Motivational Plan

What is your motivational plan for students?

Address specific strategies and techniques used to build each child’s intrinsic motivation
Intrinsic motivation refers to behavior that is driven by internal rewards. In other words, the motivation to
engage in a behavior arises from within the individual because it is naturally satisfying to you.

In a classroom, as a teacher, there are many different ideas and scenarios to take into account
when teaching a class. It is noteworthy to remember that no two children are ever going to be the same.
The way that the students will function, think, and work in the classroom will all differ. Along with that,
the makeup of a classroom will differ from year to year. Strategies that worked one year in a classroom
could be useless the next year. In a teacher’s back pocket, there needs to be room for creativity and a list
of strategies to bring into the classroom to ensure that students are presenting their best work to everyone
around them. Providing students with a choice, incorporating student-active teaching activities, letting
students be in control of their learning, using positive teacher language, and building relationships are a
few examples of how to motivate students in a classroom.
During the course of a school day, many different activities take place. Some activities are
independent while some activities are group related. Nevertheless, students need ways to stay motivated.
One way to ensure motivation is taking place is providing students with a choice. There are many
different ways in which a choice could take place during a lesson activity. For example, one idea would
be to let the student pick the activity they are wanting to complete after the lesson is finished. This can be
accomplished by letting the student participate in an active learning center or it could be a choice between
choosing one of the five activities the teacher has selected. This gives the students an opportunity to
choose what they would like to do, but it still is within the requirements of the lesson. At times during
lessons, students may not be fully cooperative or need a little more support than others. Giving students
options during these times can help with building a child’s intrinsic motivation. One technique presented
to me during my six week student teaching was being flexible with choices that are given to students.
Sometimes, student can be unpredictable about what emotions they may use during the day. For example,
one situation that occured in this class was when a student was not willing to follow directions or had a
hard time during transitions. My cooperating teacher continued with giving that student options of where
they would sit during carpet time. The kindergartener had the option between three different spots. The
teacher did not need to be notified of that spot, rather the expectation was that the student just choose one
spot and stay there. Providing students with a choice during the day is one way to build intrinsic
motivation during the school day.
When teaching students during the course of the day, there are times when content is not going to
be the main focus, rather teaching strategy will. Helping students understand the importance of being
involved in lessons at school can help in a multitude of ways. This can be done by engaging students in
their own work during the day and letting them be the leader. Creativity during a lesson can be a great
start to building intrinsic motivation. For instance, instead of having students fill in a worksheet
pertaining to characters in a story and what their job is, let students creatively demonstrate their
knowledge, of characters and their jobs, by creating a comic strip or creating an acted out scene. By
giving the students the ability to become creative during a lesson and be incharge of their own learning
can have many positive effects on their achievement. Another example would be letting the students
choose what activity they are wanting to complete. This lets the student take charge of their own learning
by making a decision. An example of this method would be to give the student three different choices,
 Motivational Plan

What is your motivational plan for students?

Address specific strategies and techniques used to build each child’s intrinsic motivation
Intrinsic motivation refers to behavior that is driven by internal rewards. In other words, the motivation to
engage in a behavior arises from within the individual because it is naturally satisfying to you.

that all have the same ending goal. This can be the choice between a scavenger hunt on a map, creating
their own treasure map, or creating a story involving a map. In the end, each of the choice all are similar
in ways. All in all, letting students make decisions for themselves and choose how they are wanting to
carry out the day, by being in charge of their learning, is another way to build intrinsic motivation.
Setting goals is good skill for teachers, parents, and students to take into account during the
course of a day, week, month, and year. There are many different types of goals that can be used for
many different cases. Some examples are personal goals, academic goals, or even motivational goals. To
help build intrinsic motivation, helping students set short term and long term goals can be a positive
decision. Once they accomplish this goal, it will set a positive persona their way. At times, the paths
through this goal may be difficult or frustrating, but encouragement throughout the way is a great start.
For example, during reading time, students can set a goal pertaining to stamina. This goal could be a short
term goal for the week. Each day, students can reflect upon how the day went and take time to analyze
their path towards their goal. Another example would be setting a long term goal towards learning how to
create a clay sculpture in art class. This goal could be set for the length of a quarter or semester. Each day
or week, students could sit down and reflect upon how the process is going. Overall, understanding how
to reflect during the process will be an important part of building intrinsic motivation. As time progresses,
this gives students an opportunity to analyze their own growth. In conclusion, setting goals is a third
example of how to build intrinsic motivation.
Lastly, building relationships with your students is one of the most important aspects of school
and education. For success, growth, and prosperity throughout their schooling career, connecting with
teachers and faculty is a big portion of intrinsic motivation. Building relationships with student can
influence academic growth, self confidence, as well as helping with behavioral issues. If students feel
welcomed, comfortable, and encouraged, they are going to be more willing cooperate and participate in
the day. This will greater the chances of success during a school year and provide a place for students to
feel comfortable. Appropriate praising is also another welcoming factor in relationship building and
intrinsic motivation. Each student is going to come from a different background and being mindful of this
will be essential. There are going to be different characteristics from each student that a teacher can
specifically remember. Showing students that you remember something about them will help build a bond
between you and the student. Not only is this something to remember about students, but parents and staff
as well. Overall, taking the time to build relationship with parents, staff, and students is going to be an
important part of education and building intrinsic motivation.
All in all, ensuring intrinsic motivation is being used in the classroom will show many positive
assets in the learning process.Making sure that everything that can be done to provide the best
environment for students to prosper and grow is the ultimate goal in a school year. Providing students
with a choice, incorporating student-active teaching activities, letting students be in control of their
learning, using positive teacher language, and building relationships are a few examples of how to
motivate students in a classroom.