In his book, Helping Students Motivate Themselves: Practical Answers to Classroom Problems, Larry Ferlazzo shares some short, research-based, helpful lessons that can be integrated into a literacy curriculum to inspire intrinsic motivation. Included are lessons on the effect of learning on the brain, self-control, the importance of sleep and the roles of perseverance and personal responsibility in future success.

Ferlazzo also shares ways to reinforce student self-motivation on a regular basis.Specifically, the ideas are to:

• Praise Effort and Specific Actions - Instead of praising students in general, which will encourage kids to avoid taking risks and instead encourage them to focus on keeping their image in tact to avoid the embarrassment of making a mistake, praise effort and specific actions. "You worked so hard today" and "I like how you made your topic sentence communicate the main idea."
• Build Relationships - In learning about student interests, teachers can connect what is being taught in the classroom to the students' lives and thereby build relationships with their students and show them they are cared for. Study after study has shown that caring relationships with teachers build resiliency among children.
• Use Cooperative Learning - Basically, this concept suggests teachers think outside the box in their teaching style, and try to include some sort of cooperative learning into their lessons and lectures, such as "think-pair-share," problem-based learning or project-based learning.
• Show Students the Economic and Health Advantages of Doing Well in School - Research has shown that just sharing with students the difference in salaries between adults with advanced degrees and those without a high school diploma is motivation to learn.
• Create Opportunities for Students to Help Make Decisions - Giving students a voice helps motivate them by allowing them to feel confidence in having a bit of control over their environment. Simple things like where to sit, what day to take a test on or where a piece of furniture should be placed the classroom can help develop a greater sense of control in students.

If you've ever worked with JP in your school, then you know all of these concepts are worked right into the scope of our Responsive Professional Devleopment. Janie Feinberg, founder and president of JP, has always known how important it is for students to be self-motivated.  

Do you see this in your students? Have you found success in teaching kids to motivate themselves? What are some of the things you do in your classroom to get them rolling on their way to better autonomy? 

We always want to hear how you feel about the topics and articles in the RSN Newsletter. We'd love to hear your opinion on this topic!  

Send your thoughts to rsn@jponline.com or post them in the Leadership forum in the Responsive School Network™.

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When asked what he would do, were he solely responsible for reauthorizing No Child Left Behind, Kress said he would update it and he would go deeper. He would redo Title II and try to better target Title I. He praised Obama's administration for their splendid ideas on teacher effectiveness.  

Kress said the ESEA has low odds of being successfully reauthorized in the future. Kress expanded his explanation of this remark by pointing out the issues are extremely tricky to do in a high-quality way. Said Kress, "I think we know from No Child Left Behind, which I thought was a pretty good piece of work, huge problems come out with whatever you do." 

When asked what he saw the future of federal education legislation being, Kress replied it was going to take leadership. "Leaders on the Hill and people in the nonprofit world need to come together around principles and see what they can do administratively and then lead up to legislation."   

What do you think about these comments and NLCB in general? Do you agree with Sandy Kress? What do you think is going to happen? How has NLCB affected your school? Please share your thoughts with us by clicking the engage button below - we want to hear what you think!