Blog Post 6: Motivating Students to Reach Success
Hello all! I hope the new semester is going well for everyone and that all is well! Today I am thinking about and responding to chapter 8 of Randy Sprick's Discipline in the Secondary Classroom: A Positive Approach to Behavior Management. This chapter focused on classroom management strategies that could be implemented to help enhance student motivation, both intrinsically and extrinsically. As I read this chapter, what stuck out most to me was the idea that we as teachers should attempt to have at least three times as many positive interactions with our students as negative interactions. I also loved Sprick's ideas about the importance of giving students non-contingent attention (Sprick, 259). I think it is easy for teachers to get used to giving high-achieving students attention almost exclusively after they have done something well, but it is important for us to give them attention that is not contingent on their performance. This shows our students that they are cared fo...