How to Motivate the Unmotivated Student to Read and Write

Many students have never experienced success in an academic setting. These same students have at some point become unmotivated to read and write for a variety of reasons. These basic skills or lack there of, place roadblocks in the way of students that otherwise could be successful and contributing members of our communities. There are ways to energize these students and get them back into the game of reading and writing, but in order to accomplish this, there are some critical things that you need to know.

First, it is important to start at the source of the problem. I advise that you begin this process by making some time for the student that is struggling. This should be done in non-threatening, one to one conversations about their past experiences with reading and writing as well as any current interests or hobbies they enjoy. A good ice breaker is to start with discussing some of your own history with these skills or with things that were difficult for you to do at their age. Once they realize that your have their best interest at heart and have no intention of causing them further humiliation or embarrassment, most students will begin to open up. Be prepared to hear about their fears, experiences, and attitudes about reading and writing. For some students these conversations may take one or more sessions.

Once you feel that you have gathered some key information from the student, make attempts to get their family members on board. Depending on the family, you may want to have a meeting or possibly a telephone call might do the trick. Either way, be wary of the fact that the child in the home may not be the only one with these literacy struggles. Unless you know the family situation very well, the support that you are looking for is in the form of encouragement rather than in any form of instruction.

Armed with knowledge about the child and their family, begin using current research and ideas to create exciting and high interest activities and lessons. Simple changes such as introducing a grammar lesson by a name such as "Glorious Grammar" and using a tone that shows you are thrilled to be teaching it, can make a huge difference. Your energy and enthusiasm level will closely correlate to their willingness to learn and try new things. It is important to jazz things up a bit and when asking a child to make changes, for you not to be too afraid to make changes and try new things too.

When teaching students that are already unmotivated, it is critical to actively engage them in the process. Simply standing in front of them in a traditional lecture manner is not going to reach this type of child. They are already disengaged from learning and need to see the relevance in taking a risk such as learning to read and write better. I call this type of teaching, serving as a guide on the side. You give them a little and allow them to run with it. You as the instructor are comparable to training wheels on a bike and are just along to assist, not do the work. Students will not have time to become disengaged or bored when they are the lesson.

Another strategy that should be implemented when working with the unmotivated student, is to find ways for them to see how the skills will help them in the future. For instance, all children can relate to things like fast food menus, movie schedules, and song lyrics. Reading and writing does not have to always be about text books, anthologies, and essays. Students will be more motivated to learn these skills if they can see how it will relate to their every day lives.

Using modern day icons, heroes, and role models can also be a successful motivator to students. Allow them to do things like writing to a favorite star or reading a magazine article about a sporting event. Be ready to show your teaching enthusiasm when they tell you about what they are reading or writing because again, the more excited you seem about it, the more excited they may get about a topic. Whether it be in conversations with the student, in a dialog journal, or through comments on their work, it is crucial that they think you are finding this work as important or more important than they are finding it.

No single idea or strategy is going to motivate every student. However, if educators and other professionals make a commitment to continually find new and exciting ways to motivate even the most unmotivated student then more students will be reached. In a time when we are competing with video games, televisions, and electronic devices to get students to read and write, we need to pull out all the stops. Motivation of students very well could be one of the largest obstacles to literacy education in this century and it is important that everyone become motivated in finding solutions.