How would you motivate an unmotivated student?
A: I remember Rodney – one of the student’s in
Mrs. Rooney’s classroom. Rodney was a
completely unmotivated student – he could care less about learning and he could
care less about school. He was there
only because he had to be. As a student
teacher I was assigned to work with Rodney.
My assignment was to motivate him – to get him interested in Life
Science specifically and in learning in general. I went back to all those notes I took in
college and developed a plan based on five key elements. First, I involved Rodney in a combination of
both individual and group projects.
Second, I periodically invited him to meet with me and discuss any
barriers to his individual learning.
Third, I provided him with numerous opportunities to set his own goals
in Life Science. We made sure those
goals were realistic and we started with tiny steps before moving to larger
ones. Fourth, I always modeled my
enthusiasm for learning. I always
portrayed myself as an eager and enthusiastic learner. And, fifth, I provided Rodney with frequent
offers of help. The change wasn’t
immediate, but we began to see some improvement in Rodney’s behavior and his
academic performance after several weeks on this new program. Rodney discovered that he had an innate love
for Life Science – especially when we focused on wetlands creatures – which he
knew a lot about. I think the whole
experience was beneficial for both of us.
Make sure you convey your awareness of the importance of this issue as
well as specific ways you plan to deal with it.
Always relate your response to a specific individual or incident you
experienced in your pre-service training.
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