What is Motivation?                                                                               by Marie L. Max

Two types of Motivation:

• Intrinsic/independent
• extrinsic/dependent

Characteristics:

-persistence: the ability to stay with a task for a reasonably long period of time
    -unmotivated child will give up easily without instant success
    solution:
        begin with shorter and less challenging tasks

-choice of challenge: being successful at one challenge and moving into another
    -unmotivated child will pick a very easy task to ensure instant success
    solution:
        offer appropriate challenges; age, skills, etc.

-dependency on adults: the amount of attention required to complete the task
    -unmotivated child needs constant attention and cannot work independently
    solution:
        provide activities or tasks that naturally spark child's curiosity or interests so they don't feel the need to depend on the adult

-emotion: positive or negative attitudes
    -unmotivated child will whine and complain about the activity
    solution:
        offer a variety of new or previously unexplored activities
 

Causes:
# Low self-esteem - those with low self-esteem will avoid actIvities they believe are beyond their capabilities.
# Lack of encouragement and support at the home environment - the home environment shapes the attitudes about learning.
# No high expectations and support given in the classroom setting.
# No challenging and/or meaningful tasks given.
# Level of challenge and skill not optimal.


Do's
reminders with a positive: encourage pride
    ex: 5 completions and you get to choose a class activity extra, such as the early finisher project

Don'ts
reminders with a negative: enforce isolation
    ex:  5 incomplete and you're excluded from a class activity extra, such as a  pizza party

Non-motivated student.pptx

Research:

On September 10, 2009, Dr. Brent Robbins, PhD wrote a blog titled Boredom and Lack of Motivation and Interest in the Society for Humanistic Psychology website. He notes that the cause of students difficulty with concentrating in the classroom results in non-motivation and boredom (Robbins. 2009). In Robbins' blog, the Health Day News ( 9/8/2009) reported on a finding, in The Journal of the American Medical Association (9/9/2009), which found a disruption in the brains ability to respond in the reward and motivational pathways. This is due to lack of dopamine, a common factor in ADHD diagnoses.  In this study, Dr. Nora Volkow (2009), director of the US National Institute on Drug Abuse, states that what begins with disruption in the motivation path leads to inattention and hyper-activity.
She suggest that teachers intervene with the idea of students' being medicated and "... devise methods to provide 'extra-engagement' (Volkow, 2009)"

Motivation Maker (2010) Youth Change in www.youthchg.com/solve.htm
National Association of School Psychologists Early childhood motivation. Retrieved march 5, 2010 from NASP Resources at http://www.nasponline.org/        resources/home_school/earlychildmotiv_ho.aspx
Causes of Un-motivated Students. retrieved March 6, 2007 from Tripod at http:// territh.tripod.com/id4.html

Robbins, Brent (2009) ADHD=Boredom and Lack of motivation and interest retrieved 3/5/2010 in Society for Humanistic Psychology at
    http://societyforhumanisticpsychology.blogspot.com/2009/09/adhd-boredom-    and-lack-of-motivation-and.html
Class Set-up Tool @ http://teacher.scholastic.com/tools/class_setup/