Motivation in the classroom: Jeremy Harmer

How to sustain motivation in the classroom: Jeremy Harmer

by GetEnglishLessons on 08/10/08 at 8:00 am

We can all motivate students on the first day with our best activity but the issue how to keep it going throughout the school year or term.

Here are some notes on Jeremy Harmer’s talk on:

According to him, it’s a mixture of 5 A’s:

Activity – Students need to have a lot of good activities. Moving around, role-plays, hands-on experiences, singing/Variety.

Agency – Students are more motivated when they are the doers, when they are the agents, so give them some power to decide things when you can.

Affect – How they feel. They need to know you care about them, you need to know their names.

Adaptation – Teachers’ ability to respond to the unexpected. You have to be flexible when things break down.

Attitude – The teacher’s attitude. What are you like when you come into the classroom? It can’t be you, it has to be the professional teacher in you.

Visit Jeremy Harmer’s website or his blog for more information on his terrific work.