Yes, it’s summer, and you should be resting and relaxing, not thinking about school. But you landed here because it’s still on your mind. You keep drifting back to your classroom, and you’re wondering what you can do next year to motivate unmotivated students. You’re tired of all of the apathy. You’re sick of being the one doing all the work in your classroom. We totally get it, and we're ready to help with some ideas you can try to engage and energize your students this fall.
First, Jackie from ROOM 213, knows that allowing students to move, even if it’s just for a short stand-and-talk, can make all the difference in the world for student engagement. Over the years, she's developed many strategies that energize reluctant learners through moving-to-learn, and you can check out her tips in this post: 5 Easy Ways to Add Movement in Your Classroom.
The Daring English Teacher suggests that one of the best ways classroom teachers can build and establish a positive classroom community with their students is by incorporating SEL, mindset, and mindfulness activities throughout the school year. In this post, she explains how doing so can positively impact students and their engagement in learning.
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When Presto Plans got ready for the first few weeks of school, one of the most important things she considered was what routines she wanted to establish for teaching ELA. Students thrive on predictability and structure - and let’s face it, so do we! Establishing good middle school classroom routines right from the get-go is one of the best ways to increase student motivation. Check out this post for 5 Routines to Transform Your Secondary Classroom.
We can’t forget the importance of classroom decor in keeping our students motivated. That doesn’t mean you have to spend a bundle of time and money setting up an amazing classroom for pics on social media; it can be as simple as creating a bulletin board that keeps students focused on their learning. The Classroom Sparrow knows that not only do bulletin boards add a pop of creativity, but students genuinely enjoy the change. On this post, she shares a few ways you can easily add a burst of color to your classroom while, at the same time, making the content meaningful and engaging.
And finally, we can't energize our students when we are exhausted, right? Mrs Orman offers lots of tips for dealing with this overwhelming job of ours. Teaching alone is a lot. But add all the extras that are piled on teachers and it’s no wonder teachers are leaving the profession by droves. Early in her career, she took on too many "extras," but as the years went by, she found ways to deal with the added responsibilities. In this post, Tracee shares some ways she gained time and kept her sanity.
There’s nothing wrong with letting your mind churn over the possibilities for increasing student motivation, even when you are supposed to be on vacation. In fact, when your mind is at rest, you often get some of your best ideas. We hope that you’ve found some usable classroom strategies in the posts that we shared, ones that will help you engage and energize your new students in the fall.
Let us know if you have any questions!
