Hello SJMS,
Every two weeks I will be posting a short review and some things to think about as you read "The Motivation Breakthrough" by Richard LaVoie. Hopefully all of you have all read Chapter 1 by now, but in case you havn't please go back, read Chapter 1 and review the notes below: If you would like to comment or ask any questions, please feel free to join my blog and post as we go.
As you know I believe motivation is a very powerful thing. Last year when I came to Jackson, I wanted to do something to really motivate our students to come to school during the SOLs and give 100%. What do our students love? FOOD! and what kind of food do they love more than anything? TAKIS!!! So we ordered 500 bags of Takis. Our students love wrestling, so we had WWE Superstar, Sheamus come and talk to them about how they can "Be a Star." This year, we want to go bigger and better, as you are reading this book, think of new ways that we can motivate our students and share.
Chapter 1: Student Motivation: What It Is and What It Is Not
Five Myths about Motivation:
1. That _(Insert Name)_....Nothing motivates that kid!
TRUTH - All Human Behavior is Motivated - Our students may not be motivated to do what we want them to do, but they are all motivated. For example: When I was an 8th grader I was motivated to drive my parents crazy, so when I was a real jerk to all of my teachers (it's true, and yes, I know I'm getting my payback).
2. That kid! One day he's motivated, the next day he's not!
TRUTH - Motivation is a constant - Example: Kids are motivated to please their teachers. Some days they have bad days, but the next day they start over, or want to start over (sometimes we need to initiate this). If you don't don't believe this, then you need to work on building positive relationships with your students.
3. Give him something that will motivate him.
TRUTH - When I heard this, my first thought was what a waste of money on all of those Takis! Not necessarily true. What Lavoie is trying to say is that reward systems can break down over time and are not effective long term. This reminds me of one of my favorite things when I was in school: Book It! You read seven or eight books and you got a free pizza from Pizza Hut! For me it was the greatest thing ever. I was going to read the books anyway, now I get free pizza too! It only motivated kids who would probably be motivated anyway. Overall, the program didn't work because we just ended up with a bunch of fat kids who lied and said they read a bunch of books and still didn't like to read. We want to motivate our students to be self-motivated.
4. Competition: The Great Motivator.
TRUTH - When I was a kid playing little league baseball, I could have cared less about winning or losing. Why? We stunk! We were the worst team in the league and we knew it. We only won two games in three years! Kids are only motivated by competitiion if they feel they can win. Lavoie says that "kids who act bad sometimes act bad because they've been put in a position to look bad or dumb." To truly motivate, we need to even the playing field and make sure all students can see success.
5. Punishment is an Effective Motivator.
TRUTH - Punishment doesn't eliminate behavior, it only repressses it. It models agression for our students. It does not generalize to other settings. For example, if we are trying to teach our students to walk quietly through Valley View Mall? Probably not. Most importantly, punishment is only effective as long as the threat of punishment exists. If you tell your child to stop throwing food, or they won't get to eat, you better be prepared to watch them starve.
The 6th Myth - Performance Inconsistancy:
He's so lazy, he won't even try.
Yes, we have students who are lazy, but most of the time we're talking about learned helplessness. Lavoie tells the story of the elephant in the zoo. When the elephant was just a little baby, he had a chain put around his foot to keep him tied down. The elephant would walk in circles, but couldn 't pull out the chain. As he grew older, he could have easily pulled out the chain, but didn't because he had been taught that he couldn't. This is learned helplessness,and we have a lot of students who fit this category. It takes time, positive reinforcement,and patience to reteach these students that they can learn. As Lavoie says, "We have to teach our kids to "pull the chain.""
I'm not going to put them all down here, but please review "Teaching Strategies to Motivate the Student with ADD." It's p.46 - 50, and I think these strategies can apply to all of our students.
In reference to #5, I also believe that punishment usually does not change behavior, but an appropriate consequence for the "inappropriate" action is deserved and can change misbehaviors. As a parent who might ask the child to stop throwing food for the third time, I would follow through with the previously-stated warning that food would be limited or denied. The question is not would I be ready to follow through but is my child ready for my follow-through! I agree that you must follow through with your warnings. This helps children learn the authenticity of your words, too. If I can show my "real" self, students can also stop some of the game-playing. Today's children too often hear false statements and fake sincerity. No wonder so many are not "motivated" if they do not know what reality is for which to get motivated.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Wendy who has defined discipline with consequences which is very necessary for all students. By the 1990’s, I had read every book published on ADD/ADHD, traveled to UNC-Chapel Hill to have my 6 year old evaluated at Mel Levine’s clinic, and connected the only expert in adult ADD in the US to become my husband’s “coach”. Mel Levine was on vacation, which is just as well if you read his bio online. Dr. Daniel Amen’s book of the 6 types of ADD/ADHD gives the best medical evidence for the existence of this very complex diagnosis. Too many education specialists try to define a general description and guidelines for teaching as Lavoie did in his book. Twenty years from now if scientific research is continued with the appropriate rigor, we may have a better idea of the complex psychological spectrum of ADD /ADHD. The “treatment” is still in the early stages of legitimacy. Even more interesting is the prevalence of learned helplessness. In the socioeconomic level in which we teach, the learned helplessness is multifaceted. Repeated failure is coupled with home environments in which the parent has little vision that they or their children will ever escape the cycle. But even more concerning is the lack of perception that they ARE caught in a cycle. This is further complicated by the normal developmental concept of middle schoolers that “future” is five minutes from now. In the last two weeks, I have run into three boys I taught at Jackson who are all dropouts. One is a father of a 6 month old. All “want” to get their GED. Oddly, they all apologized for their behavior in my class when I taught them. I didn’t consider any of them unmanageable, but could see a downward spiral of what the future might look like. The greatest need we have is a mission within the community and families to partner with the teachers in giving vision to students who are trapped in learned helplessness.
ReplyDeleteSometimes it is easy to justify our inaction by blaming the problem. It has been well documented by my wife that I hate to untangle christmas tree lights and will often go purchase new lights just to avoid the task. For me, an unmotivated child is similar to a very difficult knot--the problem is apparent, I can see where things stop and start, but in the middle is a jumbled mess. Unfortunately I cannot run to Wal-mart and purchase a new kid to replace the knotted one in my class, so the solution is to stop and take time to unravel the knot. The key to success is patience. While these myths are all sadly true, the underlying cause is our reluctance to spend the time to unravel the knot.
ReplyDeleteRichard Lavoie states in the book Myth#4 competetive classroom activities such as games, quizzes, test and bees are not good motivators for students. He also said the only person motivated by the competition is the person who believes that he has a chance of winning. I have competitions in math class which I feel are motivators for the students. They allow the students to enhance their skills and be successful while they are learning. Also, they are have a chance of winning while they are being motivated. How do you feel about Myth#4?
ReplyDeleteI don't agree with Myth #4 entirely. I have some students who are intrinsically motivated to earn a good grade on a test. I have students who hate tests and enjoy the competitive review games. I do think that we need to make sure the competitive type games, reviews, are set up so that every student has a chance to be successful on some piece of that competition. Maybe that could be giving a slower student more time to answer the question, or a lower achieving student options for answers, or giving credit for a partially correct answer.
DeleteI also agree with Jelena and Chelsey about Myth #4. Competition does seem to work with our students,some classes better than others. Yes, I do give my SPED's longer to answer or hints to see that they can also be successful and very rarely do the other students complain. On the other hand,when tutoring my students who have not done well in a certain area I find that competing against themselves works better in that particular setting.
ReplyDeleteI apologize for getting here late, but I am catching up on my reading & would like to join the group. I completely agree with Chris when she speaks about the "cycle" that our kids have been thrown into. I really believe the unstable environment that most of our kids grow up in really accounts to Myth #2 when one day they are motivated & the next day they are not. Many times I find that when they are not motivated it is due to something happening in their personal life. I understand that this happens to all of us, young and old, but I truly believe that our kids have to carry this a lot more than most their age due to their home environment, or lack thereof. This in turn makes me feel like I am a hamster running the "wheel" in my cage some days. Anybody ever else feel that way?
ReplyDeleteThe more I think about this the more I realize that we can't generalize ALL of the students into categories when it comes to motivation. I agree with what Jelena, Chelsey, and Bev are saying...sometimes competition does work for certain students. But for other students it does not. In the counseling setting it is important to look at each individual and determine what THEIR particular needs are...two students might come in with the same presenting issue, but they have completely different needs. It's the same in the classroom. I think it’s important to know your students and what works for them on an individual basis. Also, I think Mike said it well in point number 3 about wanting our students to be self-motivated. It made me think about the process to change..the first step to change is ACKNOWLEDGING the issue...you can't FORCE someone to change until THEY are ready. Just like you can't FORCE someone to be motivated..it has to come from within.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete