Motivation of students will result in better retention. As a teacher you should try to be an expert or knowledgeable to your field of teaching. Although there are rules and regulations to follow in school and in the classroom the teacher should understand situations that might affect student's attendance and progress. Support is necessary then,be emphatic. Motivate students by assessing their progress and acknowledge what they have accomplish by rewards like giving "A" grades and adding bonuses.

A very important way to accomplish your objectives. As soon as rapport is knewn to be established all efforts of good teaching will be successful.

Knowing your students on the very first day of your class has an awesome result. Names,I usually associate with celebrity names;work experience,I usually compare it with their new chosen career and try to match a good relationship;family, those with children I usually honor the sacrifice they are making and for singles,the good future that the are preparing for especially when they will have their own family. This day is now the beginning with my close relationship with the students -up to the end. I combined well-prepared lecture and humor to maintain our good rapport and the outcome is,guess,good retention.

Very likely every student needs a certain type of support especially from the instructor. It is very important then for the instructor to learn more about the situational needs of,preferably all students in the class. For personal help needed ,a one to one talk is probably the best method; for social relationship problems,I think talking to the class and trying to blend them together in a friendly way and to suggest to each one of trying to understand each other in their own humble way. For external problems you can open yourself to answer calls from family and friends to help ease any problem.

when does praise become too much praise?

will need to watch for signs of burn out and refocus and be excited about being a instructor. And this courwse helps with recognizing the signs of burn out.

Sometimes we have students that are highly extrinsicly motivated, because they have been taught to seek the extrinsic reward. Sometimes changing the extrinsic feedback from physical objects to rewards such as just positive feedback seems to shift from extrinsic to intrinsic. Do other people have this experience or other ideas?

I am a cheerleader everyday in every meaning of the term.....except for the skirt of course! :) I sing, clap, cheer, smile, dance, laugh..... you name it we do it! I have wiped tears, hugged, patted backs....and wouldn't change any of it for the world! I think my students really appreciate my attitude and positivity on a daily basis.I am very good at checking my problems and stresses at the door and try my best to teach my students to do the same!

I try so hard to keep things fun and refreshing so we dont ever feel like we need "reenergized", we will sit outside in the grass on warm sunny days for class discussions.I like to move seats around a lot, sometimes in a circle or a square, we do a lot of "ice breakers" when we are feeling sluggish, but it still happens occasionally. When it does I ask my class for ideas to "spruce" things up a bit and I always use one of their ideas. It really makes them feel good to give input on how our classes are conducted!

On the first day of school with each new class I assign as a Library Project, due at mid-term a "mission statement". The students must put into writing why they wanted to go to school, what their goals are and what their drive or inspiration to be there is. After I grade these I make a copy of them and put them in each students personal file.Simply so that if they lose track of this somewhere along the way I can refresh their memory as to why exactly they are doing this and hopefully put that inspiration back into their education!

When I first starting teaching and was younger than some of my students, I feel there were times I really had to work hard to prove to them that I deserved to be there. It made me a much better teacher and taught me a lot about age diversity in the classroom. We (both myself and the students) quickly learned to respect each other allowing me to provide the best education possible. With simple understanding and compassion of what each had to deal with in order to give and receive an education. Its a big step for an adult, old enough to be the parent of the teacher, to look at the teacher as a "role model" and can be very uncomfortable for the teacher as well. By showing them you have a complete understanding of the subject and treating them with respect I feel you will quickly come to a common ground and make a comfortable learning environment for the entire class.

I teach an art history course and note taking is an important part of retention for names, dates, etc. I offer bonus points at the end of the course for a complete notebook. This provides students with extra motivation to keep notes and helps reinforce the material as they're writing.

Good learning environment, institutional pride, presence of sense of belongingness though the participation of student activity like sport club, music group etc. could help student retention

It seems some students struggle with this. How can we help if this is not their nature?

As an instructor we want all of our students to get the material and to be a success in this endeavor. The best way for an individual to be involved in their learning is to be motivation from within, but can intrinsic motivation be taught, or is it something instilled or innately within us. I believe both. This kind of motivation is within all of us but it needs to be encouraged and nurtured. We as instructors are in a unique position to turn this "on" in an individual or suppress it. I believe this is a great power and with great power comes great responsibility. Many successes have been attributed to necessity, a necessity to adapt to changing conditions to interrupt the status quo just to get an individual to participate in their own success. I do believe intrinsic motivation can be taught and it is a power and responsibility that we as instructors need to take caution with and take as seriously as our own personal well being.

One part of this lesson talked about how we as teachers will be respected if we show confidence in front of the class. I am a very new teacher, and I have not yet found my footing in the confidence department. I know that it will come with time, but I keep wondering if it is better for me to feign confidence to my students or to be more honest about it? I feel like when I don't have confidence, neither do they, and it creates a terrible cycle. How did you guys cope in the beginning when you were unsure of yourself and your ability to be an effective teacher?

I have a student who presents me with a lot of problems. She is an older student (a grandmother, but a VERY young grandmother). First of all, she always gives up on a task the moment after it is presented. She refuses to even try! Second of all, she basically accuses me of not providing her a lecture worth her money. She always whines about everything - especially the cost of the program. And third, she requires a lot of extra help with technology. I am teaching in an extremely technology heavy program, and she can't even figure out where to save a document on the computer and be able to find it. I feel for her, but I can't spend class time explaining basic computer skills or defending my lessons every week. How can I help her build the confidence to try harder or take it upon herself to become familiar with computers outside of class?

I always like to greet the students at the door and be in the room atleast ten mins. early to make sure that the room is clean and neat for them.

students worry they cannot find a job after finishing school.you must encourge students to keep trying even if they fail on the first trys.

In our classroom most of the time is spent in a lab type setting.Some of the students use this wisely, some do not.Trying to keep them motivated is a problem