Keeping students motivated in the lead-up to the holidays

Young children in a group smiling and raising their hands

As the holiday season approaches, learners often struggle to stay motivated and focused on their studies amidst the festive cheer and distractions. It's easy to get caught up in the excitement of the holidays, but maintaining consistency in language learning is crucial for making progress. To help you stay on track during this joyful yet potentially distracting time, here are some effective strategies and tips to keep things going.

How to keep students motivated in the lead-up to the holidays
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1. Setting goals

(like SMART ones - specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound) can significantly improve motivation and performance. This principle can be applied to language learning, helping students stay focused and committed, even during distractions such as holiday preparations and celebrations.

Get students to regularly set small but realistic goals to keep them motivated; a lot of students aren't really thinking of after the holidays or the new year so make sure they're achievable in the time before they break up for the holidays.

2. Repetition

Cognitive psychology has shown that spaced repetition is an effective method for retaining information in memory. shows that information is forgotten most rapidly shortly after learning it and that the rate of forgetting decreases over time. In other words, the greatest amount of forgetting occurs right after learning something new, and the rate of forgetting slows down as time passes.

and platforms that use spaced repetition algorithms, such as , can help with long-term language learning by reinforcing vocabulary and grammar at optimal intervals. This technique is handy during the holiday season when study patterns may be irregular.So, make sure to keep picking up the same topics to help retain knowledge. You may want to do quickfire quizzes to help learners recall what they've learned.

3. Rewards

Rewards play a crucial role in . By implementing a system where students reward themselves for achieving language learning milestones, we can reinforce positive learning behaviors based on (where reinforcing positive behaviors encourages that behavior to happen more frequently). The festive season provides an excellent opportunity for students to reward themselves with holiday-themed incentives, which can boost their motivation to learn.

Depending on their age, you might want to reward them with something like stickers (for younger students) or allow them to have a short break to watch a video. Incorporating what you know your class likes as rewards is important to incentivize positive behavior.

4. Keep it short and sweet

To learn a language effectively, it's important to practice regularly. Studies show that the brain can adapt and grow with consistent practice. It's best to break your study sessions into short, manageable chunks to help students remember what they've learned. Even if it's busy during the holiday lead-up, regularly encourage and offer opportunities to stay on track with language practice. This will help strengthen learners' brain pathways and make it easier to acquire new language skills in the long run.

Keep lessons and tasks short and varied. Students' attention spans are much more likely to dwindle during the festive season, and there isn't much you can do about that. So, by having these short and sweet tasks it'll be a lot easier for students to pick up and engage with, as opposed to a long continuous task.

5. Be mindful

The festive season can be stressful just as much as it is exciting, so it's important for mindfulness to be included in your daily teaching itinerary. Mindfulness has a positive impact on focus and cognitive function, particularly in. Encourage students to practice mindfulness techniques to manage holiday stress, enhancing their ability to concentrate on language learning amidst festivities.

Make some time in your teaching schedule for meditation activities or quick breaks. You can read more about mindfulness in the classroom here. Don't forget as a teacher, to be mindful about your own wellbeing as well.

6. Involve parents and guardians

Learning often declines during holidays, but it doesn't have to be that way. Before the holidays start, you can encourage families to get involved by suggesting language learning activities that students can do at home. You can reinforce learning outside the classroom by sharing resources or ideas with parents.

Learning outside of the classroom can keep students engaged when inside the classroom as they're already familiar with the day's teachings and/or are eager to learn more to take back to their families and show off their ability. It also breaks down the mental strain or pressure to learn something, if they have more than just opportunities in the classroom to learn, it can make learning a lot less intimidating or frustrating.

During the holiday season, it is important to remember that this time is about celebrating and spreading joy. When trying to teach something like a new language, use this festive period as an opportunity to learn in a fun and engaging way. You don't have to make it feel like a chore; embrace the opportunities the season brings. You will continue to see your language students progress by staying motivated and consistent and setting a positive tone for the upcoming year.

Check out our blog post on mindfulness for teachersduring the holidays, or if you're looking to upskill, our professional development opportunities.

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    How to motivate reluctant readers

    By Sue Alderman

    Reading in English can be one of the most challenging activities for young learners and teenagers, especially when they don’t get much enjoyment from reading in their own language.

    These four reading strategies are fun, high-energy, and educational ways of getting even the most reluctant students involved in your reading lessons.

    1. Bring outside interests into the classroom

    Many students find it hard to get enthused by the reading texts used in their classrooms; they might feature complex vocabulary, be too generic, or just not resonate with their interests. An effective way of reaching out to the more reluctant readers in the class is to use reading materials related to the media they enjoy engaging with in their leisure time.

    app’s Marvel series of graded readers provides an ideal opportunity for bringing popular movie culture into your learners’ reading skills development. All of the readers are designed specifically for use in the classroom and feature an integrated skills approach that reinforces vocabulary and helps develop language skills. The readers come with activities to complete throughout the book rather than at the end, and key vocabulary is highlighted and defined.

    Excitingly, most of our readers come with downloadable audio files (MP3s), so the students can listen along and hear the stories come to life. The audio can help students model pronunciation, get used to different accents and dialects, and make it even more accessible for students who are still less keen on reading.

    2. Gamify the reading experience

    By adding simple game dynamics and mechanics to your reading activities, you can add a competitive and fun element to your classes. This could help maintain the interest of learners who might otherwise lose enthusiasm.

    The “dictogloss” activity is a good way of adding that extra element as it uses a countdown timer and peer-to-peer interaction to make the reading more of a competitive game.

    First, find a good level and age-appropriate story for your students. Before you begin reading the story, tell your students to pay close attention because they are going to re-tell it themselves later.

    You will need to read the story to the students in an engaging way, occasionally stopping, and asking students what they think will happen next.

    Afterwards, allow the students five minutes to write as much of the story as they can remember in their notebooks.

    When time is up, put the students in pairs and allow them to compare stories and correct each other, combining their stories, so they have a complete version. Help students by writing key vocabulary on the board as they request it.

    Finally, hand out the original story for students to compare. Get feedback to find out what new vocabulary they have learned and help them make corrections in their stories where needed.

    3. Experiment with high-energy activities

    Reading doesn’t have to be a sedentary activity. Make use of the classroom space and use movement as a way to motivate and engage your students.

    Add a dash of physical activity to your reading task by turning it into a running dictation competition. At the same time, they will practice a whole range of skills; reading, listening, pronunciation, and writing.

    Before the class, stick some level-appropriate reading materials to a classroom wall; ideally, you should space it out well and have one reading sheet for every two to four students (the material should be identical).

    Put your students into pairs and tell them they are going to have a reading race. Nominate one student to write and another student to dictate.

    Students who are writing must sit at a table on the opposite side of the room to the reading material. Students who are dictating must go to the text on the wall, memorize as much of the text as possible, come back to the writer and dictate what they can remember.

    Pairs must write as much as they can in four minutes, and when you get halfway through the activity, students should swap roles.

    Finally, ask the students to swap their papers and listen to your dictation, making corrections and asking questions as they go. The pair with the longest text and fewest errors is the winner!

    4. Go beyond the text

    Taking a text and making it into something entirely original can also be a powerful motivator for creative students. Those who complain that reading is boring or too hard will have an extra reason to get through a story if there’s a promise of creative fun at the end of the task.

    Tell students that once they have finished reading, they must re-imagine the story and characters and adapt it for a radio show, complete with sound effects, music and scripts.

    Depending on how creative your students are feeling, they could write a sequel or a prequel, or adapt the existing story – ideal if you’re using a superhero reader from the Marvel series.

    They will need to review vocabulary and pronunciation, remember the details of the original story, explain the characters and their motivations, and plot and write their own scripts. Students can find sound effects on YouTube and record the whole thing on their mobile phones, or a school computer.

    By turning a book into a creative project, not only can you motivate students to read, but you will reinforce vocabulary, pronunciation and have a lot of fun doing it.