Motivation: Turning "I can't" to "I will"
Motivation: Turning "I can't" to "I will"
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How many times do you have to ask your child to pick their socks up off the stairs, or clean their room or do their homework?
You don't want to keep nagging and they don't want to hear you any more.
Are your children just lazy or disrespectful or defiant? Probably not.
Motivation is a life skill and like any skill, it needs to be practiced and taught.
Student's at Erie Elementary School know that they have the power to control their behavior. This power extends to controlling their level of motivation. Motivation is tremendously important, as it helps us accomplish all tasks from getting out of bed, to joining a new activity.
It is normal to experience highs and lows in motivation. There are positive impacts when we have a high level of motivation for a task and there are negative consequences when we have low levels of motivation for a task. 5th grade students are learning strategies to increase their level of motivation.
Some of us respond best to internal rewards to increase our motivation and others respond best to external rewards. An example of an internal reward is the feeling of pride or accomplishment or joy, that we feel after completing a task. Examples of external rewards are praise from another person, money, a treat, celebrating with an activity, etc.
The Strategies
The Strategies
Pair it up
Pair it up
This strategy encourages us to pair an unpleasant task with a preferred task, like watching a movie while folding the laundry.
Reward Yourself
Reward Yourself
This idea suggests that you consider an external reward that you will get after completing a task, like an ice cream cone, or time with your friends, or playing a video game.
Create a habit
Create a habit
You might use this strategy for every day tasks, like making your lunch or flossing. Perhaps you would set an alarm or write it on your planner and practice doing it every day.
Take Small Steps
Take Small Steps
For any larger, non-preferred task, one could use this strategy to make it more manageable. It may be helpful to make an actual list of steps, so you can check things off as you go.
How can we use this at home?
How can we use this at home?
Post the strategies to increase motivation. When you or your child are feeling a lack of motivation for a task, check the list. Which strategy are you willing to use to make this task more manageable and to increase your motivation around it.
Ask your child if they are more motivated externally or internally - this may help you support them when they are confronted with an undesired task/activity.
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