Keep your students engaged and learning!
Teachers are some of the most creative people in the world. When it comes to motivating students to do their best and celebrating their achievements, educators think outside the box to keep learning exciting, rewarding, and fun.
Here are some of our favorite examples of teachers going above and beyond to increase student motivation and achievement. We hope these five ideas inspire you to try something new at your school!
1. Jello Challenge
The Jello Challenge is a clever and colorful twist on the classic pie in the face. At McDonough Middle School in Hartford, Connecticut, the math department staff celebrated their students' increased usage of MATHia by letting themselves get smashed in the face with pie tins full of jello!
Math Dept and Ms. Martinez taking the jello challenge because our bears have increased Mathia and Zearn usage!
— McDonough Middle School (@McdonoughmsB) March 15, 2021
Math Dept y la Sra. Martinez tomando el desafío de gelatina porque nuestros osos han aumentado el uso de Mathia y Zearn! ��➕@Hartford_Public @MrRichT1P @theHARTofMATH pic.twitter.com/SPHDYRml9X
2. Rap about It
Thomas Mayfield, Jr. is a nationally recognized culturally responsive educator at Fort Worth Independent School District in Texas whose rap-infused lessons have been featured on Good Morning America, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, USA Today, and more. His raps have ranged from teaching his students decimals to encouraging them to attend college.
Congratulations @MayfieldMath @LAComoFWISD on having your incredible work with students featured on @GMA! �� We are so proud to work with you. https://t.co/YjV0SMNK36
— Carnegie Learning (@carnegielearn) July 16, 2021
3. Mummy Contest
Halloween is around the corner, and a mummy contest would be a perfectly spooky way to motivate students to work their hardest until then! Students who made the most growth in Fast ForWord at Walnut Grove School in Madison County, Alabama, were selected to participate in a mummy contest where they got to wrap their teachers in toilet paper.
The Mummy Contest is a wrap! Mrs. Young's team took home the top prize. Congratulations to the students who were selected to participate for top Fast ForWord growth in their grade! pic.twitter.com/XCMmk0YWFN
— Walnut Grove (@WGBulldogs) October 31, 2019
When mummies are no longer in season, you can hold other contests that select students can compete in:
4. Feed Them—and Make It Rhyme
To celebrate their students' MATHia scores being the greatest of all time—the GOAT—teachers at Troy Buchanan High School in Troy, Missouri, organized a root beer float party. The rhyme was the cherry on top!
����Your Mathia score is the GOAT, come have a root beer float!���� Yesterday we had our Mathia reward day and it was a hit! #tmstribe @PaigeEdmunds11 @carnegielearn pic.twitter.com/eNyWomnHaA
— Briley Browning (@Briley_Browning) May 27, 2021
No matter what food or drink you prepare for your milestone party, your students will have a great time! Celebrate student success with any of these food ideas that are proven hits:
5. Taped to the Wall
At Goochland Middle School in Goochland County, Virginia, students worked hard all year on their reading to be able to tape up their school leaders to the wall. Their literacy skills aren’t the only thing that stuck!
Tape the admin to the wall #readingforareason @GMSPotter @JSRucker pic.twitter.com/DcKf1QPxgd
— Cindy Matejka (@cindymatejka) May 25, 2018
Activity variations:
Increasing your students' engagement and motivation isn’t all fun and games—it requires time, effort, and creativity. Hopefully, some of these ideas make your job a little easier and help you make an impact on your students’ lives. Tell us on Twitter @carnegielearn how it goes and share your original, brilliant ideas, too!
Carnegie Learning is helping students learn why, not just what. Born from more than 30 years of learning science research at Carnegie Mellon University, the company has become a recognized leader in the ed tech space, using artificial intelligence, formative assessment, and adaptive learning to deliver groundbreaking solutions to education’s toughest challenges. With the highest quality offerings for K-12 math, ELA, literacy, world languages, professional learning and more, Carnegie Learning is changing the way we think about education, fostering learning that lasts.
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