Resources for Educators

Teaching Tip

From the Teacher’s Aide Newsletter

2004 Summer

Summer Motivation Tips

• Make your students feel welcome by putting a daily message on the board that they see when entering the classroom. Include a personal greeting, highlights of what they will be learning in class and an activity or question to get them thinking about the lesson theme. You can even tie the greeting header into the class lesson: Hello Financial Wizards; Good Day Marketing Masters; Good Morning Future Successful Business Owners.
• Gain a new perspective by holding class outside (weather permitting) or even in a different room.
• Take a field trip to the offices of a guest speaker (e.g., a marketing business, a print shop, a successful graduate of your school).
• Bring in a guest to speak on motivation.
• Create a “School Name” for your class and mascot that represents both the character of the class and inspires the class to excellence.
• Plan with other teachers to bring your classes together for a mutually beneficial collaboration.
• Have a potluck lunch and practice networking skills.
• Develop a community project that incorporates several ideas from class such as planning a public education and service outreach featuring activities within the students’ scope of practice.
• Hold a comical awards ceremony gifting each learner with an appropriate title commemorating their unique talents. It’s particularly effective if you can relate it to skills necessary for successful business, like “most sincere handshake.”
• Solicit suggestions from learners for motivational activities for the class.
• Have learners write questions on index cards to be collected and answered “creatively” in the next class.