What Keeps Students Motivated To Learn?

Good Morning ALC students and students I’m Ms.Pastor your principal. I recognize some of your faces and some are new but it’s nice to see you all. Hopefully you all had a nice summer and welcome to a new school year. Before you all head to class I want to speak about a topic I feel needs to be addressed. Throughout, the years that I’ve been working here my fellow staff and teachers have told me that the students here lose focus during class and hopefully we can work together to change that. Everyone in this room is lucky to be here we have been given opportunities and we should take advantage of that situation whether you are a student or a teacher. We all have to work together, we have to help one another as teachers and help students learn.
All of us have the chance to help students and students the chance to learn and you’re lucky because not all the countries have the opportunities that you guys do. Either because they don’t have the money for their education or because their community is negligent, that they can’t even manage to manage to place a school in their surrounding area.

I want to start off by telling you all about an experiment that a man named Sugata Mitra did, which you can view on TedTalk.com. Mitra did a miraculous deed by doing the smallest favor which was to embbedd a computer into the wall. He didn’t just place it anywhere, he placed it where many children didn’t know how to use it. The location in which he placed the computer was in India and I believe he also placed one in Africa. Mitra did a generous deed because after a while the children learned how to use the computer on their own. The children amazed him and me as well because so many teens and children here in CA struggle to learn s and they give up on it right away while the children in India didn’t. Another situation in which the children in India didn’t fail to surprise us was that just after two months the children’s accent changed without no one’s help. This teaches us that if we all put our mind to anything we can succeed even in a short amount of time just as these children did. All ALC students have to aim high and try their best just as these kids did. We can’t give up even if we don’t understand a topic or lesson because then that just shows that we are quitters and that were not. Not only students but teachers as well we have to support them in their learning we can’t just sit and watch otherwise we might as well not be there for them at all.

Therefore this topic leads me to talk about yet another important factor in the education of students.
Just yesterday I was reading an article “What Keeps Students Motivated to Learn?” by Katrina Shwartz. She talked about how teachers should give students projects they’re interested in. Gramann a student that Shwarts talked to stated “that if teachers give broad guidelines for projects and then have students do something they’re interested in it will bring students along the whole time.” I agree with with Gramann but at the same time I feel conflicted because no matter what there will always be students who don’t do their work. Teachers may agree with me in this situation because even if you make a project easy and interesting there will always be those that are either lazy or procrastinate too much and end up not doing what they’re asked to. As teachers you all know that, that doesn’t need to be the case, we have to help them avoid that. We all have to make an effort to change students ways and we have to make sure that no one in class is falling behind. It’s a teacher’s job to motivate students to do their best and treat them as your own children. Gramann also stated “I feel motivated because because the teachers make me feel worth it.” This alone should show teachers that they have to motivate their students and support them the whole way. They need help and our role is to be there for them as much as we can, to make sure that they get help. We can’t let them fall behind
otherwise we have failed as a group and we can’t allow that to happen. However if they don’t even want to try at all then we have to take it to the next level and still support them.

In addition, motivation and support isn’t everything a student needs in order to learn.
As teachers you have to make sure that you student is happy and satisfied because if the student has worries they won’t be able to focus on their education and will fall behind. The article that made me realize that our students’ happiness matters is “Because I’m Happy” by Victoria Jones. Jones stated “Students often report that happiness, or positive feelings like enjoyment or fun promotes learning.” As eager as I am to make our students happiness better, I still understand that no one is always feeling up to doing the task that they are handed but if happiness is what helps you learn then make sure to get as much as you can before you head into class. Your role as students should be to make sure that your needs are fulfilled because teachers don’t always have the time to make sure that their students are feeling well. If you aren’t feeling positive because you have too much worries in your mind talk to your teacher and they’ll do their best to help you. Jones also stated “If school want to support well being and achievement they should take seriously nurturing positive relationships among teachers and students.” Our goal as an academy is to achieve all this by the end of the school year. All teachers have to make sure that they’re there for their students not only as a teacher but as a supportive friend. If making our students happy helps their education then we should do it daily.
Students have to look forward to going to school and if they do then we accomplished our goal.

Some of you may still be wondering why I spent half an hour ta talk about the importance of motivation, support and happiness. To answer that question I am going to respond by saying that these are the important factors that you all need to have in order to do well in your education. Your education matters and we as a group are here to help you out whether it be east or hard. All of you have to try your best to pass your classes with at least a B or C. I want every single one of you to feel supported along the way and if you need any help don’t be afraid to ask. All teachers are here to focus on students, and how to make students roles easier as so are students to teachers. I want you all to your best until the next time we meet and so on because I want to be glad of all the accomplishments that all of you as an academy accomplish. Remember to satisfy your needs and have a nice day. Thank you for being here and I hope you all have a wonderful school year.