Why Students are so unmotivated?

I know, I know this is a movie, But I've tried to be as energetic as this in my own classroom. It works!
so let loose! share the energy!

Teaching motivated student is like riding a unicorn on a rainbow. Easy, quick , stuff dreams are made off and they produce brilliant result. While teaching the unmotivated and uninspired student is like doing a stand up comedy with bad jokes, really bad jokes, imagine the face and the emotions of the crowd. Here we are , trying our best, but nothing seems to strike the right notes with the crowds to make them enjoy our jokes.

There is a reason why I compare the unmotivated students with the crowds in a bad stand up comedy show. The jokes are like the motivation they need, the crowd is only responsive towards good jokes. We the teachers, are the comedian. We need to put up one hell of  a good show and we can't blame the crowds when our jokes are lame. 

The Motivated Student : 

1) Self driven learning - Ask questions , understand where they need improving

2) Excellence work ethics - Organ

5ized and works are done in time.  

3) Ambitious - Set long term goals and committed to achieve it. 

4)Active in and outside of school 

The Unmotivated Student :

Total opposite of the motivated students. Poor energy , poor concentration  , as though they are forced to be there (sadly they are forced to be there)

They are not the problem. they are just victims of poor jokes. Solution to bad jokes? Improve the jokes and improve those who deliver it. The teachers. 

Learning and the disconnection to the real world. 

How do you feel if a person tell you a joke that have been told by somebody else before. You respond would be “keep smiling , laugh just to appreciate his effort….bleh..”

That is how our students feel when being taught out of the text books, it’s boring and dull. Teachers! Keep yourself updated to the latest discoveries in your field. Trust me , big bang theories, images from the hubble telescope will feed your student imagination and your classroom will be the highlight of the day for them.

Maybe too often that we are mistaken by their lack of drive in the classroom as the lack of curiosity , if a child can be excited by a new app on their phones, trust me, lack of curiosity is the last problem you will face in a student.  So, how do we reduce the disconnection to the real world and arouse their passion for knowledge?

1.    Relate your lessons to the current mainstream news.

Ask of their opinion and understanding of the situation.  When we make their opinion matters, indirectly they feel a sense of importance and will be more interested in learning deeper into the subject.

2. 

     Deeper is better!

Show them topics beyond their current curriculums, something with a “that is super cool” factor and how what they are learning at the moment will lead them into.

3.   

      Leverage their ambition.

If there is one thing I realize in my time teaching is that, most children/student have ambitions but they don’t really know in depth of the career path they aspire to take. Relating the topics to the work scope of a career they are interested in will definitely arouse their interest.

They key aspect in this method is to have a teacher that is updated and naturally excited about a new discovery and to transfer the excitement into the students. We force them to take what we feel will benefit them in the long term but we too forget to make the knowledge we teach them rational in their life.

Create curiosity when advising students and they will surely listen, force them to swallow and they spit it out when you leave. Ignite the fire inside them with your own fire. Be curious and never stop learning. 

*This is the first part of many, I will update more soon