Tip 35: Encourage students to stay motivated
As distance learning continues, it can be hard to keep students engaged with their work. With these drastic changes, some may find the lack of structure difficult to manage. Many have added stresses at home, brought on by the pandemic. How can you keep students motivated to finish off the year strong?
We’ve seen educators send out great messages of encouragement through ParentSquare. Here’s one targeted for high school students, sent out by Vintage High School.
Mrs. O’Connor does a great job touching on the school values that develop character beyond academics. We love how she encourages intrinsic motivation, calling on students to see the bigger picture of why it’s important for their development to stay motivated and see it as an opportunity to rise to the occasion. Best of all, she encourages students to email her with any concerns or questions, setting up an open line of communication.
This article by The Conversation explores student motivation — it discusses the power of giving students’ some autonomy and explaining why the work they do is important. We thought Mrs. Connor did a great job of catering to her high school students’ sense of developing autonomy and explaining why working hard with distance learning will benefit them beyond passing/failing, and how it will impact their future classes, college experience, and beyond.
Sandy Grade School sent out a lovely video to their elementary school students, celebrating and showcasing students doing an awesome job at distance learning!
When students see their peers working, it can be a great motivator for them to put in work as well. Also, students love to be celebrated (especially in younger grade levels). This is a great strategy — you don’t need to be a video wizard either — simply sharing photos will work too!
Even taking a moment to recognize and thank your school community for their efforts can go a long way. Magnolia Public Schools recently had three of their high schools rank on U.S. World & News Report annual list. We love that they took this opportunity to share good news and recognize the tremendous efforts of their students and staff who rose to the occasion by saying:
What have you seen or sent out to inspire and motivate students? We’d love to hear it! Let us know, so we can showcase you and your school, too!
K-12 Remote Tips
We send out an email with each new remote communications tip for K12. Some examples use ParentSquare, but these tips will work with any comprehensive communications tool. Sign up to receive them straight in your inbox.