Motivation & Incentives
Week 6 Theme
As week six of an eighteen-week semester approaches, many of our students, although grade may have only been posted recently, will be receiving their first teacher progress reports of the semester. For some, the current grades will present well in light of several assignments and a successful first assessment. For others, a course or two might appear troublesome as a result of a few missing assignments and a test grade that does not reflect that student’s ability.
The Honeymoon is Over
In either situation, we often find that the honeymoon which is the start of a new semester is now over. Ineffective past patterns and distractions can appear and commitments to goals and strategies may abate.
Just2 Tutoring Tightens the Circle
This is the time of year where we at Just2 Tutoring tighten the circle. It is the season of the first of three progress meetings that we host each semester with parents and their child. These meetings are a celebration of success in both was has been and what is about to be achieved. We will state the goals and strategies to meet them as an identification of the success the student will achieve at the semester’s close.
This is also a time when parents will frequently ask,
How do you motivate a student to self-initiate and make quality efforts assignments and study?
There are a few answers to this question. The first is consistent contact with students. At Just2 Tutoring we are in consistent contact with our students. Consistent contact creates a powerful rapport, which creates trust. The trust between a student and another caring adult creates confidence and accountability. The accountability creates productivity and leads directly to academic success and a feeling of success, much like wealth, is something a person never want to lose. This is motivation.
Love Languages and Incentives for Motivation
Sometimes there needs to be a little more skin in the game and a need for more external motivation presents itself. It is in our work with students in identifying their Love Languages that we reveal that which might serve as an incentive to maintain their academic commitments. We can reference these gems of self-knowledge to ensure that goals will be met.
Our focused challenged students tend to be impulsive and they live in immediacy. We may find that a long term incentive of cash or travel or concert might be just what s/he needs. However, most students will require more short term or immediate rewards. An example of this might be smaller amounts of cash or parts of a camera or gaming console that would cumulate to a fabulous earning coupled with academic success. It is important to keep in mind that not all kids are motivated by tangible things. Many will be better motivated by words of acknowledgment, time together or increased trust and time with friends.
Within our Just2 Tutoring parent progress meetings, we will discuss and show evidence of progress. We will demonstrate the power of consistent contact in our academic coaching and activate the motivation that students require as we mark the first third of the semester.
Thanks again for your work with kids and I look forward to speaking with you on our coach call this week.
Mike
