In a perfect world, we would all love and respect each other, and ourselves. Teaching would be easy, because a student who feels loved and respected will have intrinsic motivation to better themselves.
Unfortunately, this isn’t always the case. Here are some ideas that might help you light that fire for your students to love and respect themselves enough to put the work in to better themselves.
Words Matter
Rather than think of yourselves as separate units, think of yourselves as a team. If you use words like “we” and “us” it will become clear to the students that you are all working together toward a common goal. It is less scary for students to try new things when they have a whole team that will work with them.
We don’t often think of words as a reward. But students do. When you compliment a student’s work, you are showing them that you respect them. They will in turn, learn to respect themselves. Showcasing their work on the walls is a form of praise and reward as well. Praise is a wonderful positive motivator.
Know Your Students
Getting to know your students matters in many ways. It can seem overwhelming. But with some time and extra attention, it should pay off. Have a designated time when students can share something that matters to them. It doesn’t have to be an old-fashioned time in front of the class show-and-tell. It can be as little as going around in a circle and letting students each say a few sentences about what is impacting their lives at that time.
Use Your Knowledge to Help Tailor Material
Once you know your students, you can tailor material toward them. For example, for reading comprehension you could have a group that is reading about sports, a group reading about dinosaurs, and a group reading about pop culture. Students will try much harder to read material that they are interested in.
Keep it a Safe Space
Give Students a Sense of Control
Have a special time when students get to choose what they want to learn. Remedia has products to help you give your students fun learning choices. Whether it is reading comprehension units about online shopping, sports legends, or amazing animals, we’ve got you covered!
REM436 - Practical Practice Reading: Online Shopping
REM476 - Celebrity Readers: Famous Male Sports Stars
