News

Now, here’s the motivational secret I spoke about earlier. In a prison setting, concrete rewards are really not allowed. But I have learned rewards and punishment can lessen the chance of self-motivation, and appreciation of learning is its own reward!

 Setting goals and having control over them is an alternative to using rewards! It increases the student’s self-motivation. If a classroom offers choices in learning that demonstrate mutual respect, it is a supportive learning environment for the students, and they are more likely to self-motivate. In the long range scheme of things, isn’t that what we ultimately want for our students? Ironically, in an environment where I can offer little or no rewards, my students can learn to motivate themselves which is inherently a much more desired trait than reacting to any outside rewards or punishments.