them see how valuable they are to others and to the community. For example, maybe you have an at-risk student with a savvy mechanical mind. ("John, I don't know what we would do if you weren't here to troubleshoot our classroom computers. When you were absent the other day, we couldn't ...")

• Train students to ask themselves, "WHO can really use the information I have gathered for this report or assignment? Who needs to know? What action should I take as a result of gaining this knowledge?"
• Use "Consult the Crystal" to demonstrate how everyone has unique abilities and how their skills are needed in our society. (Students must first select an Alien, and then visit "Consult the Crystal" in the red goo at the top of the page.)
• Lead students to conduct real research on a topic that is meaningful and relevant in "The Knowledge Flow." (Kaleidoscope)

5. Potent, Powerful
Carol Dweck: "My research shows that students who believe their intelligence is fixed (they have only so much and that's that) tend to worry about how smart they really are. Their motivation and engagement are tentative--when a task gets too hard, they lose interest and flee... The point is to praise children's efforts not their intelligence."

The point is to praise students' effort, strategies, and progress -- not their intelligence. Help students take greater control of content by learning effective memory strategies and understanding key brain-based learning principles.

• Memory Booster (Kaleidoscope)
• Teachley's Amazing Talking Brain

Dr. Mel Levine has written books for students to help them understand how to play to their strengths, work around their weaknesses, and understand how memory impacts schoolwork.

• Elementary School Students (All Kinds of Minds)
• Middle School Students (Jarvis Clutch, Social Spy)
• High School Students (The Memory Factory)
• Keeping a Head in School (Ages 11 and up)
• Concentration Cockpit (For children with attention deficits, all ages)
• BrainWorks, The Research Channel, A Journey Inside the Brain

Students should see themselves as "knowledge workers" and view the teacher as an "academic coach." Academic coaches ask questions and make statements that might look like this.

• "What do you hope to accomplish in this class?"
• "What will you need to do in order to accomplish this?"
• "This is how you can track your progress. We can get together on a regular basis and discuss your progress. Would you rather . . . ?"
• "How can I help you?"
• "How did you get that answer?"
• "You have a good understanding of . . . Would you teach that to . . . ?"

6. Optimistic (HOPE)
"Intuitively, we know that the best predictor of the future is the past. When certain experiences have consistently been positive, we expect them to be positive in the future." - Richard Sagor, "Lessons from Skateboarders"

• Acorns and Oaks (Goal-setting)
• Printable "BIG Lifetime Goal" Sheet
• Dream BIG with NC WiseOwl's Online Resources
• Dream-Thought Machine

Excellent Resource to Download:

Changing the Way We Do Business in the Village through Parent/Family Empowerment
Download this outstanding six part training series to equip parents and families with the knowledge and skills needed to ensure academic success for their children. The six training sections are Self-Esteem, Managing Behavior and Promoting Self-Discipline, Effective Parent/Teacher Conferences, Home Study Skills, Language Development and Tips for Parent. Any section can serve as a stand-alone presentation, or all sections can be used to create a series of trainings on parental and family involvement.

Download the Trainer Notebook from www.ncpublicschools.org/racg/ (pdf, 14.1mb)