February 14, 2004
P506
Book Review
I chose to read the book Motivating Hard to Reach Students by Barbara L. McCombs and James E. Pope for my book review. I chose to read this book because I have found that many of my students in the special education program are not motivated to learn, to be actively involved in their learning, or to make good choices.
One of the first points that the book made is that students need to be motivated to learn and not just motivated to follow classroom procedures or rules. So much of the time we try to motivate our students to stay out of trouble. If we motivate them to be an active participant in their learning experience then we may not even have to deal with the discipline problems. We have a strong motivational influence over our students. The way we present our information to the students motivates them. If we present the information in a student centered fun way then chances are the students are going to be more motivated to engage. The kinds of exercises that we use when teaching our students is another motivating factor. The way we interact with our students and the kinds of opportunities that we give our students also plays a role in motivation. Most students get excited at the thought of new and innovative ideas and strategies. Another way we can inspire our students to be motivated to learn is to make sure they can see a direct link of what they are learning to their life. If we can make the assignments meaningful and relevant then they are more likely to “buy” into them. Many students do not value education, as they should. We need to show them why education is important and how they are going to use it in their particular situation.
The book gave several really good methods of how we can motivate these hard to reach students. Most of the examples that the book gave were practical easy examples that were not time or labor intensive and that could be used in most classrooms. One of the examples that I really liked was getting the student over their fear of failure. If a student is afraid of failing then they are less likely to be engaged in the process. One very easy method of assisting the child in overcoming his fear is to provide affirmation to him in a very supportive environment. James Connell and Richard Ryan gave another simple way to motivate students. They stated that when students have some control over their learning process then they are more motivated to participate. There are many ways you can give the students in your classroom control. You can begin this by presenting them with some choices. You can start by allowing them to do something as simple as pick which order they want the subjects taught in for the day. You can go as far with this as allowing them to design or chose what kind of lesson or activity they would like to do or study.
I have actually applied this technique to my teaching situation. I have allowed my students to chose what kind of book report they are going to present to the class. They all must read a book, but they may choose to write a book report following a traditional format, make a poster, make a commercial, or submit their own unique idea to me for approval. The students were all very excited and motivated to get started on their books and their projects. Their eyes lit up when they were told they did not have to write a book report if they chose not to. Of course, they have certain criteria that must be included in all of the activities, but that does not seem to bother them.
The book points out that even before the student enters your room on that first day of kindergarten, their level of motivation has been established. Based on their upbringing, they either come in feeling good about themselves motivated to learn, or negative and pessimistic unmotivated to learn. It is our job as educators to motivate these students and assist them in understanding themselves.
The book spends a great deal of time discussing ways to help students understand and value themselves. They key to getting students to think positively is to teach the students that they have control over their thoughts. Their thoughts have a direct impact on their motivation and learning. The books then goes on to give several examples of ways you can assist the student in understanding their thought process. I really liked the thought cycle web and how it visually shows the student how their thoughts have an impact on their feelings, and how their feeling have an impact on their behavior, and how their behavior has an overall impact on the resulting product. I think this model will be especially effective with many of my students with emotional and behavioral disabilities. This is a visual model that allows the student to sit back and take a critical look at their thought cycle.
Overall, I thought the book presented lots of good ideas on motivating those students that are hard to reach. It also did a great job of covering motivating factors. Before reading this book, I did not realize that so much of what I do while I am preparing and teaching a lesson has to do with motivation.