(NOTE: You might also be interested in my book, Helping Students Motivate Themselves: Practical Answers To Classroom Challenges. If you click on “Sample pages” you can download the entire first chapter, including lesson plans and hand-outs, for free!)

I’ve put the word “motivating” in quotation marks for this post because I hate the word. Here’s how I put it in a previous post:

Anytime I hear or read about “motivating students,” I cringe a bit.

An organizing truism (one that I learned during my twenty-year community organizing career) is that you might be able to bribe, cajole, badger, or threaten somebody to do something over the short-term (I’ve certainly done my share of that, and I’ve written about the negative results). But I don’t think you can really “motivate” anybody to do anything beyond a very, very, very short timeline, after which the initial enthusiasm quickly dissipates.

 

However, you can help another person find what will motivate themselves.

The posts in this “The Best…” list share more of my thinking around this perspective.

You might also want to check-out articles I’ve written on this topic for other publications (some have similar titles, but different content):

The Washington Post: Bribing students: Another ‘magical solution’ that doesn’t work.

The New York Times: Helping Students Motivate Themselves

Education Week: Helping Students Motivate Themselves

Education Week: Several Ways To ‘Motivate’ the Unmotivated To Learn

Washington Post: Helping students motivate themselves

You might also be interested in The Best Resources For Showing Students Why They Should Continue Their Academic Career and My Best Posts On Students Setting Goals.

In addition, check-out The Best Resources For Showing Students That They Make Their Brain Stronger By Learning.

Here are My Best Posts On “Motivating” Students:

I’ve Never “Motivated” A Student

The Problem With “Bribing Students”

A Few Reflections On Daniel Pink’s New Book, “Drive”

My Thoughts On A Very Intriguing Video On Motivation & Incentives

The Difference Between Praise & Acknowledgment

How Do You Think Working Hard & Learning Everything You Can In This Class Might Help You Now & In The Future?

“Now I Know My Brain Is Growing When I Read Every Night”

On Rewards & Classroom Management

“What Drives Motivation in the Modern Workplace?”

Now This Is The Way To Make Academic Talks Accessible — Great Examples Of Graphic Note-Taking (this post contains a link to a graphic representation of Daniel Pink’s book, “Drive.”)

Cooperative Learning

Updates On Some Classroom Lessons & Research I’ve Been Doing

“Will Sleeping More Make Me Smarter?” — A Lesson I’m Trying This Week

“Mental Imagery” & Success

“Motivating Students Via Mental Time Travel”

Very Important Study On Learning & The Brain

Another Important Study On Motivation

Exceptional Interview With Daniel Pink

Hilarious Video Clip On Motivation, Alfie Kohn, & “The Office”

Some Wisdom From “This American Life”

More Evidence That Bribes Don’t Work For Actions That Require Higher Order Thinking Skills

Good Short Interview With Daniel Pink

Very Useful Articles On Motivation

“Relevance” & Student Learning

What Does Learning From Mistakes Do To Your Brain?

“Carrots and sticks: Procrastination fix?”

The Best Short Summary I’ve Seen Of Daniel Pink’s Book, “Drive”

“You Gotta’ Practice”

Motivation & Rewards

How Incentives Can Be Productive (But Not In The Way You Might Think)

The Best Articles On The New Study Showing That Intelligence Is Not “Fixed.”

How To Take Better Advantage Of Brain Plasticity

Daniel Pink On Grades, Autonomy & Inquiry

“How Does Our Brain Learn New Information?”

“When Students Focus On Tests, They Are Not Taking The Time To Think About Why They Are Learning”

“Words Speak Louder Than Money”

Highlights Of Twitter Chat With Daniel Pink

Does being reminded of money make you an uncooperative jerk or an independent thinker? is a blog post by Daniel Pink on some a new study. Even though it’s not my post, I’m adding it here because it’s probably the best place for it.

Is This The Strategy We Really Want To Use To Change Student Behavior?

Important Posts On Motivation

What Do New Studies Say Happens If You Are Treated Unfairly And/Or Feel Controlled?

“Does money really motivate people?”

Every Day I Discover How Little I Know — Here’s Another Example

A Great Example Demonstrating The Pitfalls Of Extrinsic Rewards

Feedback is welcome.

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You might also want to explore the 450 other “The Best…” lists I’ve compiled.