Student apathy and motivation

We all know those students who don't care. For whatever reason it seems like they just don't care about their work, grades, or education. There are many reasons why students don't want to try. Some have a bad home life, they are afraid to fail, experience peer pressure, have realized they can get through without really trying, ect... However there are many tricks in how we can motivate these students.

One way is to have high standards. If you believe it is possible for them to grow into it, students will respond and will help them view the world differently. It is critical for students need have someone in their life who holds you to high standards and believes they can achieve.  However, the high standard must be appropriate for the grade level, and you have to meet them at their level. You can't use a vocabulary above their grade level in a lecture. You can't talk to them like they are college students, because they aren't. You need to help them learn how to learn and retain the information. which leads into my next point: Making learning FUN!

There are many different ways to make learning fun. You can play games, and do different group activities. Having a different form of assessment that isn't a test. I had a project in high school that still stands out in my brain and every time we talk about assessment it pops up. I had a group project where we had to make a movie of Hamlet. We had to have 5 songs, 5 quotes, and had to be no more then 8 minuets, but we had full creative control. No two movies were the same, and It was fantastic and fun to film. In my placement class my master teacher had the students make a presentation about a story they just read, about how they would turn it into a movie. They had to have a plot summary, and what they would change in their movie, and what type of movie it would be. Some students got really into it and even found actors they would want to have play the characters. They seemed to really enjoy it.  

You can also add things to a lesson while you give it. If you notice your students spacing out not paying attention, come up with something to bring their attention back. Draw on something from the lesson and find a way to make it fun. If it's a lecture, crack a few jokes around the important information to help them remember. If the students are enjoying the lesson they have a tendency to remember more from it, and are more engaged.