Introduction
When I was in middle school, I struggled with motivation. I tended to procrastinate on my work due to my lack of motivation. What caused me to lack motivation was the lack of love I had for school, and at that time in my life, I wasn’t thinking about my future besides knowing what I wanted to be. I was just worried about having fun while still being a kid, like most 12- to 13-year-olds. Then eighth grade came, and I had the realization that I needed to start taking school more seriously if I wanted to be successful academically and in my future career. So I used eighth grade and all of high school as a fresh start to my academic life.
How can a lack of motivation in school be effective?
Lack of motivation can be effective because this generation of students is our next generation of workers. Lack of motivation can hinder students’ learning success by leading to poor academic performances, disengagement, and missed opportunities for learning and personal growth.
Why might students lack motivation in school?
Most students tend to lack motivation toward the end of the year. This is because a lot of the more complex and harder assignments start to come along, such as big tests and projects. However, according to Dr. Michael Whitley, some students tend to lack motivation after the first three to five weeks of school. That’s typically around the time students start to lie about completing their work and start missing assignments.
How can students receive support?
Students can get the support they need at home by asking their legal guardian for help, or their parents can sign them up for tutoring inside or outside of school. Students can get support at school by the teacher helping with any questions the student may have and walking them through the assignment step-by-step instead of pushing the student away and focusing only on the students that understand the material.
Positive Relationship
According to Rita Pierson, “Children don’t learn from people they don’t like.” With that being said, students can lack motivation to do schoolwork in a specific class just because they don’t like their teacher. A way to solve this problem is for a teacher to get to know their students. If a teacher gets to know their students, they will be able to understand their work dynamics and whether their students a hands-on or lecture-based learners. Teachers should also set a comfortable room setting, such as by putting welcoming decorations in the room, adding comfortable sitting areas around the room where students can move to their own space while doing independent work, and having desks in groups instead of individuals so that students can interact with their peers more easily if needed.
Provide success opportunities.
Providing success opportunities will distract students from bad grades and have them focus on learning to improve their grades. When a student feels like they are doing well in school and getting the help they need, it helps them feel good about themselves. Getting help with their schoolwork could also help them not feel like they’re alone through this rough patch in school.
