To Motivate a Student, You Need to Get Them to Do This One Thing

In this episode, we explore the key to unlocking student motivation. If you’ve ever struggled with getting a student engaged or inspired, you might be overlooking one crucial step.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Just recently, I was subbing in an orchestra class, and
I chose that class because I love to hear live music.
It's just amazing. It's how talented these young people are. Now,
I was as the students were playing, I was looking
at a sheet of music, and it was just amazing

(00:21):
that from this sheet of music came those wonderful sounds
that everyone in the classroom was making. And as I
was trying to make sense of everything that I was
looking at, something came to my mind. Something hit me
right between the eye, Because as I was looking at
that sheet of music, I was overwhelmed by the thought

(00:48):
of trying to make sense of it all, by my
feudal attempts to try to make sense of it all
and just try to find out where they were. And
the revelation that hit me right between the eyes. And
this is what I want to share with you, is
that could this be the psychology that goes through the

(01:08):
mind of a student when they're when they're going to
quit or they're thinking about giving subpar effort. And it's
it's important to understand that because if you understand that,
and you're a trusted source when it comes to motivating

(01:31):
a student who is who lacks the motivation. So think
of it like this. Think of it like a doctor.
You want to be able to go to a doctor
who is a trusted source. You want to be able
to go to a doctor who can actually speak to
the symptoms that you're experiencing or here are the symptoms
that you're experiencing and be able to quickly and confidently

(01:53):
diagnose what's going on and and state the solution. You
become a trusted source. And that's why it's important. It's
important to understand the psychology of what's going through the
mind of a of a student who lacks the appropriate

(02:14):
level of motivation. You need to understand that because a
lot of a lot of the you're gonna see this
as we go forward, a lot of it is in
the key. A lot of the solution is in the
conversations that we have with students. Because teachers are leaders.
Teachers are leaders. Does that mean that you can control

(02:35):
the actions of students, of course not. But as a leader,
you're expected to be able to to to compel students
without putting your hands on them. Just compel them, compel
them to make a good decision. Because ladies and gentlemen.
To motivate students, you need them to get You need

(02:58):
to get them to be able to do this one thing.
There's just one thing. I'm gonna share it with you. You
need to get them to be able to do this
one thing. So I have a casual relationship with music.
I've got a casual relationship with music. And so these
this this sheet of music, it didn't make sense to me.
I was trying to make it make sense, but it
wasn't making sense to me. And so what happened was

(03:21):
my inclination to look at the sheet of music. It
decreased over time. Oh, I mean, just put this. Let
me just put this away, because it's it's not hitting me.
It's it's not coming to me. So I think that
this is this is a challenge that a lot of
us as teachers we face when it when it comes

(03:44):
to students who don't have the necessary level of motivation
to be successful in our classroom. And you know, the
students that we have in our classroom, those are the
students that we have in our classroom. And as we
say here all the time, you know, we will exhaust
all the tools in our toolbox. And when that happens,

(04:04):
We'll go get some more to try to help the
students in our classroom. That's our belief here. Teachers are
leaders and we leave no one behind. We do the
best with everyone that we have. Right. So what I
what I what I think happens. No, what I what
I believe happens. What I know happens. What I've seen
happen is that many students do the same thing that

(04:25):
I did with the with the sheet of music. I
don't understand this. This is this is foreign to me.
So they they don't they don't hang in there, they
don't see the reason to invest the time into something
that seems foreign, or they've done it before. They feel
like they've done it before. They feel like they've gave
it a good try in the pass and it just

(04:46):
didn't work out. So this is this is, this is,
this is foreign to me. This is probably above my abilities.
So there it is. I I'm just I'm not going
to dig in. I'm not going to I'm not going
to try. And this is unfortunately, this is we have
their students in our classroom with this psychology going on

(05:10):
in their head, and what is this result in? It
results in results in a fixed mindset, and we got it.
We gotta address it as best we can so because
it is the teacher who can compel the student, who
can compel their student hang in there a little bit
longer to invest that time to try and make sense

(05:32):
of what they're looking at. Those are that's the kind
of teacher that I want you to be. That's that's
that's the kind of teacher I want you to continue
to be. That's that's the highly effective teacher. The teacher
who is able to do that, because ladies and gentlemen,
if a student isn't going to take step one, they're

(05:52):
not going to take step ninety nine in order to
reach that goal. They're they're they're just they're not going
to move far in that journey towards that goal. And
then we're going to talk about a little bit later.
I mean that that the goals. That's what it's all about.
It's about being able to set those goals. And no,

(06:16):
let me give it to you now. As a matter
of fact, this is what I tell students. I tell
students that the purpose of school because I think it's
it is important to understand the why. That's the beginning
of I think that's the beginning of motivation. Being able
to really kickstart motivation for someone who is who lacks

(06:38):
a motivation is just to give them that why, help
them to understand the why that they can sink their
teeth in here it is. The purpose of school is
to expose students to the practice of setting and accomplishing
goals while dealing with resistance along the way. Once again,
purpose of school is to exposed students to the practice

(07:02):
of setting goals while dealing with resistance along the way. Now,
students do that in all other classes, no matter what
the content is. They set goals and pursue those goals.
But along the way there's going to be resistance, and
so it's a matter of how do you deal with

(07:24):
that resistance? Do you do? You do? You do? You?
Do you hang in there? Do you strategize? Do you
use feedback? Or do you do you quit? Do you
do you use that as as your justification to to

(07:47):
not give very good effort because it just didn't work
out the first time that you tried it. School's about
setting goals and accomplishing goals while dealing with resistance along
the way. And there will be resistance along the way.
Because that's just the way life works. And again, a

(08:09):
lot of this turning these things around motivating students, a
lot of it is in the conversations that we have
the leader that you are in the classroom. Now, let
mean pause for a second, and and I want to
insert this. I fully believe that you know motivation and

(08:31):
you know the growth mindset that does begin at home
because parents are parents are the first teacher. Parents are
the first teacher. And I think it is important that
parents really fulfill their role. They fulfill that role in
that area. And but but again, the students that we

(08:54):
have in our classroom, those are the students that we
have in our classroom. So we've got to stand and
deliver for those students as best we can. Okay, So
I do believe that now this takes applied effort on
the part of the student over a period of time.
This is very this is very very intense. It's challenging,

(09:17):
and I think that I think students understand that. Students
understand that. And much like with me looking at this
sheet of music, it was it was a bit overwhelming
to just really look at that sheet of music and
even begin to try to take it in because it
wasn't just a note. It was like multiple notes connected

(09:40):
with these bars and different lines and just all these
Italian words, and it was just there was just so
much going on. So I was I was overwhelmed, and
my mind said, you know what, let's just let's just relax.
You don't need to do this. You don't need to
you don't need to spend all of this effort and

(10:02):
tire yourself, tire yourself out. Let's just just put this
music back over here and just you know, put it. Yeah,
just put it over that, leave it alone. Okay, So
that is what went through my mind. But this hanging
in there energy energy, concentrated energy over an extended period

(10:23):
of time. This is where the This is where the
work takes place. This is where the progress takes place.
And we need students to be able to do this.
This is important. And this is also when we talk
about grit. This is where that that that grit is
just is just so important because the process is not

(10:44):
going to be a smooth one. And again this a
lot of this work is in the conversations that you
have with your students. Now I talked to you the
title It's just a motivated student you need to get
them to do this one thing. You need to get
students to do this one thing, and I'm going to

(11:04):
give it to you in just a minute. But first
let me tell you about you know what I observed
a lot of my students doing as a teacher when
I would give them an assignment I taught. I taught
you as history primarily, and there would be times where,
you know, there's a section in the book that they
read and then there's some questions at the end of
that section. Really check for understanding, make sure that you

(11:28):
understand it. Let's use this information, use this information, Let's
compare contrasts, and let's see what see what you see?
What you can make of that? And that's what the
questions what would challenge them to do. So what happened
a lot of times, a lot of times, a lot
of times what happened was students would they would write

(11:52):
down word for word information from the book to answer
certain questions, and they would hope that in a lot
and that stuff that they copied, they would hope that
in there somewhere is the answer that I'm looking for.
And it was really crazy because when I first started out,

(12:14):
I wasn't sure of what to do about that, because
it just seemed like all of my students were doing that.
All of them were doing that, and I realized that
there was a you know, this was an opportunity that
was being missed by the students because yes, I was

(12:37):
given putting together a good presentation as a lecture, but
I was putting together a good presentation for them taking
good notes. But when it came to just additional information
that I wanted them to grab themselves and I wanted
them to process themselves like they weren't. They weren't going

(13:01):
there with me. And in addition to that the really
good presentation lecture that I was giving to students, I realized, oh,
you're not even looking at these notes. How could you
not be studying these notes? I would say, just give
me seven minutes a night, just look over your notes
seven minutes a night. Now, very few of them did that,

(13:24):
So it was even more important that they take the
bookwork seriously because those questions were framed in such a
way that where there were at higher levels to really
get them to compare and contrast and make sure that
they were able to really capture that information and understand

(13:48):
it and show their understanding and even going further than that,
being able to judge the things that happen in that chapter.
So so that was a problem. It was a problem,
and I, as a leader in the classroom, I identified
the problem and I did what I could to address it.

(14:11):
And this is where I landed. This is where I landed.
But first I want to give you this. If you
want to motivate students, first you have to get them
to do this one thing, and that is this. You
have to get them to think. That's it. If you

(14:37):
want to motivate students, you have to get them to think.
Because if they're not thinking, if they don't have to think,
then there's going to be some steps that are missed.
If they're not thinking, they're not acquiring new information. And

(15:02):
if they're not acquiring new information, they're not generating new thoughts.
And if they're not generating new thoughts, they're not going
to be able to climb those stairs in order to
get from one goal to the next. Once again, if

(15:25):
they're not thinking, they're not acquiring new information. If they're
not acquiring new information, they're not they're not able to
use that new information to generate new thoughts and if
they're not generating new thoughts, then they're just gonna be stagnant.

(15:46):
They're they're just going to be stagnant. They're not going
to move, They're not going to be able to move
further along. And definitely frustration is going to sync in
because what happens is this, students grow older physically, right,
that's automatic, But growing in the mind, growing in the mind,

(16:11):
that's not automatic. What does that take. That takes the
ability to acquire new information and to use that new
information to generate new thoughts, new thinking. Therefore, it's going
to be it's impossible to progress, to progress to the

(16:33):
next level mentally without thinking. This is why I think largely,
this is why a lot of students who who are unmotivated,
they have in their mind, they've got this fixed mindset.
They understand that they've kind of they've leveled, they've they've

(16:54):
leveled out, and in order to get where they know
they need to be, they just aren't willing to do
what it takes to close that gap because they know
they understand that there is just so much there's just
so much work that needs to be done, and we're
going to get back to that. I want to talk.
I want to address that specifically, But first let's look

(17:16):
at this word think. If we want to motivate students,
we have to get them to think. If we want
to motivate students, we have to get them to think. Now,
this doesn't only apply to the content, especially for students
who lack the motivation. This applies to their situation as well.
And what I mean by that is like pulling them

(17:39):
to the side and say, hey, listen, you know, I
noticed that, I notice that you've it just seems like
you're not giving me your best Can can you tell
me why? And if they perhaps that'll open Eventually you
get to a place where they're open to just sharing that.
You know, I try. I'm just not good at social
studies on a you know, I don't know. And if

(18:02):
you can get them to open that door, then possibly,
quite possibly you can help to turn things around. Because
this is what I would tell students, This is what
I would tell students going back to when I noticed
a lot of my students were copying and pasting from

(18:24):
the book, I told them, I said that words on
a page will remain words on a page until they
change the way you think. Once again, words on a
page will remain words on a page until they change
the way you think. Again, going back to what I

(18:49):
was talking about, like, there will be just this stagnation
that happens when students when when students stop thinking, when
students stop thinking, when they stop acquiring new information, acquiring

(19:10):
new information and using that new information to generate new thoughts.
Once that stops, this is what it looks like for
that student mentally, while they're growing physically, they're expecting to
be out of there come what should be their senior year,

(19:34):
senior year, I should be graduating, while on the inside
mentally it's like this because of a lack of thinking
as it relates to this content, acquiring new information, using
that new information to generate new thoughts. Let's look at
this definition to have and this is from Webster's I

(19:55):
Think the eighteen twenty six dictionary. I Think that was
a year means to have the mind occupied on some subject,
occupied on some subject. Look at it. Look at what
it says at the bottom there, These are not matters
to be slightly thought on. You have to occupy your

(20:16):
mind on this subject to have ideas or to revolve
ideas in the mind. This isn't. This isn't something that
can be done passively. This isn't something that can be
done just like that, and I'm done. I can go
do whatever I want to do. And you know what, now,

(20:37):
it's just difficult. In twenty twenty five, it's very challenging
to get students to do this. It's challenging, especially for
unmotivated students. It's challenging to get them to do this.
But remember, as we said, the students that we have
in front of us, those are the students who are
in our class, and we do what we can to
get them where they need to be. That's what we do.

(20:59):
And that's why I appreciate you being here, because you're
doing what you can to acquire tools to help your students,
not not some, not a few, but all of your students.
And I appreciate you. Thank you for spending this this
time with me. Thank you so much. I appreciate that. So, yeah,
it's just it's challenging, and I think for a lot

(21:21):
of students again, it's just they they've fallen behind. That's
a justification to cling to that fixed mindset because either
they they weren't challenged to think, or they decided not
to accept the challenge. Now with that, let me clarify.
I want to clarify with you here because I there's

(21:44):
just I've been in I've been in PD sessions where
it was implied that teachers were the reason why students
came into classrooms not ready and they didn't have the
skills that they needed. That's not me, that's not me,
because I felt very offended. I've felt very offended when

(22:05):
I heard that. I'm not saying that. I'm not saying
that at all. I believe that teachers have a job
to do, students also have a job to do, parents
have a job to do, and administrators all have a
job to do. And as I mentioned before, remember I
said parents or guardians, ideally, those are the people who

(22:30):
are really strong. They're the first teacher and they they're
really teaching that growth mindset message and encouraging their children
to think and encouraging them to grow, set goals, progress,
push through challenges, develop that grit, and and use failure

(22:55):
as fire, learn from the feedback and try again. Like
that's the idea. Okay, now, I submit to you. I
submit to you that again. It's it's more about just
getting students to think about the content, but it's getting
them to think about their overall situation as as a

(23:20):
as a human beings, as someone in this world who
has a there's a purpose on their life. They may
not understand it, but they have a purpose on their life,
and just understanding how they're get how them attaining at
least a high school diploma can factor into them getting

(23:40):
closer to their vision of success. These are conversations that you,
as a leader, you're going to have to have with
students in order to bring them to the point where
they're open to thinking. Remember again, we started this podcast
with me talking about me looking at this sheet of

(24:01):
music and being overwhelmed. I didn't want to think about it.
I didn't want to look at it anymore because I
couldn't make sense of it. But there is something inside
of me. I love music. I like listening to music,
and I like the idea of well, I like the
idea of being able to pick up an instrument and
play music. But check this out. I've had this guitar

(24:22):
for years. I've had this guitar for years, and you
know I'm not I'm not where I should be with
it because I don't practice. I don't hang in there,
I don't spend enough time with it. There is this
there's this lack of there's this lack of commitment on

(24:43):
my part, and so I need to I need to
do something about that. I need to think differently, and
so I need to do something about that. I need
to think differently as it relates to me playing the guitar.

(25:08):
I'll be honest, Yeah, I there is just this huge
lack of commitment on my part as it relates to
me and my guitar. So I need to think differently
because I'm not going to be able to think differently

(25:29):
if I don't if I don't put in the work,
the practice, which I should be putting in, Like I
know I should be putting in putting in the practice,
but I'm not putting in the practice. So there is
that's my challenge. And I want you guys. I want
you guys to leave comments and hold me accountable for,

(25:52):
you know, practicing and maintaining the right kind of thinking
as a results to me as it relates to me
playing the guitar. Okay, so here's what I want to
leave you with again. The key here is we have

(26:14):
to we have to be able to get students to
think if we want to begin to motivate them. And
I believe that a lot of that starts with the why.
A lot of it starts at the why. We got
to give them the why. We gotta make it make
sense because a lot of students will come back to
you and say, I've had this many times. They'll say, well,

(26:35):
I'm not going to use this when I graduate. And
I tell students this, perhaps you won't use social studies
or American history when you graduate, but it's the way
that you acquire that new information and generate new thoughts.
You will use that long after you graduate. That mental exercise,

(26:56):
the ability to think, the ability to problem solve. You
are going to sharpen those skills in this class. So
I give them. I give them the why, and I
don't tell it to them just once. I tell it
to them over and over again and separate conversations to
do my best to keep them engaged, to keep them motivated.

(27:18):
That's my job, because ultimately, at the end of the day,
what are we trying to do. We need them to
gain the practice of being able to acquire new information
and use that new information to generate new thinking, because

(27:39):
when they can do that, they're going to stare step
on the way to their goals. Acquire new information, use
that information to generate new thinking, and break that fixed mindset.
That is the goal. That is what we need to do.

(28:02):
So you can't acquire new information by just taking by
just taking a casual approach. You can't do that, and
we know that. But we've got to convince our students
that that is true. And if they want things to change,

(28:24):
if they finally if they want things to finally change,
perhaps there's a class that they're a content that they're
just struggling in, or maybe it's a school overall, if
they want that to change, then they're going to have
to take a longer look. And I submit to you
that another good thing for you to do when you
work with these students is to and you probably already

(28:47):
do this. There's nothing new under the sun, but to
let's say you've got a learning objective, perhaps for them,
you put them to the side and give them another
learning objective that once they hit then they can go
after the main learning objective. Something along those lines. Give
them baby steps, give them that feeling of ooh wow,

(29:11):
I set, I set a goal and I met that goal.
Let them give them that that that the understanding of
that feeling. Let them feel that success because once they
feel that, they're going to want to go after that
feeling again. So though that's that's something you that's something
else that you can do when you're working with students

(29:33):
who are not who are seeming they just lack the motivation.
But all but overall, what you need to do. You've
got to get them to think. You've got to bring
them to the table, start getting them to think. Last
thing I want to tell you is in my classroom,

(29:55):
when students came in my classroom, I emphasized to them that, hey,
you are on a mission when you come into this classroom.
What was I doing? I was setting I was I
was I was addressing their mindset. I was addressing their mindset.
I was stating for them the attitude that I needed
them to have when they come into my classroom. So

(30:19):
on the on the front of my door, there was
a sign that said inter seeking. And as you exit
my classroom there was a sign. The sign said leave
with new information, inter seeking, Leave with new information. And

(30:43):
if students were able to do that, students were able
to do that they were able to throughout the entire class.
They were thinking, they were acquiring new information and able
and then they were able to generate new thoughts as
a result of doing what they were supposed to do

(31:04):
in my class. And I know this is not easy.
It's not easy, but it's the work that you were
called to do. Once again, it's not easy, but it's
the work that you were called to do. And I
know that as time goes on, you're doing the work

(31:26):
to equip yourself with more tools to help your students.
And that's why you spent the time with me here
and again I appreciate it. So last thing I'll ask
you is if you've got any tips that work for you,
let's share with the community tips to help motivate students
that you've used to that have worked. I want you

(31:49):
to please share that with the community by leaving a comment.
I thank you so much for that. Well, that is
our show for it today, and as always, please don't
forget that teachers are leaders.