How to Motivate Reluctant Learners (Mastering the Principles of Great Teaching series)

Robyn R. Jackson

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About This Book

What we call “motivation” in school is really a decision students make to invest in our classrooms. It’s our responsibility to show students the value of investment and guide them toward behaviors that will support learning.

In this guide, Robyn R. Jackson takes you step by step through the process of motivating reluctant learners—what great teachers do instead of relying on elaborate rewards systems or creative tricks to reach students who actively or passively resist investing themselves in the classroom. Here, you’ll learn how to

• Identify the classroom investments to ask for by considering the motivated behaviors you most want to see and ensuring that what you’re asking for is specific, meaningful, observable, realistic, worth the effort, and small.
• Create a classroom worth investing in by removing “demotivating” practice- and procedure-based barriers and giving students more opportunities for autonomy.
• Understand and address students’ resistance and respond with instructional strategies that minimize perceived risk and maximize immediate benefits.
• Ask for and shape an investment by reaching out to students in a nonconfrontational way and providing a clear path toward motivated behavior.
• Create a motivation plan that’s tailored to the students you teach and designed to be effective in the long run.

About the series

Every teacher can become a master teacher with the right kind of practice and support. Each of the how-to guides in the Mastering the Principles of Great Teaching series focuses on one of the seven mastery principles introduced in Robyn R. Jackson’s best-selling Never Work Harder Than Your Students and Other Principles of Great Teaching. The guides’ self-assessments, worksheets, planning templates, process outlines, checklists, links to online resources, suggested activities, and prompts for reflection help teachers of all experience levels apply the principles to address everyday classroom challenges and build their overall mastery mindset.

See the book's table of contents and read excerpts.

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About the Author

ROBYN R. JACKSON is a former high school teacher and middle school administrator. She is currently the President and Founder of Mindsteps Inc., a professional development firm for teachers and administrators that provides workshops and materials designed to help any teacher reach every student.

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