Making Student Recognition and Motivation the Central Component of Your Classroom
“What you wish to ignite in others must first burn within yourself.” – Aurelius
Greetings, pedagogical firestarters! You know how, every once in a while, we think about how our lives would be had we chosen a different career path? Let’s do that right now.
PLAY BALL!
Imagine that instead of being an educator, you became a soccer coach. What would be the central component of your winning program? Would you focus on equipment? High quality cleats, uniforms, and soccer balls go a long way towards building team success. Maybe recruitment would be your emphasis?
As legendary coach Mike Krzyzewski said, “If you want to build a great program, get great players!” Perhaps you would prioritize training sessions? Efficient drills and scrimmages are important parts of any successful program. Quality equipment, talented players, effective practices – they all play a role in team building, player development, and successful scoreboard results. Some coaches focus on different aspects than others – it’s the nature of the game (pun intended).
Now consider this: All teams have to deal with another component, oftentimes overlooked, which impacts success on every team. Some teams have better cleats than other teams, some have faster players, some are better drilled – but every team has to deal with the situation happening right under their feet (pun intended #2) – the . . . FIELD!
Without a smooth, safe, well-maintained field, everything else goes out the window. The best cleats can’t overcome dirt patches, the fastest player can’t avoid gopher holes, the slickest drill can’t account for muddy puddles. So it is with our classrooms!
We can have the latest technology, which tells the students on the first day of school that the devices they interact with the most will be high-level and well-functioning, but the power can go out. Then what? We can have a roster of honors students who earn top state test scores and shining report cards. However, as we all know, past performance is not indicative of future results. What we can do is incorporate a powerful curriculum, fantastic lessons, rigorous and relevant resources, and surely the students will be engaged.
Your Classroom IS the Playing Field
How does your classroom “field” look right now? What do your students sense the moment they walk onto your field? What do they see throughout your lessons? Your students are your team, and you are their coach.
How do students know they will encounter success with every step? Do athletes have to be told that their field is high-quality? Never. Instead, they see it – smooth and even from sideline to sideline, no critters, no mini swamps. They smell it – that fresh cut grass, the sideline paint – these are the smells of success. They feel it – with every step, they know they’re going to shine.
What do your students do the first few seconds of every school year? They step into your classroom, onto your field, and they look around. They know that the design and decor says a lot and research shows that it can make an impact.
What are your students seeing? Are they seeing pleasant images? Motivational phrases?
Work samples from previous students? These are the things we are used to seeing. These are the tools of our trade which have been baked into our pedagogical paradigm. This is what we are expecting to see in every classroom.
But what if there was a better way?
Let’s Highlight Student Achievement!
What’s constant, what’s consistent in every stadium and arena? What’s always there? The championship banners and retired jerseys are permanent. These are the ultimate goals of every sporting franchise: Win championships and have players who are so great that nobody else can ever again wear their number. Highlighting the ultimate achievements of the franchise is the goal. Reaching our greatest potential and winning is the goal!
What are the classroom equivalents of championship banners and retired jerseys? Check these out!
BOOM!
Top weekly results per class period for ReadTheory Rock Stars, based on total earned Knowledge Points.
BANG!
Top overall grades for our first quarter progress report – five weeks into the school year, fifteen total assignments/assessments/projects – including the highlight of our curriculum, ReadTheory. The top grade in each class is highlighted even further with the student putting a star next to their name.
POW!
Top grades on a singular assignment – enrichment for a research project.
WOW! What are these all about? We’re taking up huge portions of classroom space, just for students to write their names? Wherever shall we put all of the pleasant images and motivational phrases?
Hmmm . . . have we ever even stopped to consider- why do we even have so many pleasant images and motivational phrases? Does any research support them even being in a classroom? Turns out, it’s exactly the opposite! Studies show that excessive classroom decorations are a detriment to learning.
Instead of generic posters and phrases, consider the impact of your students seeing their names being proudly displayed in your classroom every day. When students see their actual names displayed for all to see in their classroom, they see a tangible reminder of their achievement, and they are motivated by the prospect of continuing to see their names via future success.
Make a big deal when students are signing their names on their whiteboard. Make it a full ceremony, replete with peer applause and fun rewards . . . did somebody say stickers?
Want to motivate your students? Want to light their fire? Stop spending time and money turning your classroom into a homage to whatever holiday is coming up.
Start small. Celebrate ReadTheory success as the starting point for student achievement recognition. Light their fire by recognizing student achievement, watch your classroom glow, and enjoy your victorious students storming the field!
Peace,
Eric Adler
