In The Will to Learn: How to Cultivate Student Motivation Without Losing Your Own, I lay out an approach to student motivation in which Five Key Beliefs can be influenced using just 10 basic strategies. The first of those strategies is Tracking Attempted Moments of Genuine Connection. What is it? That’s it — Tracking. Attempted. […]
Search Results for: moments of genuine connection
End of Year Credibility Booster: Final Moments of Genuine Connection (MGCs)
Wouldn’t it be nice to find a simple way to connect with each of your students, one last time, before the year ends? Ideally, we’d write handwritten notes to indicate to each student what we’ve appreciated about them and what we hope for their futures. But c’mon — that’s a LOT of work, both intellectually […]
Common Misperceptions Regarding Moments of Genuine Connection
Dear colleague, Once folks start trying to implement tracking attempted moments of genuine connection (MGCs), there are a few misperceptions that start to crop up. I’d like to publish those today, in hopes that we can nip confusion in the bud before it has a chance to cause us any undue stress or tension. Misperception […]
A Simple Tweak for Tracking Moments of Genuine Connection in Band
Just before the COVID closures started, I had the privilege of traveling to Utah and working with teachers in Lindon and St. George. In Lindon, I was at the lovely Oak Canyon Junior High School, and during our day-long workshop on the five key beliefs (student motivation; creating optimal conditions for student learning) I met […]
A Three-Question Checklist for Building Stronger Relationships through Moments of Genuine Connection
As I’ve shared before, relationships are not the point of a teacher’s work, but they are one of teaching’s most fundamental currencies and most gratifying rewards. With more American schools than ever before launching into all-online starts, many teachers are concerned with just how to build strong relationships with students from afar. The good news […]