Increasing Student Motivation without Spending a Penny

What is one of the biggest struggles for teachers? Finding new ways to motivate our students. At times, we give punishments, such as detentions or loss of recess to motivate our children. Other times, we offer incentives in the form of privileges or physical awards. For some pupils, neither of these approaches are motivating, or these approaches only work for a short period of time. Additionally, the above strategies require the teacher's time or finances. How can we motivate students without using too much of our time or money?

Data Boards

Data boards are displays that track progress toward a particular goal. These goals can range from the attendance percentage for a class over a pre-determined period of time, to progress toward their individual reading goals. Many times, data boards take the form of bulletin boards or wall displays. As individuals or groups progress over time, their corresponding symbol moves in response to their progress. The display can be used for the entire year or for a set amount of time as you are working on a particular concept.

Why Set Up a Data Board?

It has been shown that if students of any age can see their growth, it can increase motivation because it creates a sense of accomplishment and ownership. Growth can be seen on various charts and graphs, but data boards are a public, potentially creative way to demonstrate growth. In my experience, this method brings greater results than when the pupil has his growth data in a folder that is only seen by him/her. Public displays of improvement are usually more motivating, as this recognition is more visible. Not only can they see their growth, but so can others. This subtle public recognition can be the one factor that helps some of your learners take an assessment more seriously or to seek out extra help on a topic–all to see their marker progress on the data board.

How To Set Up a Data Board

1. The first step in setting up a data board is to decide what information you would like to display. To start out, it would be wise to track something simple. By simple I mean, consider tracking only one standard to start or tracking class attendance over a set period a time.

2. After you decide what information you would like to track, determine if you would to create a theme for your board or not. These board can be as plain as using one Post-it® note per student that moves along a scale toward a goal or on a very large graph. Or, you can be as creative as you would like by developing a theme and/or a creative catch phrase. One idea: “Fly High Above the OAA (Ohio Achievement Assessment)” in which you use either hot air balloons or airplanes that move along the designated path to demonstrate growth. Monkeys could be used with the phrase, “Climbing up to Our Goal.”

3. Before you finalize your materials, one consideration is to decide if you would like to use code names or numbers for each pupil instead of their legal name. Some students may be embarrassed if their classmates are making progress and they are unable to make progress. You know your students, so you can decide if it is necessary to use code names to protect someone's emotional security. If you choose to not use their legal names, you can assign numbers to each child, provide a list of code names from which they can choose, or allow them to create their own code name. I recommend that you check over their code names if they create their own because sometimes they create code names that easily give away their identity, which defeats the purpose of the code names!

4. Post your data display in a highly visible location. Make sure you take time to draw attention to it during class in order to create more enthusiasm for it. Explain what the data board is displaying and what it will require for markers to move on the data board.

5. Periodically, have pupils move their identifying piece. Ensure that they know why they are able to move up at that time. Did they receive a certain score on a test? Have they shown the necessary growth on a particular type of question? Knowing this allows pupils to have an increased sense of satisfaction as they see how they did the work necessary to move their marker. I have found that allowing kids to move their own markers creates more ownership of their progress than when the teacher moves the marker.

How do you use data boards? Share your experiences and expertise with the Lesson Planet Community.

Resources:

Second Semester's Biggest Struggle: Motivation, Data Strategies That Drive Motivation, How to Motivate Parental Involvement in the Classroom