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Would it be a good idea to …
… encourage students in our area’s public and private schools with regular doses of inspiration?
Fifth-graders in a New Jersey elementary school entered their classroom one day this spring to find messages written in ink across each desktop. At first glance, the scrawling might have been mistaken for graffiti. But it wasn’t a vandal’s work; instead, teacher Chandni Langford borrowed an idea from Pinterest and plastered students’ desks with positive messages as motivation before they were to begin a multiday round of testing.
One student found this maxim: “There is no elevator to success, you must take the stairs!”
Another student read this: “Learning is your superpower!”
As a new school year gets underway in Northeastern Pennsylvania, with many Luzerne County students returning to the classroom today, stop for a moment to consider the goal: each student achieving his or her maximum potential. That won’t happen if a student loses, or never musters, the motivation to learn.
Parents and teachers can find ideas for building excitement about the school year at sites such as these:
• Education.com posted “Going Back to School: 10 Tips to Motivate Kids.” Among the suggestions: “Talk to your child about the current state of the school. Is the district debating whether to discontinue serving hot food? Is there a shortage of computers? Urge him to form opinions on issues that affect him, which may inspire him to become involved at school in a non-academic way.”
• GettingSmart.com republished a blog this month titled “How to Motivate Your Student For Back-to-School.” It offers advice for both younger and older students.
• Scholastic.com supplies elementary school teachers with a roundup titled “Top 5 Ways to Welcome Students Back to School.”
Certain adults might snicker, thinking any inspirational efforts in the classroom are gimmicky, even unnecessary. But others beg to differ.
As the late motivational speaker and salesman extraordinaire Zig Ziglar famously put it: “People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily.”
If you’re inspired to give us your feedback, send a letter to the editor or post comments to this editorial at timesleader.com.
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