Motivating yourself is hard. In fact, I often compare it to one of the exploits of the fictional German hero Baron Munchausen: Trying to sustain your drive through a task, a project, or even a career can sometimes feel like pulling yourself out of a swamp by your own hair. We seem to have a natural aversion to persistent effort that no amount of caffeine or inspirational posters can fix.
Self-Motivation Begins with Praising Effort.Students can lose motivation if they aren’t grasping concepts or if they do poorly on assignments and tests. Educator and school psychologist, Allen Mendler, Ph.D., noted in his book, Motivating Students Who Don’t Care, that praising students when they fail is a good motivator.Learning Coaches may want to reinforce right answers with notes of praise. It could go a long way to help your student feel competent and gain a sense of accomplishment, even if they got some questions wrong. Encouragement from teachers and Learning Coaches could help students to be more motivated in school and inspire them to do better next time.Learning Coaches may also separate effort from achievement. They can do this by praising students for putting in the effort and trying their best even if the outcome wasn’t the grade they wanted. Receiving recognition for their hard work will motivate students to continue putting in the work to achieve better results. Learning Coaches especially can define what success looks like for their student; it might not always include getting straight As.


2. Empower Students to Become Self-Motivated.Students who take an active role in decisions and feel like their voice is being heard are more likely to stay motivated. If your student is attending online school, involve them in decisions like creating the daily school schedule, including their requests for downtime. Let them help design their learning space and make it their own. Discuss class choices together and let them choose their electives.