“The Secret” of Engaging and Motivating Students

I vividly recall a well-respected member on our faculty who once asked me how teachers could possibly motivate students in the classroom without daily captivating lessons and constant energy-draining tactics from the teacher. “It seems,” she complained, “that I must be an entertainer in addition to all the other constraints put on me as a teacher, especially in these times of accountability.”

As an instructional leader in the school, my answer, I’m embarrassed to say, was weak. I knew she wasn’t entirely accurate in her observation, but I had a difficult time articulating what it “took” to motivate her students. If I had known then what I know now, I could have coached her toward creating engaging lessons. Allow me to describe a lesson I witnessed recently that captures my thinking:

Mr. Wnek, a social studies teacher at Centennial High School in the Peoria Unified School District, in his fifth year as an educator was teaching a lesson on propaganda. His objective--written in student-friendly language on the white board—was explained in detail at the beginning, during and at the conclusion of his 90-minute lesson and was written at a high level of thinking (analysis). It was each student’s job to determine how propaganda is used to make people do what they normally would not do, and the teacher’s job to guide them to their conclusions. The students were asked to compare various pieces of propaganda from World War II that Hitler used to convince the Germans that the Jews were evil and against the best interest of the Germans.

Knowing the curriculum very well at this school, I decided to ask the students if they had ever learned this information before—just to see what they’d say. They replied they had BUT “not like this.” I probed for more information. “What do you mean?” I asked. “We usually are given information from a lecture, we take notes as we listen, and then we’re tested on it. Mr. Wnek helps us learn through a unique way. It’s hard to explain.”

What’s hard to explain is that Mr. Wnek understands what it takes to use quality student work to engage his students. He understands that what he does is no accident. And, he is familiar with the concept of aligning his instruction to the state standards at the appropriate level of thinking (a.k.a. deconstruction of state standards). He also is aware that composing a learning objective in student-friendly language helps students understand what they are going to learn. He also recognizes the research behind this-- students’ learning increases 23 percentile points when they understand what they are to learn. This seems obvious, but unfortunately, it’s not always evident as I walk classrooms and ask students what they are learning.)

Furthermore, Mr. Wnek knows and understands the value of:

·         Questioning students in ways that allow students to think at higher levels

·         Creating student work that provides choice, is novel and authentic, and assigns tasks and activities that are clearly linked in the minds of the teacher and students to performances, products, and exhibitions and is significant in the lives of people outside of the teacher—including parents, siblings, public audiences, etc.

·         Creating an environment that is safe, both emotionally and physically

·         Using research-based instructional strategies that are linked to increased student achievement, such as cooperative learning, identifying similarities and differences, using non-linguistic representations to express concepts and information,

·         Using feedback from him and the other students in his classes in a manner that motivates students to continue to want to learn

All in all, he knows that engaging students in work that incorporates all these aforementioned items is what it takes to increase student motivation. I recall one of the first times I met with him to plan a lesson. He said, “I don’t wish to be like many of the teachers I‘ve had in the past. School was boring. We didn’t think. We were just asked to regurgitate information that was meaningless. I don’t want to be like that. I want to inspire, to involve students in the learning. Teach me how!”

I’d say he’s there. God bless you, Mr. Wnek and all the other teachers out there who “get it.”

Written by: Lauren Gundrum