Emotions and Motivation

Emotions consistently affect attention and learning.

Motivation is essentially an emotional response.  It's no secret that learning occurs best when the learner is intrinsically motivated.  To stimulate intrinsic motivation and interest, teachers should:

• Make clear what the students should be able to do when the lesson objective is accomplished.
• Include provocative ideas and challenging activities.
• Involve the students in developing the criteria that will be used to asess their competency.
• Demonstrate how closely the content is connected to the real world.
• Give students choices in selecting activities and questions to pursue.
• Establish accountability
• Provide feedback

Teachers can make their classrooms better learning environments by avoiding threats (even subtle intimidation) and by establishing climates in which students are treated fairly and feel free to express their opinions during discussions.

I often use humor to enhance my class climate and promote retention.