How to Motivate High School Students to Complete Their Classes Successfully

Positive peer pressure can motivate students to work diligently.

High school students divide their attention between home, school, afterschool activities and their social life. With so many things vying for their attention, focusing on school can challenge kids. But parents and educators know that during the high school years, succeeding in school needs to be their top priority. School success impacts their admission to college and builds a foundation for a solid work ethic. Finding the proper motivation level means adult figures must find that fine line between discipline and encouragement. A motivated student will focus on schoolwork and will want to complete his classes successfully.

Instructions

1. Encourage students by telling them you believe they can complete their classes successfully and that they need to believe in themselves. Students need to know you care about them.

2. Emphasize effort, not mental ability. Explain what to do and how to do it. Provide reasons why they need to do an assignment. Clarify expectations regarding homework and the minimum standards for assignments. Students should understand the value of learning.

3. Involve students. Engage them in their own learning. As they take responsibility to learn, motivation will increase. Lectures communicate some information effectively, but they can work in groups to solve problems, complete projects, help the teacher and become active participants in their own education.

4. Offer students the opportunity to complete challenging assignments and encourage them to do so. Motivation should include extra credit points and higher grades. Reward field trips can provide additional motivation for high school students.

5. Help students reach their own conclusions. Walk them down the path of discovery -- they will see where you are going. Let them experience their own "light bulb" moment. Give definitions, background, proof, examples and stories. This method of presenting material also teaches students to process information.

6. Show students with visual images; don't just tell them what you mean. Many people learn by seeing and doing, in addition to hearing. You get a feel for this when someone gives you directions, which is part of the appeal of global positioning systems (GPS). While he can explain to you how to find his house, it's easier when you follow the GPS. And, after you have driven there yourself once, it's easier still. This is because you engage hearing, then hearing and vision, then hearing, vision and doing.

Tips & Warnings

• Give students a choice between assignments. This lets them feel they have some control in the educational process and helps them buy into what you want to teach.

References

• Carlton College SERC: Motivating Students
• Horace Mann: Motivating Students
• "The Washington Post"; Five Ways to Motivate Students; Jay Matthews