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Student Motivation List

At this time of year many of our students have begun to loose focus, and interest begins to wane. As a result off-task behaviors begin to rise and classroom disruptions increase and we miss out on quite a bit of instructional time as we deal with these issues.

It may be helpful (especially with the males in your classroom) to take this opportunity to build into our instruction some items of high interest.

To that end, I am attaching to this message one of the surveys I provide students who have behavior challenges in an effort to find out some of their motivating factors. Feel free to add to, remove or modify the list as you see fit. Uses can be as simple as counting soccer balls instead of oranges during math class, or building the topics into your writing prompts.

Here is the list:
Airport tour
Animals
Architecture
Art
Auto mechanics
Auto dealerships
Backpacking
Barbecue party
Baseball
Basketball
Beaches
Bike/Hike Trail
Birds
Board games
Boating
Bowling
Buy a car, how to
Camping trip
Canoeing
Car wash
Career clinic
Cars
Cartoons
Castles
Cats
Cave exploring
Child care
Civil defense
College or University visit
Collections
Communications
Community service
Conservation project
Cooking
Court Session
Cruises
Cycling
Dance
Diet and nutrition
Disabled citizen assistance
Dogs
Dolls
Drug abuse/alcoholism
Emergency preparedness
Exercise
Fashion/design
Fire safety
First aid training
Fish
Fishing
Football
Gardening
Golf
Gothic
Government officials
Ham radio
Hiking
History, town
History, family trace
Horseback riding
Horseshoes
Hunter safety
Indians
Industry, local
Insects
Job interview skills
Jogging/running
Jumping rope
Jungles
Leadership skills
Lifesaving, swimming
Martial arts
Military
Model building
Morality, ethics
Motorcycles
Mountaineering
Movies
Music listening
Nature
Nature walks
Newsletter writing
Orienteering
Outdoor living
Part-time jobs
Photography
Physical fitness
Planetarium
Plants and wildlife
Plays produce
Playgrounds
Power station
Public speaking
Puzzles
Racing
Recycling
Rafting
Road rally
Rock climbing
Sailing
Saving money
Scholarships
Scuba
Senior citizen assistance
Skateboarding
Skating
Skiing
Slide show, plan a
Snorkeling
Soccer
Softball
Sports
Sports medicine
Sports safety
State capitol
Summer jobs
Television station
Tennis
Trains
Video games
Volleyball
Walking
Watercraft
Waterskiing
Weather bureau
Wilderness survival
Winter sports
Wolves
Woodcrafts
Other___________________________________

Let me know if you have any questions.

Reggie

# posted by oisnjqv : 7:13 PM  0 comments

Fergus, a palomino colt at Simpson Farms, displays unusual talents. Besides twirling in the air and executing daring back flips, Fergus loves to play soccer. Bobby Simpson and his friend, Ramon, set up a goal in the pasture and let Fergus guard it while they practice penalty kicks and heading the ball. The agile colt blocks all their shots. He flicks the ball off his nose or whirls around and kicks it with his back feet.

Soon the local news, then CNN and other networks feature the golden goalkeeper. People flock to the farm to watch Fergus play with the boys. All the publicity boosts the popularity of soccer in the United States, drawing the attention of Ian Connor from the International Soccer Federation. He asks to ?borrow??Fergus and the boys for a fourteen-city tour promoting the colt and the sport of soccer. The boys??parents agree and the tour launches successfully with Fergus enjoying the matches and playing flawlessly. All goes well until the colt is horse-napped partway through the tour by three bad guys who scheme to turn him into a bucking rodeo champ. The rest of the story relates Fergus?s struggles and his return to Simpson Farms.

Peterson?s book should entice young (8- to 12-year-old) boys to read. He offers adventure, sports, and humor. His bad guys provide comic relief and still have a conscience. In an era when few books cater to the young male reader, Fergus is a welcome addition. Young girls can enjoy the story of this endearing colt, too.

Fergus, The Soccer-Playing Colt
By Dan A. Peterson
Raven Publishing, Inc. (2005)
Reviewed by Kim Peterson (not related to author) for Reader Views (1/06)

# posted by oisnjqv : 5:12 PM  0 comments

Monday (12/26)

Best:
Pacers @ Mavericks: Even without Ron Artest, Indiana should have enough defense to make this game interesting. Both teams are one-man led at the moment, contrary to their previous rosters, where Reggie Miller and Steve Nash were more than supporting players. Indiana has a 5-game winning streak since they let Artest go?coincidence?

Runner-up:
Bucks @ Magic: Milwaukee plays a ton of close games and Orlando has trouble winning games. History does repeat itself, like how the Spurs/Bucks game came down to the wire this year, after a Duncan lay-up was wiped away at the end of last year?s game. In 2000, both Milwaukee and Orlando played against each other in game 81, fighting for the last playoff spot. The Bucks won by 2. On opening day last year, Steve Francis hit a game-winning shot vs. the Bucks on opening day.

Blowout:
Nets @ Knicks: New Jersey comes off a road win in Miami, which is something to brag about no matter how disoriented the Heat are. On the other hand, the Knicks have looked awful. Leading the League in turnovers, the Knicks franchise has looked completely dilapidated. Being stuck between a team not good enough for the playoffs and last place is the last place a franchise wants to be, and their massive payroll only solidifies their place in the NBA. The Nets should continue their run with an easy win.

# posted by oisnjqv : 12:13 AM  0 comments