3 Easy Ways to Encourage and Motivate Students

We’ve all experienced a time in our lives when we didn’t feel motivated to do our best. For students, with all the pressures they face, it’s easy for them to feel discouraged. I’m always trying to find ways to keep my students excited about learning and help them face challenges with curiosity and determination. I have found that having visual reminders, setting the tone, and modeling a growth mindset myself are great ways to encourage and motivate students to do their best. Here are 3 of my favorite resources to use in my classroom to motivate my kiddos.

Visual Encouragement and Motivation

I think posters are such an underrated resource in the classroom. Not only are they great for decoration, but are also perfect for motivating your students at any time.

Some of my favorite posters include leadership quotes. I love when my students can make connections to real-world heroes and see how they overcame challenges. It’s easy for kids to forget that all of these influential people were once kids too.

With quotes like, “The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time,” by Thomas Edison, students can learn that failure is an opportunity for growth and learning.

Having visual ways to encourage and motivate my students at any time is a great way to help students remember to have a growth mindset when facing challenges.

Check out this virtual tour of my classroom to see some of the posters, quotes, and inspirational messages at work.

Use the Force to Encourage and Motivate Students

I LOVE anything Star Wars, so when I can use the characters and quotes to motivate my students to do their best, you know I’m going to get excited!

While these motivational tags are perfect for May the Fourth Day, they are also great any time you need to inspire or motivate your students.

These tags can be used in so many different ways including:

  • Hand out to students as they enter the classroom.
  • Give as a reward when you see a student doing something amazing.
  • Attached to a pencil as a special gift.
  • Hand out as a reward for answering practice questions correctly.
  • Leave on student desks the morning of a test day.

There are just so many incredible ways you can use these fun motivational tags in your classroom. I can tell you my students love collecting them and will often trade with other kiddos to try to get the entire set!

The Power of Positivity

There is power in positivity. When someone is frustrated or discouraged it is easy to view everything with a negative viewpoint. That just furthers the cycle of frustration and discouragement. To try to avoid this, I like to use the power of positivity in my classroom.

A simple bookmark with an intentional quote or saying can show students how much you believe in them

Teaching students about growth mindset principles is a great place to start. But don’t stop there! Let them see you applying those principles to your life. Your modeling of growth mindset principles is as good of a teacher, if not better than your lesson. Students spend a lot of time watching and learning from those around them. Let them learn the power of positivity from you.

Sometimes we can ‘speak’ positivity to our students without saying a word. I love to keep my students stocked with bookmarks that speak positive truth into their lives. By choosing quotes and statements that are in the present tense we can share positivity and show our students that we believe in them.

Bonus: Don’t Forget the Adults!

As I’m sure you already know, teachers, administrators, support staff, and anyone else who works in a school can feel discouraged and overwhelmed.

So, to remind the adults in your life how much they are appreciated and cared for, consider a small treat and a note of thanks.

Turn it into a game by making it an anonymous “pass it on” activity the staff in your school can do throughout the month of December or anytime during the cold, winter months.

Grab a mug and some goodies from the dollar store and you are set to make someone’s day a little better. It’s a fun way to spread support and encouragement throughout your school.

Encourage and Motivate Students Every Day

No matter how you choose to motivate your students, remember you are making a difference in their lives every day. Because of you, your students will feel loved and ready to take on the challenges they face every day.

If you are looking for some ready-to-use resources to help encourage students you can find all of these in the Miss Tech Queen store on Teachers Pay Teachers.

These leadership quotes are a great way to encourage students with STEM role models.
Motivational tags like these are perfect for any day of the week, but are especially perfect for test day when your students can use a little more encouragement.
Encourage students by showing you believe in them and their potential with these bookmarks.

And. . . Don’t forget to grab this fun winter-themed encouragement activity for your fellow teachers and staff members. It will be easier and more effective for the adults to encourage the students when they feel supported and encouraged themselves.

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Remember to save these ideas to help encourage and motivate your students to your favorite teacher Pinterest board today!

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