The one thing that stands out when I listened to Scott's presentation on Motivating the Reluctant Learner was something that we have been told in methods class as well as in other Core sessions: If you keep your class moving with a Do Now, followed by otehr meaningful activities - sometimes hands on and sometimes written - asses the students and conclude with a closure piece - the reluctant student will be mroe apt to listen and pay attention. A side benefit is also that you will have less behavioral problems in your class.
Many of the discussion topics that we have heard over the last few months have all been culminating to one thing: a good lesson plan - as well as the implentation of a good lesson plan - will keep your class motivated, will teach your class the subject matter, and will give you the least amount of behavioral problems.
So why doesn't every teacher just make up these engaging, thought provoking, fun lesson plans every day for every class? Maybe these teachers need to be motivated - maybe we need to motivate these "reluctant learners" too! (Sorry - Haven't had my coffee yet but I have been gathering my supplies for tomorrow and thinking about next week. So when in this process does your sleep stop getting interrupted by thoughts of teaching class the next day????)
I am hoping that the more that I apply from Scott's talk, the better off I will be. Based on my first few days, I cannot agree more with Anne comment and that if we keep them busy, there may be less behavioral issues.
One part of Scott and Laura's presentation that made me think was the short part about Strategic Learners vs. Deep Learners. For some reason, I'm not sure why, I began to self examine my own "motivation-based learning style". I find that I have to admit to myself as having been more of a Strategic Learner, motivated primarily by competition for grades and the grades themselves rather than any challenge of mastering difficult or complex content. Sure, I was "interested" in Math. But was that “interest” rooted mainly in the fact that I found it easy to be successful in that area while other found it difficult or was it real interest in the subject? I'm afraid I must admit to the former.
So when a teacher is confronted with a student such as one I believe was, I don't think it is very easy (or very common among teachers) to pinpoint the motivation type and notice any necessity to engage such a student any differently to promote more deep learning. I was not the kind of student constantly asking for my latest average or seeking extra credit opportunities to boost my grade (I've seen a few this week already). A student such as I was more likely to be among the "I don't need to worry about him" students, doing well and always on task. I suppose the teacher, and rightly so, needed to spend most efforts engaging the truly reluctant learners, applying the principles from Scott and Laura’s engagement ideas and our similar ideas from methods (keep pushing the students to discover, practice and try themselves). But I think a great teacher would not only spend the efforts to reach and engage the reluctant ones but would also find ways to challenge and interest the high achievers to learn something more. I don’t think I ever had such a teacher. Right now in the midst of my student teaching experience, I know I do not yet have the energy or skills to more deeply engage the motivated learner. But maybe if I really do a good job of engaging the unmotivated learner, I can get the strategic learners to actually learn more deeply, perhaps without them even knowing it.
I agree with Chris that the extrinsic vs intrinsic motivation information was interesting. I witnessed many examples of extrinsic motivation this week. The challenge will be how to encourage more intrinsic motivation and also de-emphasize the extrinsic.
Another thing which stands out is that we can mitigate some of the causes for a lack of motivation. Creating a solid learning environment, challenging the students with thought provoking questions, and preparing interesting lessons is a way for teacher to address issues like lack of challenge, fear of failure, low expectations, lack of content relevance and more.
The tools and strategies we've discussed in methods like good initiations, closure, engaging students, solid questioning and constantly assessing were also stressed in this session.
While I found the ideas that Scott and Laura presented interesting - I sometimes found their examples are hard to do in a math class where I already have so much to do - between a do now, homework and teaching new material - there is not much time for these fun types of activities. Especially if your class time is only 30 - 40 minutes long. I think motivating the reluctant learner is something that will come a little later - once we all know what we are doing, how to present the material, how to get the students engaged in the classwork and homework. Collecting homework is a big motivator. If the kids think I am not going to grade or collect it - they do not all do it.
I don't believe you can change a person from extrinsic to intrinsic - that is just how they are wired. It might be hard to find out what motivates every single student - especially when you have 100 of them.
Of all of the core presenters, Scott & Laura really do practice what they preach. Not that I'm saying the others don't, but they really demonstrate it for us in being positive, motivating and active.
They are always looking for feedback and ways to improve, whether it is from the students, other teachers, personal reflection, mid-presentation reflection, educational materials or educational writers. They encourage evaluation, and I plan to give my students an evaluation of me at the end of my student teaching about what worked, what didn't (I already know some think I make them take too many notes by writing the objective and the definitions of words like ratio and rate).
Besides all of the great activities, the biggest thing I took away from this presentation, as well as methods, is to have structure, consistency, value and comfort. And that structure and consistency revolves around PLANNING. The planning of meaningful tasks that engage the students, which leads to retention & learning, but bearing in mind that the tasks should always be aligned with the objectives (because the objective is the compass!!). The focus on planning and developing a solid structure and engaging activities will reduce classroom management issues. Now to put that into practice in the next 3 weeks.
Jen, perhaps you can get an evaluation from them half way through then attempt to incorporate their ideas.
Sandy, intrinsic motivation can be a temporary fix. It reinforces behavior until the more intrinsic reinforcers kick in. For example, a student may complete work for candy. When he sees his grades improve and understands the material better he may feel good about completing work.
Bear in mind, behavior is always motivated by something. Kids act out, do their homework, skip class etc. for one reason or another.
Scott and Laura practice what they preach. They took a poor physical environment with over 100 people and got us up and engaged in a hands on activity. I should surely be able to the same with 20 or less kids. Many of the activities we saw in the cafe can be used for math at little cost. Meaningful tasks aligned with objectives is the same message we hear in Methods. Use examples that the kids can relate to and ensure it supports the objectives and keep it moving. The reasons for lack of motivation really came alive after being in the classroom this week. I can't fix their home life but I can make the class structured, be prepared, speak to them with respect and have high expectations. My cooperating teacher said that as new teachers we are full of great ideas and that over time, many teachers get stuck in a rut. He viewed having a student teacher as a chance to give him new ideas.
It seems to me that if a student is not motivated to learn there is definitely a reason.While I don't believe you can necessarily determine the reason for a student's demotivation to learn, there are techniques to alter the motivation levels. Some are more labor intensive than others. If a child has poor foundation and a teacher has the time to provide one on one successful instruction, one could find intrinsically motivated growth as the student develops confidence as well as responds to heightened expectations. Cases differ -- I have a grade 9 student who's a new mother does she want to be in school? I don't know and it doesn't matter. I just have to have her hooked on learning using any method extrinsically or intrinsically. Certainly intrinsic learning is best as that's when the math lesson succeeds in relevancy but just have them hooked long enough for their fromtal lobe to catch up is important. This week I"m employing the motivation tools from Scott and Laura's presentation so I'll be able to relate post assessment of performance of certain underperforming students (as well as feedback from coop teacher) whom I've identified as being extrinsically motivated. One selected struggling student has a father demandiing the grades but nonetheless floats into space during class. Though goal is to foster deep learning that comes from intrinsic motivation, I might be wrong but if a child is on the other end of the spectrum it might only be possible to start off trying to work with extrinsic motivation and methodically work on having him or her grow the desire for launching independent thinking. I'll shoot for that.
I very much enjoyed Scott Dunn’s and Laura Tinnirella’s presentation and their ideas. When we first heard from Scott I wasn’t sure just how playing games was going to be a big benefit, yes they could be a nice positive learning activity but my first impression was that it would slow the pace of teaching. But I appreciate now the real benefit is keeping the students engaged.
This second presentation helped me to better see the teaching experience through the student’s eyes. Math can be a dry subject so any means that can help keep the student’s engaged is a benefit. But I have not been able to work their ideas into my lesson planning. I present some material, a new idea or theorem, do an example and then have the students do a practice problem. I do this again and expand on the day’s lesson, then it seems it is time for closure. I have been referring back to the Johnson books. I find them to be an easy read and it is easy to skim through and get a few ideas. Not so much what to teach but how I teach. There is a little self evaluation quiz in the motivation book and I go through it and it acts as a reminder of what I should be doing.
Fortunately I only have one truly reluctant learner and he can be disruptive in class. But with a little positive reinforcement and the suggestion that we can meet for extra help after school, he usually settles down. I have a couple of chatty Kathys and two boys that have trouble remaining seated but all in all I keep a positive attitude and things get accomplished.
Motivating the reluctant learner with team-based or hands-on activities seemed essential, but I'm having trouble implementing it with my instruction. I'm so focused on creating a lesson plan with a detailed task analysis, and redoing lesson plans at the end of every day based on my assessments of understanding, that I'm having a tough time finding brain capacity to be creative. If anyone else struggling in this manner? Any advice? I'd appreciate it.
A common mistake is to fall for the false dichotomy of choices between lecture as a long soliloquy and hands on activities. I emailed everyone this past week an example of a handout that was pedestrian as activities go but immediately put learning into student hands. Throw in writing solutions on the board and a pop quiz and you have a simple, straight forward lesson that can be engaging.
Reflections on Motivating the Reluctant Learner 3/26/11 Anne’s example of the girl who did not wanted to be in honors classes because she did not want to have a B is a typical example of extrinsic motivation. She has no interest in a subject , doesn’t strive to do better by taking more challenging course, the only driving factor is her grade and we don’t know whether there are other rewards associated with that grade for her. When we look at what causes a lack of motivation, lack of interest, confidence and purpose, fear of failure are the main things. Could the situation be different for her? Absolutely! Sometimes kids are not as strong to find the motivation within but it could just take one person, a teacher that could reach that child and things could be different for them. It is our job to develop our lessons that they would be challenging enough and interesting enough to grab the kids, tap into their interests, make sense to them, and be relevant to their lives. It is also our job to always have a positive attitude because our students will mimic our own motivation and passion for the subject. There is also a huge difference between motivation and compliance. There is no commitment from the student, just the high level of attention for whatever reason when we speak of compliance. This reminds of my own kids and how they act around some of our friends, sometimes there are some polite conversations because they know better and sometimes there is the never ending laughter and the total participation. It is the same with students, if the learning has meaning and value to them, when they have fun, when they like the teacher, they would go the extra mile to accomplish the task at hand. Some ways to make a difference in kid’s motivation is to connect with them, show them that we care enough to know their name that we notice if they are not doing well or if they are doing really well, make the classroom pleasant and inviting and make the kids part of that process, listen to their input and most importantly establish routines that will make the kids comfortable and they would want to come to our classroom. This was a perfect timing for this core session because our student teaching is so short that we have to use every opportunity to connect with the kids and make our presence memorable, whether it will be a fun, engaging lesson or maybe a short activity that will stay with them.
How do I get the kids to voluntarily commit their personal resources? As an athlete, I practice since I want to improve my performance. But all kids don’t want to be athletes. I liked Laura’s Motivation to Engagement slide. I need to make logical connections to my objective. What are they doing and why are they doing it should how I think when planning so that it is relevant to both my objective and to my students. One of the things Scott said was that we need to figure out a way to ask the question why. That ties in with the engagement.
Making a personal connection is critical and I need to be excited. Dale Carnegie said “A person's name is to him or her the sweetest and most important sound in any language." That is something that I will take to heart. When I am in a classroom, I want to ensure that these are things that I am doing. I want to let the students know that I like them. I try to use their names whenever possible. I like the index cards with their names on the front(Perras suggested) and some favorites on the back. I can refer to them before the class. I stand at the door and greet them when they enter and leave the class. I try to make small talk with the kids.
Scott Dunn and Laura, I am sure are fantastic teachers. After one week in the class, I can see how so many of their ideas and structure will lead to a very productive environment.
Communicate with every parent early on. We have been told this over and over again. Even if it is 120 kids, I am certain that when I have my classes, this will something that will help create my structure for my kids and support their learning.
The key points for me were the many reasons that people have for not feeling motivated. There are so many honest reasons students may have for not feeling motivated to study. We, as their teachers, have to get to the bottom of the reason and try to motivate the student in the most appropriate way. There are two types of motivation: Self motivated (Intrinsic Motivation) and someone who is motivated from an outside force (Extrinsic Motivation). My question is; is there any research or study on what type of motivation motivates teachers? I believe the same rules can falls on us.
From what I have learned thus far in the ARC program, there seems to always be a connection between Methods and Core sessions. The connections between these sessions were as follows:
•Engagement •Choosing rewards carefully •Setting deadlines •Offering choices in tasks •Preparing and organizing relevant lessons •Having a positive teacher affect •Implementing relevant activities (utility) •Involving the student in decision making •Tapping into students’ interests •Personal connection •Knowledge of students •Classroom structure and consistency •Successful lesson design
The one thing that stands out when I listened to Scott's presentation on Motivating the Reluctant Learner was something that we have been told in methods class as well as in other Core sessions: If you keep your class moving with a Do Now, followed by otehr meaningful activities - sometimes hands on and sometimes written - asses the students and conclude with a closure piece - the reluctant student will be mroe apt to listen and pay attention. A side benefit is also that you will have less behavioral problems in your class.
ReplyDeleteMany of the discussion topics that we have heard over the last few months have all been culminating to one thing: a good lesson plan - as well as the implentation of a good lesson plan - will keep your class motivated, will teach your class the subject matter, and will give you the least amount of behavioral problems.
So why doesn't every teacher just make up these engaging, thought provoking, fun lesson plans every day for every class? Maybe these teachers need to be motivated - maybe we need to motivate these "reluctant learners" too! (Sorry - Haven't had my coffee yet but I have been gathering my supplies for tomorrow and thinking about next week. So when in this process does your sleep stop getting interrupted by thoughts of teaching class the next day????)
ReplyDeleteI am hoping that the more that I apply from Scott's talk, the better off I will be. Based on my first few days, I cannot agree more with Anne comment and that if we keep them busy, there may be less behavioral issues.
ReplyDeleteOne part of Scott and Laura's presentation that made me think was the short part about Strategic Learners vs. Deep Learners. For some reason, I'm not sure why, I began to self examine my own "motivation-based learning style". I find that I have to admit to myself as having been more of a Strategic Learner, motivated primarily by competition for grades and the grades themselves rather than any challenge of mastering difficult or complex content. Sure, I was "interested" in Math. But was that “interest” rooted mainly in the fact that I found it easy to be successful in that area while other found it difficult or was it real interest in the subject? I'm afraid I must admit to the former.
ReplyDeleteSo when a teacher is confronted with a student such as one I believe was, I don't think it is very easy (or very common among teachers) to pinpoint the motivation type and notice any necessity to engage such a student any differently to promote more deep learning. I was not the kind of student constantly asking for my latest average or seeking extra credit opportunities to boost my grade (I've seen a few this week already). A student such as I was more likely to be among the "I don't need to worry about him" students, doing well and always on task. I suppose the teacher, and rightly so, needed to spend most efforts engaging the truly reluctant learners, applying the principles from Scott and Laura’s engagement ideas and our similar ideas from methods (keep pushing the students to discover, practice and try themselves). But I think a great teacher would not only spend the efforts to reach and engage the reluctant ones but would also find ways to challenge and interest the high achievers to learn something more. I don’t think I ever had such a teacher. Right now in the midst of my student teaching experience, I know I do not yet have the energy or skills to more deeply engage the motivated learner. But maybe if I really do a good job of engaging the unmotivated learner, I can get the strategic learners to actually learn more deeply, perhaps without them even knowing it.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Chris that the extrinsic vs intrinsic motivation information was interesting. I witnessed many examples of extrinsic motivation this week. The challenge will be how to encourage more intrinsic motivation and also de-emphasize the extrinsic.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing which stands out is that we can mitigate some of the causes for a lack of motivation. Creating a solid learning environment, challenging the students with thought provoking questions, and preparing interesting lessons is a way for teacher to address issues like lack of challenge, fear of failure, low expectations, lack of content relevance and more.
The tools and strategies we've discussed in methods like good initiations, closure, engaging students, solid questioning and constantly assessing were also stressed in this session.
While I found the ideas that Scott and Laura presented interesting - I sometimes found their examples are hard to do in a math class where I already have so much to do - between a do now, homework and teaching new material - there is not much time for these fun types of activities. Especially if your class time is only 30 - 40 minutes long. I think motivating the reluctant learner is something that will come a little later - once we all know what we are doing, how to present the material, how to get the students engaged in the classwork and homework. Collecting homework is a big motivator. If the kids think I am not going to grade or collect it - they do not all do it.
ReplyDeleteI don't believe you can change a person from extrinsic to intrinsic - that is just how they are wired. It might be hard to find out what motivates every single student - especially when you have 100 of them.
Of all of the core presenters, Scott & Laura really do practice what they preach. Not that I'm saying the others don't, but they really demonstrate it for us in being positive, motivating and active.
ReplyDeleteThey are always looking for feedback and ways to improve, whether it is from the students, other teachers, personal reflection, mid-presentation reflection, educational materials or educational writers. They encourage evaluation, and I plan to give my students an evaluation of me at the end of my student teaching about what worked, what didn't (I already know some think I make them take too many notes by writing the objective and the definitions of words like ratio and rate).
Besides all of the great activities, the biggest thing I took away from this presentation, as well as methods, is to have structure, consistency, value and comfort. And that structure and consistency revolves around PLANNING. The planning of meaningful tasks that engage the students, which leads to retention & learning, but bearing in mind that the tasks should always be aligned with the objectives (because the objective is the compass!!). The focus on planning and developing a solid structure and engaging activities will reduce classroom management issues. Now to put that into practice in the next 3 weeks.
Jen, perhaps you can get an evaluation from them half way through then attempt to incorporate their ideas.
ReplyDeleteSandy, intrinsic motivation can be a temporary fix. It reinforces behavior until the more intrinsic reinforcers kick in. For example, a student may complete work for candy. When he sees his grades improve and understands the material better he may feel good about completing work.
Bear in mind, behavior is always motivated by something. Kids act out, do their homework, skip class etc. for one reason or another.
Scott and Laura practice what they preach. They took a poor physical environment with over 100 people and got us up and engaged in a hands on activity. I should surely be able to the same with 20 or less kids.
ReplyDeleteMany of the activities we saw in the cafe can be used for math at little cost.
Meaningful tasks aligned with objectives is the same message we hear in Methods. Use examples that the kids can relate to and ensure it supports the objectives and keep it moving.
The reasons for lack of motivation really came alive after being in the classroom this week. I can't fix their home life but I can make the class structured, be prepared, speak to them with respect and have high expectations.
My cooperating teacher said that as new teachers we are full of great ideas and that over time, many teachers get stuck in a rut. He viewed having a student teacher as a chance to give him new ideas.
It seems to me that if a student is not motivated to learn there is definitely a reason.While I don't believe you can necessarily determine the reason for a student's demotivation to learn, there are techniques to alter the motivation levels. Some are more labor intensive than others. If a child has poor foundation and a teacher has the time to provide one on one successful instruction, one could find intrinsically motivated growth as the student develops confidence as well as responds to heightened expectations. Cases differ -- I have a grade 9 student who's a new mother does she want to be in school? I don't know and it doesn't matter. I just have to have her hooked on learning using any method extrinsically or intrinsically. Certainly intrinsic learning is best as that's when the math lesson succeeds in relevancy but just have them hooked long enough for their fromtal lobe to catch up is important.
ReplyDeleteThis week I"m employing the motivation tools from Scott and Laura's presentation so I'll be able to relate post assessment of performance of certain underperforming students (as well as feedback from coop teacher) whom I've identified as being extrinsically motivated. One selected struggling student has a father demandiing the grades but nonetheless floats into space during class.
Though goal is to foster deep learning that comes from intrinsic motivation, I might be wrong but if a child is on the other end of the spectrum it might only be possible to start off trying to work with extrinsic motivation and methodically work on having him or her grow the desire for launching independent thinking. I'll shoot for that.
I very much enjoyed Scott Dunn’s and Laura Tinnirella’s presentation and their ideas. When we first heard from Scott I wasn’t sure just how playing games was going to be a big benefit, yes they could be a nice positive learning activity but my first impression was that it would slow the pace of teaching. But I appreciate now the real benefit is keeping the students engaged.
ReplyDeleteThis second presentation helped me to better see the teaching experience through the student’s eyes. Math can be a dry subject so any means that can help keep the student’s engaged is a benefit. But I have not been able to work their ideas into my lesson planning. I present some material, a new idea or theorem, do an example and then have the students do a practice problem. I do this again and expand on the day’s lesson, then it seems it is time for closure. I have been referring back to the Johnson books. I find them to be an easy read and it is easy to skim through and get a few ideas. Not so much what to teach but how I teach. There is a little self evaluation quiz in the motivation book and I go through it and it acts as a reminder of what I should be doing.
Fortunately I only have one truly reluctant learner and he can be disruptive in class. But with a little positive reinforcement and the suggestion that we can meet for extra help after school, he usually settles down. I have a couple of chatty Kathys and two boys that have trouble remaining seated but all in all I keep a positive attitude and things get accomplished.
Motivating the reluctant learner with team-based or hands-on activities seemed essential, but I'm having trouble implementing it with my instruction. I'm so focused on creating a lesson plan with a detailed task analysis, and redoing lesson plans at the end of every day based on my assessments of understanding, that I'm having a tough time finding brain capacity to be creative. If anyone else struggling in this manner? Any advice? I'd appreciate it.
ReplyDeleteLiz
A common mistake is to fall for the false dichotomy of choices between lecture as a long soliloquy and hands on activities. I emailed everyone this past week an example of a handout that was pedestrian as activities go but immediately put learning into student hands. Throw in writing solutions on the board and a pop quiz and you have a simple, straight forward lesson that can be engaging.
ReplyDeleteReflections on Motivating the Reluctant Learner
ReplyDelete3/26/11
Anne’s example of the girl who did not wanted to be in honors classes because she did not want to have a B is a typical example of extrinsic motivation. She has no interest in a subject , doesn’t strive to do better by taking more challenging course, the only driving factor is her grade and we don’t know whether there are other rewards associated with that grade for her. When we look at what causes a lack of motivation, lack of interest, confidence and purpose, fear of failure are the main things. Could the situation be different for her? Absolutely! Sometimes kids are not as strong to find the motivation within but it could just take one person, a teacher that could reach that child and things could be different for them. It is our job to develop our lessons that they would be challenging enough and interesting enough to grab the kids, tap into their interests, make sense to them, and be relevant to their lives. It is also our job to always have a positive attitude because our students will mimic our own motivation and passion for the subject. There is also a huge difference between motivation and compliance. There is no commitment from the student, just the high level of attention for whatever reason when we speak of compliance. This reminds of my own kids and how they act around some of our friends, sometimes there are some polite conversations because they know better and sometimes there is the never ending laughter and the total participation. It is the same with students, if the learning has meaning and value to them, when they have fun, when they like the teacher, they would go the extra mile to accomplish the task at hand. Some ways to make a difference in kid’s motivation is to connect with them, show them that we care enough to know their name that we notice if they are not doing well or if they are doing really well, make the classroom pleasant and inviting and make the kids part of that process, listen to their input and most importantly establish routines that will make the kids comfortable and they would want to come to our classroom. This was a perfect timing for this core session because our student teaching is so short that we have to use every opportunity to connect with the kids and make our presence memorable, whether it will be a fun, engaging lesson or maybe a short activity that will stay with them.
How do I get the kids to voluntarily commit their personal resources? As an athlete, I practice since I want to improve my performance. But all kids don’t want to be athletes. I liked Laura’s Motivation to Engagement slide. I need to make logical connections to my objective. What are they doing and why are they doing it should how I think when planning so that it is relevant to both my objective and to my students. One of the things Scott said was that we need to figure out a way to ask the question why. That ties in with the engagement.
ReplyDeleteMaking a personal connection is critical and I need to be excited. Dale Carnegie said “A person's name is to him or her the sweetest and most important sound in any language." That is something that I will take to heart. When I am in a classroom, I want to ensure that these are things that I am doing. I want to let the students know that I like them. I try to use their names whenever possible. I like the index cards with their names on the front(Perras suggested) and some favorites on the back. I can refer to them before the class. I stand at the door and greet them when they enter and leave the class. I try to make small talk with the kids.
Scott Dunn and Laura, I am sure are fantastic teachers. After one week in the class, I can see how so many of their ideas and structure will lead to a very productive environment.
Communicate with every parent early on. We have been told this over and over again. Even if it is 120 kids, I am certain that when I have my classes, this will something that will help create my structure for my kids and support their learning.
The key points for me were the many reasons that people have for not feeling motivated. There are so many honest reasons students may have for not feeling motivated to study. We, as their teachers, have to get to the bottom of the reason and try to motivate the student in the most appropriate way. There are two types of motivation: Self motivated (Intrinsic Motivation) and someone who is motivated from an outside force (Extrinsic Motivation).
ReplyDeleteMy question is; is there any research or study on what type of motivation motivates teachers? I believe the same rules can falls on us.
From what I have learned thus far in the ARC program, there seems to always be a connection between Methods and Core sessions. The connections between these sessions were as follows:
•Engagement
•Choosing rewards carefully
•Setting deadlines
•Offering choices in tasks
•Preparing and organizing relevant lessons
•Having a positive teacher affect
•Implementing relevant activities (utility)
•Involving the student in decision making
•Tapping into students’ interests
•Personal connection
•Knowledge of students
•Classroom structure and consistency
•Successful lesson design