A nearly universal struggle among teachers is the issue of student motivation. Regardless of grade, many students have begun to have an attitude that school is a waste of their time. What has caused this motivational issue? I have to wonder if part of the reason is not the focus on testing and achievement.
We are so focused on increasing student test scores that we have lost the ability to teach lessons in a motivating way. Instead of teaching students why it is important to be able to solve certain math problems, we focus on correct answers and high test scores. While correct answers are important, motivated students will learn more than unmotivated students, resulting in improved student grades and higher test scores.
Whenever teaching a lesson, teachers should ask themselves, “if I were the student learning this, why should I care?” If there is no obvious answer to this question embedded into the lesson plan, then the lesson will not motivate students. Every lesson you teach should include an answer to the question “so what?”
Here are some examples for how to write motivational math lessons.
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