I’ve been an educator for over 15 years where I continue to find ways to motivate students within the classroom. I found that students do not enjoy listening to the same curriculum / lecture over and over again. In order to motivate students, we need to create that interest in the class and lessons.
We learn to use Differentiate Instruction (DI) with our students by spending extra lesson plan time to meet the needs of our students. However, sometimes we never think to differentiate instruction with the curriculum. While we are still meeting the needs of our students, as teachers, we are innovative thinkers where we find multiple ways to motivate our students. I started to DI my lessons for students who had a hard time understanding the material in class. It started with altering simple worksheets, to adjusting quizzes and tests, to re-creating lessons in general. About four or five years ago, I decided to use how to DI lessons for students to DI the actual curriculum. While still staying true to the standards and goals, I altered the way I taught.
Teaching a novel, like 1984, can be cumbersome to get students wanting to read. The focus of a third person limited point of view of Winston Smith wanting to rebel against his Dystopian government is not an interesting topic to most (or all) high school students. However, I found a way to use DI in the classroom in order to motivate students. Instead of them reading the novel, taking notes, and taking a test, I incorporated their own lives to the lives of the characters. They could not understand why Winston Smith just didn't rebel. From this point forward, students began to think about how digital technology is really changing and how George Orwell sort of predicted the future.
It‘s amazing when I hear a student leave my classroom and state that she will Continue to read the novel over the weekend and over break. I found that motivating students takes time but finding the right way to DI the work creates a better atmosphere for students to learn.
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