“These students are not motivated.” I hear it at least 5 times a week. Students spend their days going through the motions. They attend classes, sit in their desks, and produce nothing. Teachers’ gradebooks are littered with zeroes for students who simply will not turn in assignments. We preach to them, give them extended deadlines, threaten them. We do everything possible to motivate them and get no results.
Granted, 80% of our students do their work and meet deadlines. It is the 20% that make us scratch our heads and wonder what is in the water that this many students do not have any sense of urgency to take responsibility for their educations.
I know that there is not a magic bullet that will kill the apathy in the lives of my “20%ers.” But what can a person do to get students to work when detentions, calling parents, and even bribery does not get the job done?
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December 12th, 2007 at 3:29 pm
Mr. James, just because I honestly don’t know, do you find the unmotivated to have family/attention issues? What I mean is this: do most of the unmotivated students need adult attention? Or is it something else?