A Guide for Teachers - February 1998 Tips for Getting Homework Done 15. Give praise and motivate Adults and children alike respond to praise. Praise must be genuine.
Children recognize insincere compliments.
Competitions help motivate Ms. Orlicek's 12-grade English students. She seeks local and national contests for individual students or the entire class to enter. The winners get their poems, essays, or short stories published or recognized. The competition motivates the students to write because they know they will have an audience other than the teacher. One Iowa teacher uses stickers and stamps to encourage her high school French students.