Motivating Children

Motivating Children: Going beyond Bribery
How to Motivate Children to Want to Learn English
I'm sure you've all been there. You're standing in front of a class of glassy-eyed children, or, even worse, a class of students who are just plain ignoring you. How can you motivate the children and get them back "into" your class? One sure-fire way to get your students to be motivated is to offer then small prizes or treats to do the task at hand. Oh yes! You will have a class full of highly motivated, participating children. They might even learn something from the activity. However, by giving the children prizes and treats to motivate them you'll end up with an empty pocketbook and a class full of students who are only motivated for the material prize, not because they want to learn (which means they probably aren't getting much out of the activity in the first place). There are many other ways to motivate your students and you won't have to keep a stash of "prizes" in your classroom to do it.

Be More Than Just a Teacher
No matter what your class demographics are, there is one sure way to motivate your class into participating: Get them interested in you as their teacher and the interest in your subject matter and class activities will soon follow.

You're not just a teacher, you're a person too. Sometimes children tend to have the mentality that teachers are just teachers. They exist in school and nowhere else. However, if you let them see you as a person and not just a teacher, you might see a change in how they react to your class and class activities. If they respect you, they will respect the class and be motivated to participate in whatever it is you have for them to do. Of course, that is so much easier said than done. Here are some things you should think about when trying to figure out how to show your human side:

Keep Yourself Motivated
Think back to what classes you like best and why. If the teacher was bored and didn’t make the subject interesting, then the children often didn't like the class either. To keep yourself motivated, change your activities to things that you are excited about. If you’re not excited and motivated about the activities you have planned for your students, it’s time to get some new ones.

Be an Individual
Don't be afraid to talk about your interests outside of school. Look for commonalities between you and your students and capitalize on them. For example, if you like the same types of music as a lot of your students, bring in some CD's and let them listen to music when they are working on projects. Make sure the words are in English so that the children can take in some English language into their subconscious.

Have fun and be silly
Seriously. Talk in a crazy voice or be daft and make them wonder what you'll be up to next. Some teachers frown upon the idea of playing the clown and having fun because they think it is time-wasting and that it is not their role to be an entertainer. If it is not in your personality to be a big kid, then you cannot fake it, and that is OK. If you use fun games and ideas your classes will still be enjoyable. However if you are a big kid at heart then you will find that joining in, playing with the children and generally acting up and being enthusiastic will come naturally to you and is all part of the fun of teaching. It is not clowning around for the sake of it, it servers to keep a fun and happy learning environment, and this alone can motivate your students. If your children can laugh with you, and if they LIKE you, they'll be interested in what you're doing up there in front of the class.

Encourage
When you're frustrated with your class because they don't seem interested in participating, it's quite easy to forget that even when they do something small, you need to keep encouraging and to stay positive. The number one way to demotivate children is to have a negative or neutral attitude. If the children do not feel encouraged and good about learning then they will not feel motivated to learn.

Make your students Active Learners
Think back to when you were in school. Did you like to sit at a desk and listen to the teacher drone on and on. This type of passive learning is BORING and demotivating. Active learning doesn't mean the children need to by physically active throughout the class period – it just means that you design your class period around having them actively participate in the learning process. There are lots of things you can do:

Play Games
Implement games that have the same outcome that you might have them reach by doing a worksheet. For example, if you might normally give them a worksheet to write the correct verb next to the picture illustrating the action, have them instead practice their verbs by doing the action for the word you say or the word on a card that you hold up. Likewise, you could do the action and have them write down the word. You may access free samples of fun classroom games in the resource box below.

When you play games, you can use points and competition as a motivator, but not for kids under six who may find the competition too stressful. For them, just playing the game is motivating enough. You can also sometimes award extra credit, but use it sparingly so that it remains "extra" and a special reward. Also if you use it too much, children can have so much extra credit that it sways the actual grades too much.

Get Them Moving
Movement is a vital component to motivating children. The best way to prevent children from zoning out is to get them up out of their seats at least once each class period. Even if you just require them to come up to you instead of you going to them for help, the movement can help get them out of the trance that they sometimes get from sitting in one spot too long. Grouping the children for study projects and activities helps as well. If you can, let them move the desks around or sit on the floor to change things up as well. Many games involve movement without the children needing to leave their seats, such as miming, moving certain body parts and passing things around as part of a game or race. Therefore even teachers with large classes and no space to move can use this technique, albeit to a more limited degree.

Get Their Hands "Dirty"
Well, not literally, but the more hands-on activities you can do the better they will learn and the more likely they will stay interested in the activity. If you're talking about the words to describe fruit, have each student bring in a piece of fruit and use the fruits in games. It is much more motivating and effective to be handling real objects, or learning with pictures than copying down lists of words from the board. If you are discussing how to put a sentence together, have them construct their own sentences (alone or with a partner) and write them on the chalkboard. You can also intentionally make mistakes to encourage them to look for the "right" way. If you do this you should warn the children so that they are on the look out for your deliberate errors, otherwise you could do more harm than good.

Stick to a Schedule
Creating a schedule for your students help them know what to expect in the class and will help them stay organized as well which will lower the frustration level for children who sometimes struggle in school. It is very difficult for frustrated children to stay motivated. If they know that every Friday is a vocabulary quiz, then they won't have to wonder on Thursday if they were supposed to study last night. If they have weekly assignments due on every Wednesday, then you don't have to spend the majority of the class time reminding them that the weekly assignment is due. This schedule should be clearly explained to the children as well as posted in the classroom.

You can also have a mini-schedule that outlines how each class period will go. For example, each class period you might do vocabulary exercises and games for 15 minutes and then move on to the main activity of the day. It also helps children if you post a daily "plan" on the chalkboard so they know what will be expected of them each day when they walk into the classroom.

Variety is the Spice of Life!
With that all said, it's also important to change things up within the schedule. For example, if you spend the first 10 or 15 minutes each day doing vocabulary activities, make sure you vary these activities so they don't get boring and stay motivated. If you see that the children of one class don't respond to an activity, avoid it in the future and stick to the ones they like. It's also important to realize that some groups of children will be motivated by certain activities that the next group of children will literally detest. For example, one group might really like role playing activities while another group would rather have a tooth pulled.

Another way to create variety is to keep changing the pace. Play a game that wakes the children up and follow it with a calm game so that the students do not get too excited. Then play a fast game so the children do not become so calm that they start to become restless and misbehave or drift off.

Give Them Options
If you spend long periods of time with your class, or if you have a mixed ability class and have to split your teaching time between groups, then the following ideas may help when the children have some free or unsupervised time in your class. Having a collection of fun learning activities for them can motivate children that like to waste time and be a time-filler for children that like to make trouble.

Get a variety of activities for the children such as educational board games, crossword puzzles, sudoku puzzles, art projects… anything that they can learn something from that they would also find fun. For older kids, you can make a competition to complete a packet of activities to get extra credit points or put them on a team to be the first to complete a series of tasks.
If you have a facility where you can send children to watch a film in English that would be most beneficial. Otherwise have suitable English reading material such as comics, or teenage magazines about cars for the boys and dating and makeup for the girls! If discipline is a problem then the children will have to work individually at their desks in silence, but at least they will be engaged in the activity.

One Last Idea… This really motivates younger classes of children up to age 12, but it can work with all ages. Plan an end of the term program so the children can show off what they've learned to their parents and anyone else who attends the program. You can do it right in the classroom and have the children play games, recite poems, whatever you can come up with to have them showcase what they've learned to their parents.

Because this is such a successful strategy you can even put on two performances, one in the assembly hall in front of the whole school, and one in front of the parents, perhaps in the evening or immediately after school. You should find that your head of school is very open to this as it gives him or her an opportunity to show off too!

So, there you have it. There are lots of ways you can motivate your students to WANT to learn and to pay attention without bribing them with tangible gifts that become more important to them than learning the material.

Silabus B. Inggris berkarakter

Silabus

Sekolah                        :  SMP Negeri 2 Sukaraja

Kelas / Semester         :  VII / 1

Mata Pelajaran            :  Bahasa Inggris

Standar Kompetensi  : 1.Mendengarkan

                                        Memahami makna dalam percakapan transaksional dan interpersonal sangat sederhana untuk berinteraksi dengan

        lingkungan terdekat

Kompetensi Dasar	MateriPokok /Pembelajaran	Kegiatan Pembelajaran	Indikator	Penilaian			Alokasi Waktu	Sumber Belajar	Karakter
				Teknik	Bentuk  Instrumen	Contoh Instrumen
1.1   Merespon makna dalam percakapan transaksional ( to get things done ) dan interpersonal (berso-sialisasi ) yang menggunakan ragam bahasa lisan sangat sederhana secara akurat, lancar dan berterima untuk  ber-interaksi dengan lingkungan terdekat yang melibatkan tin-dak tutur : menyapa orang yang belum/      sudah dikenal, mem-perkenalkan diri sen-diri / orang lain, dan memerintah atau melarang 1.2. Merespon makna dalam percakapan transaksional ( to get	Contoh: A : Good morning      How are you ?  B : Fine Thanks.       Nice to meet     you A : Hello, I’ Nina  B : Hi, I’m Reny Nice to meet    you A :  Don’t do that B :  No. I won’t A :  Stop it B :  Ok Contoh : A :  Where’s the book? B :  It’s there. A :  Thank you. B :  You’re.	·   Tanya jawab yang terkait dengan materi ·   Membahas kosa kata dan tata bahasa yang terkait dengan sapaan, perkenalan, memberi perintah atau melarang dengan berpikir kritis ·   Mendengarkan percakapan yang terkait dengan sapaan, perkenalan, memberi perintah atau melarang, secara cermat dan rasa ingin  tahu. ·   Menjawab / merespon pertanyaan,secara cermat dan sopan. 1.   Mendengarkan dan merespon introduction tentang meminta dan memberi informasi,ung-     kapan terimakasih,          permintaan maaf,         kesantunan, secara kreatif       dan cermat. 2.   memperhatikan kosakata dan tatabahasa yang kemungkinan besar muncul dalam mendengarkan topik materi	Merespon ungkapan ungkapan ·   Sapaan orang yang sudah  / belum dikenal secara cermat dan rasa ingin  tahu ·   Perkenalan diri sendiri / orang lain secara cermat dan sopan. ·   Perintah / larangan Merespon ungkapan-ungkapan : ·       Meminta dan memberi informasi secara kreatif dan cermat. ·       Ungkapan terima kasih secara kreatif dan cermat. ·       Permintaan maaf	Tes lisan Tes tertulis Unjuk kerja	Merespon ungkapan lisan Pilihan Ganda Responding Merespon pertanyaan / ungkapan lisan	Listen to the expressions and give your response. ·   A: Good morning.    B:  ....................... Listen to the expressions and choose the best option. ·   “Hi, I’m Yeny,... ....to meet  you    a. Nice    b. meet    c. fine    d. Thanks ·   Give it to me. Listen to the questions / expression and give your answer / response. A: How many persons are in       the conversation?  B: ............  A: thank you so much.	2x40 menit	·   Script ·   Bahan-bahan rekaman (kaset, CD, VCD) Buku guru Script percakapan tulis Rekaman percakapan dalam kaset, CD, DVD, film	·   Cermat ·   Berpikir kritis ·   Ingin tahu ·   sopan
Kompetensi Dasar	MateriPokok /Pembelajaran	Kegiatan Pembelajaran	Indikator	Penilaian			Alokasi Waktu	Sumber Belajar	Karakter
				Teknik	Bentuk Instrumen	Contoh Instrumen
things done ) dan interpersonal (berso-sialisasi ) yang meng-gunakan ragam ba-hasa lisan sangat se-derhana secara akurat, lancar dan berterima untuk  ber-iteraksi dengan lingkungan terdekat yang melibatkan tin-dak tutur : meminta dan memberi infor-masi, mengucapkan terima kasih, memin-ta maaf, dan meng-ungkapkan kesan-tunan	welcome. A :  I’m sorry. B :  it,s okay. A :  Please..! B :  All right thanks	3.   mendengarkan percakapan tentang meminta dan memberi informasi,ungkapan terima kasih, permintaan maaf dan kesantunan dengan berpikir kritis dan cermat. 4.   mendengarkan gambit-gambit yang muncul dalam materi percakapan  terkait.  5.  menjawab/merespon pertanyaan berdasarkan materi yang diperdengarkan	·   Kesantunan	Tes lisan Tes tulis	Melengkapi	B: ............ Listen to the questions / expressions and complete the sentences.   A:could you open the door      for me?  B: .........  A: Sorry I’m Late.  B: .........	2x40  menit		·  Kreatif ·  Cermat ·  Berpikir kritis

Standar Kompetensi : 2. Mendengarkan

                                        Memahami makna dalam teks lisan fungsional pendek sangat sederhana untuk berinteraksi dengan lingkungan terdekat

Kompetensi Dasar	Materi Pokok / Pembelajaran	Kegiatan Pembelajaran	Indikator	Penilaian			Alokasi Waktu	Sumber Belajar	Karakter
				Teknik	Bentuk  Instrumen	Contoh Instrumen
2.1   Merespon makna tindak tutur yang terdapat dalam teks lisan fungsional pendek sangat sederhana secara akurat, lancar dan berterima untuk berinteraksi dengan lingkungan terdekat	Contoh: ·   Keep clean ! ·   Things to buy -   Meat -   Flour -   Salt -   Oil coconut ·   Congratulations ! ·   Well done ! ·   Bravo ! ·   Announcement ! “ All the members of English Club gather on Saturday at 1 p.m”	1.     Tanya jawab yang terkait dengan materi dengan cermat 2.     Membahas kosakata & tata bahasa: verb phrase yang berkaitan dengan instruksi, ucapan selamat; noun phrase yang berkaitan dengan daftar benda/barang dengan kreatif dan inovatif 3.     Mendengarkan percakapan yang sesuai dengan materi secara cermat. 4.     Menjawab/merespon pertanyaan tentang struktur percakapan secara kreatif dan inovatif.	·   merespon makna dalam teks lisan fungsional pendek berupa:    ·         Instruksi ·         Daftar  benda / barang ·         (Shoping list ) ·         Ucapan selamat ·         Pengumuman Secara kreatif dan inovatif	·Tes lisan ·Unjuk kerja ·Tes tertulis	·Pertanyaan ·Respon   tindakan ·Benar   salah	·   A:What does Mrs Artini need ?    B: ............... ·   Close the door, please ! ·   Copy these sentences ! Listen to the statement and decide if the statement is True (T) or False (F) ·   Linda buys a bootle of coconut oil ...... (T / F) etc	4x40 menit	·   Script percaka    pan ·   Gambar benda-benda kebutuh-an sehari-hari ·   Bahan rekaman	·  Cermat ·  Kreatif dan inovatif
2.2. Merespon makna gagasan yang terdapat dalam teks lisan fungsional pendek sangat sederhana secara akurat, lancar dan berterima untuk berinteraksi dengan lingkungan terdekat	Contoh: ·   Congratulations ! ·   Well done ! ·   Bravo ! ·   Announcement ! “ All the members of English Club gather on Saturday at 1 p.m”	1.     Mendengarkan dan merespon introduction tentang makna yang tersurat dalam ungkapan-ungkapan  fungsional pendek berupa instruksi, shopping list, greeting card, announcement. 2.     Memperhatikan  kosakata dan tatabahasa yang mungkin muncul dalam makna yang tersurat dalam ungkapan-ungkapan  fungsional pendek lisan berupa instruksi, shopping list, greeting card, announcement 3.     Mendengarkan teks-teks lisan fungsional pendek yang terkait dengan topik materi terkait  secara cermat. 4.     Mengidentifikasi makna gagasan teks lisan fungsional pendek yang terkait dengan topik materi secara ulet dan teliti 5.     Menjawab pertanyaan-pertanyaan tentang makna gagasan yang terdapat dalam materi teks fungsional pendek lisan yang disampaikan secara kreatif dan inovatif	·         Mengidentifikasi makna gagasan dalam teks lisan fungsional pendek berupa: -   Instruksi -   Shopping list -   Greeting card        -  Announcement secara teliti dan cermat	Tes lisan Tes tulis        Unjuk kerja	Daftar pertanyaan Game Melengkapi T/F Pilihan ganda Menjodoh kan  Respon tindakan	Listen and answer the questions orally! Listen and mention as many shopping list items as you can remember Listen and fill in the blank spaces Write down T/F for the statements Choose the best answer by crossing a, b, c, or d Match the statements in list A and B Listen the instruction and do it!	4x40 menit	Script teks funsional pendek lisan Dari buku teks Script teks fungsional pendek lisan yang ada dalam kehidupan nyata Rekaman	·  Cermat ·  Ulet ·  Teliti ·  Kreatif dan inovatif ·  Rasa ingin tahu ·  Bersahabat\

Standar Kompetensi : 3. Berbicara

                       Mengungkapkan makna dalam percakapan transaksional dan interpersonal sangat sederhana untuk berinteraksi dengan lingkungan terdekat

Kompetensi Dasar	Materi Pokok / Pembelajaran	Kegiatan Pembelajaran	Indikator	Penilaian			Alokasi Waktu	Sumber Belajar	Karakter
				Teknik	Bentuk  Instrumen	Contoh Instrumen
3.1  Melakukan interaksi dengan lingkungan terdekat yang melibat-kan tindak tutur : orang menyapa yang belum dikenal, memperke-nalkan diri sendiri / orang lain, dan meme-rintah atau melarang	Contoh: A :   Good morning         How Are you? B :   Fine thanks. A :   Hi, I’m Rani B :   Hello, I’m Nina. A :   Go away ! B :   Okay. A :   Don’t be Noisy B :   I won’t.	1.     Tanya jawab yang berkaitan dengan materi. 2.     Meniru ungkapan-ungkapan sapaan dan respon sapaan. 3.     Membahas kosakata dan struktur percakapan sesuai materi dengan berpikir logis dan kritis. 4.     Latihan percakapan dalam bentuk dialog dengan kerja keras dan percaya diri. 5.     Menggunakan ungkapan-ungkapan percakapan sesuai materi dalam situasi nyata dengan percaya diri, kreatif dan inovatif.	·         Mengungkap ·         kan berbagai tindak tutur: -       Menyapa yang belum/su       dah dikenal b dengan percaya diri, kreatif dan inovatif. -       Memperke       nalkan diri               sendiri/orang            lan dengan percaya diri, kreatif dan inovatif. . -       Memerintah/ Melarang dengan percaya diri, kreatif dan inovatif.	§ Tes    Lisan § Un    juk        kerja	pertanyaan Performan ce	·   Answer the questions orally! ·   Perform the dialogue in  front of the class!	2x40 menit	·   Script percakapan ·   Buku teks yang relevan ·   Alat peraga	·   Berpikir logis dan kritis ·   Kerja keras ·   Percaya diri ·   Kreatif dan inovatif ·   Bersahabat/komunikatif
3.2  Melakukan interaksi          dengan lingkungan      terdekat yang melibat-kan tindak tutur : meminta dan memberi informasi,  mengucapkan terima kasih meminta maaf dan mengungkapkan kesantunan	Contoh : A.     Where is it ? B.     It’s here. A.     Thanks a lot. B.     You’ re       Welcome. A.     I’ m sorry. B.     It’s Okay. A. Please,     come in. B. Thank you.	1.     Mendengarkan dan memberi respon tentang introduction tindak tutur topik materi yang akan disampaikan 2.     Memperhatikan penjelasan tentang kosakata dan tata- bahasa yang muncul dalam tindak tutur dengan topik materi yang akan disampaikan dengan berpikir logis dan kritis 3.     Mendengarkan model per-cakapan yang menggunakan tindak tutur tentang topik materi yang disampaikan dengan ulet dan kreatif. 4.     Menggunakan tindak tutur dengan topik materi yang disampaikan dengan teman 5.     Menggunakan tindak tutur dengan topik materi yang disampaikan dengan variasi-variasi atau kemungkinan-kemungkinan secara bebas tapi sopan dan kreatif.	1. Bertanya dan menjawab tentang berbagai hal : ·   Meminta dan memberi informasi secara bebas tapi sopan dan kreatif. ·   Mengucapkan terima kasih secara sopan . ·   Meminta maaf secara bebas tapi sopan dan kreatif. 2. Mengungkapkan kesantunan secara sopan.	§ Tes    lisan      § unjukk    kerja	Tanya jawab Bermain peran	Ask and answer questions to your friends based on the situation given or picture Perform a role play with your friend about asking and giving information	4x40 menit	Script percakapan Buku teks berisi percakapan  Alat peraga	·  Logis ·  Kritis ·  Ulet ·  Kreatif ·  Sopan