Motivation

Good Morning Deep Creek Family, 

Motivation is a key factor in the success of all students, and we, teachers, play a vital role in providing and encouraging them with motivation. It’s easier said than done, I know that, but we need to put the effort in to get all students excited about learning. Providing motivation gives students the ability to push themselves to excel. In the end, we will see students that are enthusiastic about learning and working hard to be the best that they can be. No matter if we are a veteran teacher, or a first year teacher, we all need to be reminded of way that we can encourage our students to be motivated. We all have potential, it’s our time to give students the opportunity to live up to their true potential.

Below are 21 simple ideas to improve motivation with our students. (I know it is lengthy, so even if you take two or three away from this list, it will be valuable.)

1. Give students a sense of control. 
While guidance from a teacher is important to keeping kids on task and motivated, allowing students to have some choice and control over what happens in the classroom is actually one of the best ways to keep them engaged. For example, allowing students to choose the type of assignment they do or which problems to work on can give them a sense of control that may just motivate them to do more.

2. Define the objectives.
It can be very frustrating for students to complete an assignment or even to behave in class if there aren’t clearly defined objectives. Students want and need to know what is expected of them in order to stay motivated to work. At the beginning of the year, lay out clear objectives, rules, and expectations of students so that there is no confusion and students have goals to work towards.

3. Create a threat-free environment.
While students do need to understand that there are consequences to their actions, far more motivating for students than threats are positive reinforcements. When teachers create a safe, supportive environment for students, affirming their belief in a student’s abilities rather than laying out the consequences of not doing things, students are much more likely to get and stay motivated to do their work. At the end of the day, students will fulfill the expectations that the adults around them communicate, so focus on can, not can’t.

4. Change your scenery.
A classroom is a great place for learning, but sitting at a desk day in and day out can make school start to seem a bit dull for some students. To renew interest in the subject matter or just in learning in general, give your students a chance to get out of the classroom. Take field trips, bring in speakers, or even just head to the library for some research. The brain loves novelty and a new setting can be just what some students need to stay motivated to learn.

5. Offer varied experiences.
Not all students will respond to lessons in the same way. For some, hands-on experiences may be the best. Others may love to read books quietly or to work in groups. In order to keep all students motivated, mix up your lessons so that students with different preferences will each get time focused on the things they like best. Doing so will help students stay engaged and pay attention.

6. Use positive competition.
Competition in the classroom isn’t always a bad thing, and in some cases can motivate students to try harder and work to excel. Work to foster a friendly spirit of competition in your classroom, perhaps through group games related to the material or other opportunities for students to show off their knowledge.

7. Offer rewards.
Everyone likes getting rewards, and offering your students the chance to earn them is an excellent source of motivation. Things like pizza parties, watching movies, or even something as simple as a sticker on a paper can make students work harder and really aim to achieve. Consider the personalities and needs of your students to determine appropriate rewards for your class.

8. Give students responsibility.
Assigning students classroom jobs is a great way to build a community and to give students a sense of motivation. Most students will see classroom jobs as a privilege rather than a burden and will work hard to ensure that they, and other students, are meeting expectations. It can also be useful to allow students to take turns leading activities or helping out so that each feels important and valued.

9. Allow students to work together.
While not all students will jump at the chance to work in groups, many will find it fun to try to solve problems, do experiments, and work on projects with other students. The social interaction can get them excited about things in the classroom and students can motivate one another to reach a goal. Teachers need to ensure that groups are balanced and fair, however, so that some students aren’t doing more work than others.

10. Give praise when earned.
There is no other form of motivation that works quite as well as encouragement. Even as adults we crave recognition and praise, and students at any age are no exception. Teachers can give students a bounty of motivation by rewarding success publicly, giving praise for a job well done, and sharing exemplary work.

11. Encourage self-reflection.
Most kids want to succeed, they just need help figuring out what they need to do in order to get there. One way to motivate your students is to get them to take a hard look at themselves and determine their own strengths and weaknesses. Students are often much more motivated by creating these kinds of critiques of themselves than by having a teacher do it for them, as it makes them feel in charge of creating their own objectives and goals.

12. Be excited.
One of the best ways to get your students motivated is to share your enthusiasm. When you’re excited about teaching, they’ll be much more excited about learning. It’s that simple.

13. Know your students.
Getting to know your students is about more than just memorizing their names. Students need to know that their teacher has a genuine interest in them and cares about them and their success. When students feel appreciated it creates a safe learning environment and motivates them to work harder, as they want to get praise and good feedback from someone they feel knows and respects them as individuals.

14. Harness student interests.
Knowing your students also has some other benefits, namely that it allows you to relate classroom material to things that students are interested in or have experienced. Teachers can use these interests to make things more interesting and relatable to students, keeping students motivated for longer.

15. Help students find intrinsic motivation.
It can be great to help students get motivated, but at the end of the day they need to be able to generate their own motivation. Helping students find their own personal reasons for doing class work and working hard, whether because they find material interesting, want to go to college, or just love to learn, is one of the most powerful gifts you can give them.

16. Manage student anxiety.
Some students find the prospect of not doing well so anxiety-inducing that it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. For these students, teachers may find that they are most motivated by learning that struggling with a subject isn’t the end of the world. Offer support no matter what the end result is and ensure that students don’t feel so overwhelmed by expectations that they just give up.

17. Make goals high but attainable.
If you’re not pushing your students to do more than the bare minimum, most won’t seek to push themselves on their own. Students like to be challenged and will work to achieve high expectations so long as they believe those goals to be within their reach, so don’t be afraid to push students to get more out of them.

18. Give feedback and offer chances to improve.
Students who struggle with class work can sometimes feel frustrated and get down on themselves, draining motivation. In these situations it’s critical that teachers help students to learn exactly where they went wrong and how they can improve next time. Figuring out a method to get where students want to be can also help them to stay motivated to work hard.

19. Track progress.
It can be hard for students to see just how far they’ve come, especially with subjects that are difficult for them. Tracking can come in handy in the classroom, not only for teachers but also for students. Teachers can use this as a way to motivate students, allowing them to see visually just how much they are learning and improving as the year goes on.

20. Make things fun.
Not all class work needs to be a game or a good time, but students who see school as a place where they can have fun will be more motivated to pay attention and do the work that’s required of them than those who regard it as a chore. Adding fun activities into your school day can help students who struggle to stay engaged and make the classroom a much friendlier place for all students.

21. Provide opportunities for success.
Students, even the best ones, can become frustrated and demotivated when they feel like they’re struggling or not getting the recognition that other students are. Make sure that all students get a chance to play to their strengths and feel included and valued. It can make a world of difference in their motivation.

Thank you for taking the time to read the 21 ideas above. No students is a lost cause, we can motivate them all-in our own special way to meet their individual needs. All of us can motivate children to be successful, so take the time to implement some of the above-it will make a difference, I promise. Thank you for all that you do to inspire all of our CUBS, they are lucky to have each and EVERY one of you!

I’m going to leave you with this…

 (Don’t forget the above…hope you all have a great week). 

A proud CUB, 

Kristina :)

http://www.teachthought.com/uncategorized/21-simple-ideas-to-improve-student-motivatio/

ELL Information

Good Morning Deep Creek Family, 

Our students that are English Language Learners are pretty amazing Cubs! During the award ceremonies last week, several of our students who are ELL were speaker leaders. That is pretty amazing considering a couple of them were completely non English speaking just a year or so ago. That happened because of you, our caring talented educators! These students truly saw themselves as leaders. Please remember these are all our students. Here are a few tips and some information pertaining to their education. 

Our current ELL students will be taking the ACCESS for ELL assessment in February/March.  Below is an explanation of why we assess each year.

Purpose and Use of ACCESS for ELLs 2.0

• Helps students and families understand students’ current level of English language proficiency along the developmental continuum.
• Serves as one of multiple measures used to determine whether students are prepared to exit English language support programs.
• Generates information that assists in determining whether ELLs have attained the language proficiency needed to participate meaningfully in content area classrooms without program support.
• Provides teachers with information they can subsequently use to enhance instruction and learning in programs for their English language learners.
• Provides districts with information that will help them evaluate the effectiveness of their ESL/bilingual programs.

Meets, and exceeds, federal requirements for the monitoring and reporting of ELLs' progress toward English language proficiency.

Each assessment item and task will target at least one of the five WIDA ELD Standards:

• Social and Instructional Language
• Language of Language Arts
• Language of Mathematics
• Language of Science
• Language of Social Studies 

As always if you need any help, please ask. 

Thanks, 

Noelle

Possible School Recognition Money

Good Morning Deep Creek Family, 

Great news!  The district informed me at the end of this past week once our school grade of B becomes official, we MAY be eligible to receive School Recognition (formerly A+) dollars as we raised our grade by at least 2 levels from the previous year.  We have not been told the actual dollar amount we would be awarded should we be determined eligible. We are going to need to move quickly as our staff will need to come to agreement, and have SAC approval, for how we want to distribute this money, by February 1st.  

The first step is to collect proposals for distribution from staff members who wish to submit them.  Attached are memos regarding how this money may be used.  If you are interested in submitting a proposal, please have it to me via email by Wednesday, January 20th at 3pm.  Proposals must include several details including who is to receive the money (returning staff only, staff who was here last year, etc.) as well as how the money should be split (itinerant staff working one day of the week receive one-fifth, etc.) Attached are sample proposals from another school for your reference.  

All staff are invited to attend a meeting on Thursday, January 21st, at 3pm to discuss the proposals.  At this meeting staff members who have submitted proposals will have the opportunity to advocate for their proposals and answer clarifying questions about them. We may have several similar proposals submitted, in which case, authors may choose to combine or edit their proposals. The purpose of this meeting is to determine a ballot on which all current staff members will have the opportunity to vote. No final decisions regarding the disbursement of School Recognition Money will be made at this meeting.

Please note this is precautionary in case it is determined that we receive school recognition funds. Let's keep our heads high that this is a possibility!  

Thanks,

Adrienne 

Nothing Less Than Our Success

                             

                             

I really enjoyed the MMM last week that Adrienne brought to us, Patience, Persistence, and Peace. I also think it ties in really well with the motto that we created last summer for our students.  Six months ago in our cafeteria I stood in front of you (I had my pants back on by this point) and we talked about "Our Success."  We spoke about a definition of success that I strongly believe in...

"Success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to become the best of which you are capable."  - John Wooden, Legendary UCLA basketball Coach

I also believe this definition translates to all parts of our lives and especially into today's world of education.  I know there are so many initiatives and challenges placed before us each day.  I know that looking at data during our scheduled Data Days is often a hard reality.  I was able to attend the 4th and 5th grade Data Days and tried very hard to put myself in your position and pretend my name was under the bars of data on the projection screen. It's hard to be compared to others, especially on the pieces where my bar might have been the lowest.  We have to remember that these days are not to prosecute those who are struggling in areas, but to find out as a team how we each can help each other reach our students.  It's about OUR success.  It's about reaching all of our students and working together.

We have no say over a students home life, we have no say over how much parents support their child's education, but we have, at least we should have, control of ourselves and the effort we give toward bringing out the best in our students.  The effort must be total, and when it is, I believe we have reached success.

Thank you all for everything you do for students, have a great week.

James

Patience, Persistence, and Peace

Dear Deep Creek Family, 

Congratulations we made it through the first half of the school year and the holiday craziness. Since we have two days before our student return, I hope you will take some time to rest and reflect. In the spirit of the new calendar year, there are three things I want to share with you, three words that sum up our needs as we enter 2016. 

Patience: "quiet, steady perseverance; even-tempered care; diligence; to work with patience." 

Teaching takes an incredible amount of patience; not only that which you show your students, their families and your colleagues, but most importantly patience with yourself. Be kind to yourself as you reflect on where you were, where you're going and where you want to be. Give yourself time to really get a sense of what you worked hard to accomplish and what you still want to work on. Be patient with yourself as you plan and prepare for the days, weeks and months ahead. Remember that patience is a virtue and that, as a passionate educator, your work will always include fostering patience.

Persistence: "the continuance of an effect after its cause is removed." 

Persistence in the face of restless students, anxious parents, district data, and the pressures of the school day is what it takes to be a servant leader. As you begin the second semester by creating rigorous lessons and delivering differentiated instruction, persistence will keep you going despite the proverbial misstep that's bound to happen. Keeping a persistent, positive vision of the amazing things you can accomplish with your class will make the struggle worthwhile.

Peace: "cessation of or freedom from any strife or dissension." 

The ability to be at peace with your decision about a student, a phone call to a parent, or the results of an observation by a school leader, will be critical to your success. The peace that you work to have for yourself and bring to your teaching will spill over to your classroom environment, make for more positive daily interactions and carry you through the best and worst days of your career.

My hope is that you will pause to reflect on these three words, define their meaning for yourself and your work, and consider how you might use them to set a tone for your goals in the days ahead. I struggle with these three things daily. My hope is that ALL of us begin the new year with patience, persistence, and most of all . . . peace. If you took me up on my challenge from the beginning of the year to write down a daily reflection - one "Wow" and one "Yikes" then maybe expand a little with this reflection: How will you stay patient, persistent and peaceful as you begin your work in 2016?

Happy New Year! 
Adrienne

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/patience-persistence-peace-lisa-dabbs