Motivation

BRIEF SUMMARY

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KEY POINTS

• Bullet 1
• Bullet 2

SHARED WISDOM

• From Counselor Talk, September 2018:
  • For working with unmotivated students…
    1) Reward: help the student identify things (usually small things) that might motivate them.
    2) Consequences: work with teachers/parents to put in place small consequences that the student can work to have removed with positive steps forward.
    3) Solution-focused counseling: set very small goals and small action steps to help the student see small progress at regular intervals.
    4) Motivational interviewing: one of my favorite counseling approaches, it focuses on a few techniques to cultivate “change talk” and use a student’s own words to motivate them.  Google it or get the book “Motivational Interiewing for School Counselors.”
• From Counselor Talk, January 2018: We are hoping to combat the ever increasing apathy our students have about doing well in school, making good grades, and completing homework. Please send me any school wide initiatives or programs that you have used (both successful and unsuccessful ones). We are considering targeting our freshmen and using the freshmen focus curriculum.
  • Responses:
  • I have found a few programs on my own that I have just started to research. Zero Zone, Zero Cafe, Why Try, and Freshmen Focus
  • We have received grant money for an incentive and are doing it school wide.  We will be taking our students tubing in two weeks.  Our requirements:  1. Attendance–could not have more than 6 unexcused absences.  2.  Grading–No F’s at the semester.  3.  Discipline-no more than 2 issues. We are expecting approximately 45% of our school going.  Students are required to attend school and we will be doing digital assignments as every student has a chromebook.
    
  • It would be a HUGE shift in scheduling/planning for you guys but we had a “Freshman Academy” at my old school.  We had “core teachers” teachers that only taught freshmen in one hallway in the building.  These teachers did special units with the freshmen about note taking, study skills/habits, peer relations/pressure, good choices, etc.  They would target specific behaviors/concerns to motivate students.  After 3 years, all 4 grade levels will have been through the program and you may see some improvements.  Of course like any other program there are pro’s and con’s but it was successful

RESOURCES

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