To motivate students I think as teacher we must take an active roll, have strong fillings and be open to them in everythink they ask, specially high school and college pupils
You could think about adopting a 'flipped classroom' approach. By doing this you are requiring learners to bring something to the lessons.
For example - ask your students to watch a short video (e.g. on Ted Talks) that is related to the topic of the week. Students can prepare questions or summaries to discuss in class time.
By getting to students to engage with a topic before you present it in the lesson has two main benefits:
1. It reduces cognitive load on the students as they are already familiar with a topic before you present it in class
2. Students actively engage on their on own terms (watching/reading material when they want, before the class)
Ultimately it's about learner training - making your students aware that learning is not just a matter of the lecturer telling them stuff.
In the beginning, the teacher must try to develop himself and improve the level of his class, so he will need some of the ideas in motivating students and enticing them to love science and learning, so the teacher works to increase the student's sense of responsibility, encouraging teamwork, dialogue and discussion for all, creating a safe environment to learn ........etc.
From my experience as a PGCE (Postgraduate Certificate in Education) student and as a Tutor, I think if a teacher has a passion for their job they inspire their students to love teaching and learning, the subjects/curriculum/activity. My PGCE lecturers and my trainers at the university's Teaching and Learning Centre (TLC) made learning fun, and instilled confidence in their students by insisting that students were as knowledgeable as their lecturers and trainers. As a result I found myself creating a puppet for an Education Curriculum module and a stage theatre for a Technology module, and climbing mountains as part of team-building training by the TLC mentors. This despite the fact that I had for many years accepted myself as non-artistic and not capable of climbing mountains. All these mentors highlighted Howard Gardner's multiple intelligences theory. And so they would tell you, for example, that you CAN draw, despite your belief otherwise, but that your drawing (or visual-spatial) intelligence was positioned towards the bottom of the capability order of your intellegencies. Hence we were motivated to attend classes, and were willing to complete tasks. And since the mentors portrayed lessons and workshops as exchange of ideas between students/trainees and lecturers/trainers, students were keen to search for knowledge, and ask for guidance from and/or share the knowledge with the mentors.
In summary therefore, I have found the key to be (1) for teachers to be enthusiastic about education and their subjects (2) have mutual respect with their students (3) have confidence in their students and show it.
One of the most difficult aspects of becoming a teacher is learning how to motivate your students. It is also one of the most important. Students who are not motivated will not learn effectively. They won’t retain information, they won’t participate and some of them may even become disruptive. A student may be unmotivated for a variety of reasons: They may feel that they have no interest in the subject, find the teacher’s methods un-engaging or be distracted by external forces. It may even come to light that a student who appeared unmotivated actually has difficulty learning and is need of special attention.
While motivating students can be a difficult task, the rewards are more than worth it. Motivated students are more excited to learn and participate. Simply put: Teaching a class full of motivated students is enjoyable for teacher and student alike. Some students are self-motivated, with a natural love of learning. But even with the students who do not have this natural drive, a great teacher can make learning fun and inspire them to reach their full potential.
Here are five effective ways to get your students excited about learning:
1. Encourage Students
Students look to teachers for approval and positive reinforcement, and are more likely to be enthusiastic about learning if they feel their work is recognized and valued. You should encourage open communication and free thinking with your students to make them feel important. Be enthusiastic. Praise your students often. Recognize them for their contributions. If your classroom is a friendly place where students feel heard and respected, they will be more eager to learn. A “good job” or “nice work” can go a long way.
2. Get Them Involved
One way to encourage students and teach them responsibility is to get them involved in the classroom. Make participating fun by giving each student a job to do. Give students the responsibility of tidying up or decorating the classroom. Assign a student to erase the blackboard or pass out materials. If you are going over a reading in class, ask students to take turns reading sections out loud. Make students work in groups and assign each a task or role. Giving students a sense of ownership allows them to feel accomplished and encourages active participation in class.
3. Offer Incentives
Setting expectations and making reasonable demands encourages students to participate, but sometimes students need an extra push in the right direction. Offering students small incentives makes learning fun and motivates students to push themselves. Incentives can range from small to large giving a special privilege to an exemplary student, to a class pizza party if the average test score rises. Rewards give students a sense of accomplishment and encourage them to work with a goal in mind.
4. Get Creative
Avoid monotony by changing around the structure of your class. Teach through games and discussions instead of lectures, encourage students to debate and enrich the subject matter with visual aids, like colorful charts, diagrams and videos. You can even show a movie that effectively illustrates a topic or theme. Your physical classroom should never be boring: use posters, models, student projects and seasonal themes to decorate your classroom, and create a warm, stimulating environment.
5. Draw Connections to Real Life
“When will I ever need this?” This question, too often heard in the classroom, indicates that a student is not engaged. If a student does not believe that what they’re learning is important, they won’t want to learn, so it’s important to demonstrate how the subject relates to them. If you’re teaching algebra, take some time to research how it is utilized practically for example, in engineering and share your findings with your students. Really amaze them by telling them that they may use it in their career. Showing them that a subject is used everyday by “real” people gives it new importance. They may never be excited about algebra but if they see how it applies to them, they may be motivated to learn attentively.
First and foremost I believe you need to develop your own teaching Philosophy. Then, try to discover exactly what you expect students to understand after completing your course, then you can by using suitable tools facilitate student learning so that every student reaches this level. the most important tools, is the one help in creating an environment in the classroom, which inspired learning, and encouraged individual responsibility for education