Motivating Students through Writing
I am a writing instructor, and when I first started teaching, my students would write 2 papers max. The colleges I have worked at always seemed to require at least 4 papers (3 min.) To motivate my students to write, I had to find out who they were and what they were wanting in a writing course. Most of them agreed they wrote better if they picked their own topics rather than following a topic given to them. I listened to what they had to say and now I have beautifully written papers coming in for final grading. The papers are written with full enthusiasm, and they are not worried about the page length. I listened to a very small request from them and was able to see results right away. I still give them writing practice using my own topics, but for their papers, they pick their own topics. After 7 years of teaching, I am finally able to motivate the students to write 4 papers. After they have my class, they usually come to see me to help them edit other writing endeavors. It was work, but I know now what to do and what not to do if I want work out of them.
Ray Villegas
That's great Raymond. It sounds like you really channeled in to your students' passions and this helped them to develop their writing skills on their own. It's important to not only teach our students but also let them learn and apply those lessons in a manner that matters the most to them.
I am glad you finally found the technique that works best for your students. I think it takes everyone some time to figure it all out. I think students appreciate being able to contribute their ideas and help mold their assignments. If they have input they more than likely buy into the goal at hand.
