Edclick

Edclicking

By Dr. Harry Tennant

Edclicking

by Harry Tennant
Blog RSS feed
Share this blog with email Share this blog on Facebook Share this blog on Twitter Share this blog on LinkedIn

Show recent posts

Show posts with most recent comments

Keywords:

21st Century Skills (1)
7 Habits of Happy Kids (1)
ads (3)
Aeries (1)
after action review (1)
after-action review (1)
API (1)
Behavior Manager (26)
behavior policies (1)
Behavior Questionnaires (2)
blogs (1)
carrots and sticks (3)
challenge (2)
change (1)
character builders (1)
check for use (1)
Check In/Check Out (1)
checklist (1)
child-driven education (1)
classroom management (1)
classroom mangement (1)
coaching (1)
code of silence (1)
collaborative learning (6)
confirmation bias (1)
continuous improvement (79)
cost savings (7)
creativity (1)
deliberate practice (3)
discipline (2)
Discipline Manager (2)
Dragon (1)
duty to warn (1)
Edclick (1)
Edison (1)
education (1)
email bankruptcy (1)
email-to-SMS (1)
enthusiasm (2)
entrepreneurship (3)
evidence-based practices (1)
experiments (1)
FAQ: Behavior Manager (63)
FAQ: Community Service Manager (1)
FAQ: Intervention Manager (7)
FAQ: Lesson Plan Manager (2)
FAQ: Testing Manager (6)
FAQ: Tutoring Manager (3)
function of behavior (1)
funding (1)
getting started (24)
habits (3)
improvement log (1)
info hub (1)
Innovation (1)
Intervention Manager (1)
interventions (1)
Isaac Asimov (1)
ISV Partner Program (1)
Jamie Oliver (1)
knowedge work (1)
lesson plans (1)
liberal education (1)
measurement (1)
mentoring (3)
merit points (1)
mission (1)
mitra (1)
motivation (1)
motivations (1)
NCLB (1)
nutrition (1)
one-click merits (1)
online instruction (1)
online learning (2)
parental involvement (4)
PBIS (10)
PBL (3)
PDCA cycles (1)
Pearson (1)
perfection (1)
planning (1)
positive feedback (1)
PowerSchool (1)
Practice Classroom Management Skills (2)
Practice in Classroom Management Skills (1)
prevention (11)
process improvement (1)
processes (1)
Professional learning communities (1)
progress (4)
projects (1)
punishment (1)
reflection (4)
Responsible-Motivated-Engaged (14)
Restorative Discipline (1)
restorative justice (1)
rewards (1)
RtI (1)
rubric (1)
run chart (2)
School Safety Manager (12)
school violence (11)
science of education (1)
self-serving bias (1)
service and fees (11)
small groups (1)
social skills club (1)
star chart (1)
STEM (5)
student imports (1)
success (3)
success story (3)
sucess story (1)
super rich educators (1)
supports (1)
surprise success (1)
surprises (1)
tardies (1)
teach expectations (1)
teaching effectiveness (1)
Testing Manager (1)
thank you teachers (1)
time saving (3)
tips (18)
tweak (2)
using discipline manager (8)
using School Site Manager (7)
values (1)
virtual classrooms (1)
volunteers (3)
waste (2)
wealth (1)
weightloss (1)
wikis (6)

Keyword Cloud

Archive:
2010
    November (4)
    December (4)
2011
    February (8)
    March (13)
    April (12)
    May (4)
    June (2)
    July (12)
    August (12)
    September (8)
    October (9)
2012
    January (5)
    February (12)
    March (10)
    April (12)
    May (11)
    June (5)
    July (1)
    September (2)
2013
    January (22)
    February (29)
    July (6)
    August (14)
    November (1)
2015
    July (2)
    August (5)
    September (4)
    October (1)
2017
    October (2)
    November (7)
    December (2)
2018
    January (3)
    February (12)
    March (4)
    April (1)
    August (11)
2021
    February (1)

Posts 1 - 1 of 1

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Student enthusiasm

I subscribe to the belief that student enthusiasm for learning is as important as learning the prescribed curriculum. Why? Learning can't stop at graduation. The world changes too quickly. Learning must be lifelong, which means that the enthusiasm for learning must be lifelong.

Can we teach enthusiasm for learning? Probably not directly. But here's the good news: everyone starts life with an inate enthusiasm for learning. It's easiest to see in little kids. They're fascinated by learning. Unfortunately, the enthusiasm for learning is worn down in many students after years of schooling. How ironic, and what a shame!

What can be done about enthusiasm for learning?

One approach is to try to mask learning as games or other fun activities. That can help as long as the learning stays paramount and doesn't become overwhelmed by the game.

Learning is often hard work. It often is not entertaining. The ideal is for that hard work to be enjoyable. But is that possible?

Yes. Hard work in which we are fully engaged, called flow, is intrinsically motivating. We like doing it. So, how do we get to that point where students are engaged and intrinsically motivated by learning the prescribed curriculum?

In business, the most common motivation is extrinsic: carrots and sticks. Give rewards for desired performance and threaten consequences for undesired performance. It works to a certain extent. It works well enough to have been the basis for motivating workers for at least thousands of years.

A new book, The Progress Principle, is based on extensive research in the motivation of workers. The findings are that the strongest motivator for work is making progress on meaningful tasks. It's not the carrots and sticks. It's people feeling good about what they spend a lot of the time of their lives doing.

This translates to enthusiasm for learning. First, it's important to make schoolwork meaningful. Let students know how the curriculum fits into a desireable image of their futures. Take the time for field trips or classroom visitors who can relate lessons to life. Second, emphasize that progress is being made. Rather than just attending class day after day, make it clear to students how they are improving, how their knowledge and skills are growing.

Posted at 9:12 AM (permalink) 6 Comments View/Leave Comment Share this post with email Share this post on Facebook Share this post on Twitter Share this post on LinkedIn
Keywords: progress

  Posts 1 - 1 of 1