Saturday - January 27th, 2018
Motvation Island is a map of ideas that teachers can explore when looking for new strategies to motivate their classes. Download a copy of the map below, a colour slide for powerpoints, and a two-page article explaining the map.
Event date:
Saturday, November 15, 2014 - 16:15
What is motivation and what can we do in class to nurture it? In answer to the first question, I will present the various facets of motivation on a map with the four main corners being content, aspirations, learning and classroom. In answer to the second, we will try out some specific classroom ideas relating to each of the four corners.
Event date:
Friday, July 4, 2014 - 09:30
You have to pay attention to learn. So what kinds of classroom materials and activities motivate learners to pay attention? In this presentation, we will see motivation theory in the form of a map of an island with four main regions – subject, aspiration, learning and classroom. We will explore these regions and try out some classroom activities which illustrate them.
Saturday - April 5th, 2014
Sugata Mitra argued with evangelical flourish that, given the right resources, children will learn without schooling. He said that the right resource has now come into existence and is potentially available to every child: the internet. To support this argument, Mitra described what have become known as “the hole in the wall” experiments.
- General
- Classroom interaction
- Materials design
- Motivation
Saturday - April 5th, 2014
Kathleen Graves’s title contained the paradox that in teaching, you sometimes have to be less efficient to be more efficient. In a time in which testing and accountability have become paramount, in an attempt to cut out the dead wood in education, we have neglected the learner and a broader vision of what learning is for.
- General
- Classroom interaction
- Motivation
- Syllabus design
Event date:
Friday, March 14, 2014 - 10:00
Venue:
20th TESOL Arabia International Conference
Perhaps the most important part of effective teaching is the ability to motivate our learners. Part of this ability lies in the personal style of the teacher. But motivation can also be boosted by well-selected and well-prepared methods and means.
Wednesday - September 25th, 2013
Students in different educational settings, for example, private language institutes or mainstream education, present teachers with different motivational challenges. I’ve taught learners in both settings and found that Expectancy-Value theories, the most researched factors in the area of motivation, have helped me generate and maintain motivation in my classrooms.
Event date:
Wednesday, August 7, 2013 - 14:00
There's more than one way to motivate. In this talk, we take a tour of the Map of Motivation, from aspirations through subject matter, classroom conditions and effective learning. The main slides from the talk and the handout can be found below. There's also a ten minute video tour of the map.
Thursday - July 11th, 2013
Take a trip round the Map of Motivation. This is a tour designed specifically for English language teachers who find the whole conceptual area of motivation a bit diverse and difficult to hold in your head all at once. Just click on the movie below, and please give us any feedback that occurs to you, ideas for improvement and so on!
Friday - January 18th, 2013
I've recently been drawn to articles and blog posts with (amongst others) a common thread on the nature and potential of teacher feedback. Giving feedback is something we do, almost as a reflex action, but how might we make it more effective so it plays a significant role in driving learning forward?
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