Motivation ideas?

planejay

planejay

Well-Known Member
I wasn't sure where to post this but hopefully this will work. I have to teach some dry material for 2.5 hours in the near future and was wondering if anyone had any ideas of ways to cheaply motivate students/peers so that they stay awake and participate in class, not that there is a problem with this, but I would like to prevent it. Anyway, any input is appreciated..thanks.
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As a student who can barely pay attention in class, and having done a bunch of public speaking, I'd say the best way is interacting with the group. Group disucussion (if its appropriate), and some humor from time to time can't hurt. Anything to break up the monotiny (sp?) of the speech.
 
We teach a Leadership class & we have these toys in class to keep the students entertained while they are listening to the course material, I will take a picture of what they look like for you.

Mike
 
I am reminded of a movie "Major League" Dunno if it was the first or the sequel but that doesn't really matter.

Find a large picture of a women who is naked, and place pieces of a puzzle over her body, and when they get an answer correct, you pull one of the puzzle pieces off.

It sounds like a great Hollywood teaching method, but I am not sure if a pupal would be more interested in the material or the poster, and would conflict the basic principal of primacy. ie next time he hears about a static system, all he can think about is the rack of the lovely lady he was looking at, instead of the Altimeter, VSI, and Airspeed indicator.


BUT I WOULD BE MOTIVATED
 
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I wasn't sure where to post this but hopefully this will work. I have to teach some dry material for 2.5 hours in the near future and was wondering if anyone had any ideas of ways to cheaply motivate students/peers so that they stay awake and participate in class, not that there is a problem with this, but I would like to prevent it. Anyway, any input is appreciated..thanks.
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Here's an idea that I read somewhere that is rather funny. Before you start teaching place a tennis ball in plain view of all the students. When the first student falls asleep, pick up the ball and whip it at him/her. After the tennis ball is thrown, reach in your bag and place a baseball on the desk. I can almost guarantee that nobody else will doze off again.....
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Ask the students lots of questions during the presentation, particularly about what you are teaching...but DON'T just ask the question and wait for someone in the group to respond. Ask the question to the group, wait a second or two, then randomly choose someone for an answer. That will keep people's attention because they won't want to look stupid when you randomly choose them, but it will also help you assess how well they are understanding what you are teaching. Also, being somewhat funny and entertaining helps.
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There is no dry material. Just dry presenters.

Be creative. Bring the material into the real world. Are there videos, photos, etc that illustrate it's importance? Are there real world anecdotes you can incorporate?

The group involvement and interactive questioning ideas mentioned earlier are excellent if appropriate to the size of the group.

Or you can just drop a big book on the floor once in a while.
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[ QUOTE ]
Here's an idea that I read somewhere that is rather funny. Before you start teaching place a tennis ball in plain view of all the students. When the first student falls asleep, pick up the ball and whip it at him/her. After the tennis ball is thrown, reach in your bag and place a baseball on the desk. I can almost guarantee that nobody else will doze off again.....

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Thats so funny...I used to have a teacher in HS that would throw one of those soft stress balls at us if we were cought not paying attention or talking. After getting hit a few times, you learn to shut up and act like you care
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We teach a Leadership class & we place these devices on all of the desk for the students to keep themselves entertained. I call them toys, but they are actually teaching aids, will find the correct name for you.

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http://photobucket.com/albums/v726/MidnightMike/Teaching%20Tips/

Another thing that they do is to have bright colorful stickies and during the class will take notes, & then place the notes on certain posters.


Here is a good site, to get some tips on teaching methods:

http://www.alcenter.com/alindex.html

Variety That Appeals To All Learning Styles. People learn best when they have a rich variety of learning options that allows them to use all their senses and exercise their preferred learning style. Rather than thinking of a learning program as a one-dish meal, A.L. thinks of it as a results-driven, learner-centered smorgasbord.
 
[ QUOTE ]
We teach a Leadership class & we place these devices on all of the desk for the students to keep themselves entertained. I call them toys, but they are actually teaching aids, will find the correct name for you.

[/ QUOTE ]

Jeez, where do you teach, the California School for People with Short Attention Spans????
 
Do I want to know what that purple cylinder is?
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I'd go with videos, diagrams (interesting ones) and real world anecdotes. Ask a lot of participation questions. When showing the videos do NOT turn out all the lights.
 
When I teach my flight safety classes, I begin with, have during breaks, and end with, my collection of military aviation accident video menagerie set to various rock and other music tracks.

Good attention getter.....and keeper; since every accident video has a learning point.
 
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