As a special education teacher for the last ten years, I have learned that your number one job is to motivate students to learn! Without motivation, student success is impossible. Currently, I teach high school and I have learned that positive reinforcement goes a long way. Below are some things that I do to keep my students motivated.
1) Give Bonus points for participating in class discussion by writing the student's name on the board and a tally mark each time that they earn a point. This way they view it as almost a competition to get the most points.
2) Give specific praise and when calling on students who do not know the answer, tell them that you will call on another student to help but that they will have to repeat what the student said so they do not think they are off the hook.
3) Call or email students' parents who have behavioral challenges when they have a good day.
4) Do a weekly raffle giving students tickets at the end of class for a raffle drawing on Friday if they earn a certain amount of bonus points for the day.
5) Use students as helpers and peer tutors/models so they can feel special and helpful in class.
6) Post student work and give a monthly reward for student of the month for academic progress.
I hope these suggestions were helpful. I welcome you to learn more about me and check out my webstite at http://www.manhattanbeachtutoring.net
