For students with the “Needs Motivation” label at the top of their student card. students may need help with motivation.
What this means
The student has either a history of not doing much math practice per week or requires consistent support toward engaging in math. Or if the student is using MATHia, the student may have been inactive within the last 5 minutes and needs immediate intervention to re-engage with their work.
What to do and say:
Step 1: Greet the student and say their name.
“Hi, Juan! Tell me how things are going today.”
Step 2: Make sure they can log into the math software or not otherwise technically blocked.
“Juan, are you able to access [math software]?”
“Juan, I can see you are not using [math software], how can I help you?”
Step 3: Reinforce you are here to help and have confidence they can succeed &
try to identify the reason for their lack of motivation
“Juan, this math learning can be tough. I am here to help.”
“Juan, you might struggle sometimes. That’s good. I know you can do it.”
“Juan, are you feeling supported?”
“Juan, do you feel like you can learn this math?”
“Juan, do you feel like this math is useful?”
Step 4: Provide support. See strategies below.
Strategies to provide motivational support
Encourage the students to talk with you by asking them open questions.
Practice active listening, see slide 6: here
Praise students for effort often (“I’m proud of how hard you’re working!”)
How to get help in supporting students with motivation
Practice responding to students in the following PLUS lessons:
Watch the following videos:
Scenario 1 on greeting students and praising their work.
View these slideshows:
Motivation Training Scenario 1 slides 22-24, Scenario 2 slides 26-28