We all face the never ending problem of trying to motivate our students to excel and do their best so what is the secret ingredient for achieving that goal? I personally believe that in order for our students to attain the best possible results , we as mentors and teachers, should set high standard for ourselves . When we achieve the " impossible" , as some call it, we can help our students to follow in the footsteps of their role models. We constantly complain about how students have become lazy and uninterested in learning, yet we fail to look for the reasons behind that. What I hate most is the old cliche' we all heard when we were growing up " we were better students than you were .." or " You have no goal in life ...whereas we knew where we were heading " and the list goes on. The sad part about those cliche's is that we ourselves use them with our youth. Why does the older generation believe that they were better than the new generation. Its a never ending cycle that needs to stop!!. We should start by:
* Building up our student's self esteem.
* Give credit where credit is due . Over praising is a big no no. Ignoring a student's efforts is also a big no no.
* Find our youth's hidden talents. After all, text books and tests aren't what measure a person's ability to succeed later in life. Some people are book smart others are life smart.
* Have faith in each and every student...never undermine any one student's intelligence and ability to become someone special.
Lastly , believe that you as a teacher are there to make a difference in these kids lives and not just fill their heads with knowledge....its all about believing in what they can achieve.
