Staying Motivated in Class

Keeping all students motivated throughout class can be a difficult goal to achieve. As human individuality is growing in popularity and importance, most classrooms have children with varying hobbies and interests. Some classes might even have students of varying ages or cultural backgrounds. While keeping all students interested, engaged, and motivated throughout class may be difficult, three key ways can help make it much easier: having a positive, patient attitude; getting to know students, and appealing to a variety of interests.

This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Trey R. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT.

First, it is very important to be positive and patient throughout all classes.

A teacher may deal with many different types of students: some older or younger, some shy or outgoing, and some that are obedient or wild. No matter what kind of students make it to your classroom, you, as a teacher, must remain calm and keep moving forward. If you express your positivity, it will make the class a happier atmosphere that the students will enjoy more. Expressing negative energy will just lead the class downhill. If you act on your anger, the students will not likely healthily respect you, and such actions would be detrimental to a learning environment. The ability to keep your composure is an essential skill that every good teacher should have and practice.

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Second, it’s really important and helpful that you get to know your students.

One reason for this is because you can begin to understand who your students are individuals, and what you need to do as the teacher to ensure they can learn in the most efficient way possible. Adversely, students will be more comfortable if they have an idea of the teacher’s personality. However, it could also be counterproductive if you’re too friendly with students because they will see you more like a friend than a teacher, and as a result, control of the classroom could be lost.

Also Read: Can you fail a TEFL course?

Lastly, students are more motivated when you incorporate games and activates into the lessons.

When deciding which games or activities to do in class, a good teacher should keep the different ages or interests in mind. Flashcards may be useful regardless of age, but it’s possible that super simple activates won’t be as appealing to older students as they may be too younger students. Adult students might not enjoy games like tic tac toe, but maybe more may be bested in debates, group work, or activities that test their knowledge. It’s also important not to play games too much. If you play the same game repeatedly without change, the students will lose interest and feel bored. It may be helpful to have multiple different games as a backup plan in case the activities don’t appeal to the students.

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By having a positive and patient attitude, getting to know the students, and appealing to a variety of interests in class, student motivation can be effectively accomplished. Finding ways to keep students involved, motivated, and interested can help make any teacher’s job easier and more fun. No matter the differences present among students in the classroom, an excellent teacher should strive to appeal to each student individually, and in effect, motivate the class as a whole.

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