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"Kathy Perez has decades of experience as a classroom educator, with training in special education and teaching English language learners. She also has a dynamic style. Sitting through her workshop presentation with like being a student in her classroom. She presents on how to make the classroom engaging and motivating to all students, even the most reluctant learners, while modeling for her audience exactly how she would do it. The experience is a bit jarring because it's so different from the lectures that dominate big education conferences, but it's also refreshing and way more fun. Perez says when students are engaged, predicting answers, talking with one another and sharing with the class in ways that follow safe routines and practices, they not only achieve more but they also act out less. And everyone, including the teacher, has more fun. "If we don't have their attention, what's the point?" Perez asked an audience at a Learning and the Brain conference on mindsets. She's a big proponent of brain breaks and getting kids moving around frequently during the day. She reminded educators that most kids' attention spans are about as long in minutes as their age. So a third-grader can concentrate for about eight minutes before losing interest. It's a teacher's job to make sure there are lots of quick, effective brain breaks built into the lesson to give children a moment to recalibrate. Perez says teachers must be prepared for a diverse cross section of learners with a large toolkit of strategies for teaching in multiple modalities, with many entry points to participation and content."

"Who are the people spearheading maker education? And what motivates them? These are just a few of the questions behind a new study (PDF) from SRI International on the Maker Education Initiative. According to the report, many maker educators believe "making can help students develop real-world skills" such as creativity, problem-solving acumen, critical thinking and perseverance, along with "dispositions associated with positive work and life outcomes." They also find that making can be both a social and self-directed activity that "builds empowerment and participants' sense of agency.""

"Here's a flashback to Back to School time!  I never got to post all the activities we did at the beginning of the year.  Colorful quotes is one of my favorites! I had been on the search for motivational quote posters that were appropriate for my fifth graders.  My second grade ones seemed too "little" for them and all I could find were ones that belonged in a high school classroom.  Then I came across Doodle Art Alley.  They have educational, motivational, and inspirational quotes "doodled" just waiting to be filled in.  I found almost enough quotes for my entire class.  I doubled up on my favorites."

"Using Concept-Oriented Reading Instruction (CORI) or practices to encourage engagement, educators can advance the breadth and depth of students' reading by explicitly and systematically nourishing students' motivations as readers. "

"Achieving success typically means keeping a solid grip on your motivation. Otherwise, long-haul projects fizzle fast as you encounter the strain of regular challenges.  But scientists from Emory University now say that chronic inflammation is a huge troublemaker, and that it might interfere with your drive to persist and explore. According to their new theory, detailed in the paper Can't or Won't? Immunometabolic Constraints on Dopaminergic Drive, chronic inflammation puts a squeeze on your brain's dopamine supply. You probably know dopamine best for its role in helping you feel happy, but it's a chemical that keeps your brain seeking novelty, too."

"For every kid who is caught hiding beneath his covers with a flashlight and a novel at midnight, there is another who has to be begged and pleaded with to read. And the latter might need a little extra-shall we call it encouragement?-to become a great reader. To help, we've rounded up a list of the top apps that not only teach essential reading skills but also motivate kids-even the most book-phobic-to read, read and read some more."

"In a new report, 24 researchers from eight different countries gathered to create a consensus on the impact of physical activity on kids' health. They focused primarily on studies that examined the health of children aged 6 to 18, and analyzed the effects of exercise on children's fitness, health, cognitive function, motivation, and mental and social health. The report defines physical activity as "an overarching term that consists of many structured and unstructured forms within school and out-of-school-time contexts, including organized sports, physical education, outdoor recreation, motor skill development programs, recess, and active transportation such as biking and walking." In short, they found that exercise was beneficial for nearly every aspect of a child's wellbeing: physical health, cognitive ability, motivation and psychological wellbeing, as well as social inclusion. First, exercise leads to improved cardiorespiratory fitness, which in turn improves brain development and intellect, they said."

"Watch children, youth, and even adults when they are immersed in learning something of interest of them, and you will see often complete engagement and personal joy. When education is done "right", learners often feel and experience the following in their both formal and informal educational environments: Joy Engaged Excited Wonderment Intrinsically Motivated Creative Accomplishment and Pride (in themselves and in their work) Connected (to the content, to other learners, to experts) Purposeful Important Valued All of these feelings described above are often experienced as part of a FLOW state. The characteristics of "Flow" according to its originator and researcher, Czikszentmihalyi, are: Completely involved, focused, concentrating - with this either due to innate curiosity or as the result of training Sense of ecstasy - of being outside everyday reality Great inner clarity - knowing what needs to be done and how well it is going Knowing the activity is doable - that the skills are adequate, and neither anxious or bored Sense of serenity Timeliness - thoroughly focused on present, don't notice time passing Intrinsic motivation - whatever produces "flow" becomes its own reward."

"Have New Year's Resolutions? Here Are 5 Inspiring Pieces To Keep You Motivated"

"Game designer and researcher Jane McGonigal vouches for an exciting concept: the powerful motivations that drive us to play games should motivate us in off-game, real-world scenarios. For example, encouraging a community to recycle, or persuading more students to learn science. According to McGonigal, games have such a strong influence because they:"

"For those of you who haven't heard of it, TED is an incredible free service that filled to the brim with informative videos from special TED conferences - sometimes motivational, sometimes de-motivational, and often about science or psychology. The TED conferences are all over the place, and if you aren't able to attend, TED makes them available for free on the Web and in a great free universal app for iPhone and iPad. When I have fifteen minutes and I want to watch something, I often watch TED videos, and very usually fill my rare days off with them. The app is a great way to experience these videos, but is it perfect? Read on to find out how TED's service could get even better after its recent update to iOS 7."

"Adding game mechanics to your classroom doesn't have to be complicated. Digital badges are a great way to get started with gamification. Recognize learning achievements in your classroom with badges to motivate and challenge students to reach the next level. (Tip: Badges are also very motivating for teachers!) There are several different approached to using badges in the classroom. Some websites and apps are strictly for creating and awarding badges, and some, more robust systems offer badges within their system. The following resources are just a start for those that are new to gamification, and all are iPad-friendly. I've included links and related resources as well."

Links to a resources and articles on student motivation and engagement.

"Carol Dweck studies human motivation. She spends her days diving into why people succeed (or don't) and what's within our control to foster success. As she describes it: "My work bridges developmental psychology, social psychology, and personality psychology, and examines the self-conceptions (or mindsets) people use to structure the self and guide their behavior. My research looks at the origins of these mindsets, their role in motivation and self-regulation, and their impact on achievement and interpersonal processes.""

"Even the most grand, world-changing projects require some amount of tedious, get-it-done slogging. If you're having one of those days where you feel like nothing will come of your efforts -- and you don't have time to watch Rocky or any of these inspiring movies -- take a spin through some of the motivational quotes included in the infographic below, generated by the website SuccessStory.com."

"Do your students struggle with writing COMPLETE SENTENCES that make sense when read aloud?  How about using CAPITAL LETTERS to begin their sentences and PUNCTUATION MARKS to end their sentences?  Sometimes I feel like a broken record when it comes to these writing requirements in my classroom! My second graders are required to write a biography as one of their writing projects during the year and I knew that I wanted something to motivate them to do these skills without being that broken record when they show me their work.  I think I found the PERFECT MOTIVATOR...QR CODES! "

"Why use video games in the classroom as teaching tools? Let's be clear-we've come a long way from Asteroids and Space Invaders. The modern capabilities and designs of computer games provide endless opportunities for meaningful learning experiences. Used appropriately and effectively, technology can make a difference in students' lives and affect their attitude toward school in a positive way. So ditch the old stereotypes and misconceptions you may have about the ill effects of video games and reframe your perception in the light of using them to enhance learning. Gamification of classrooms isn't a new idea. The components of the gaming world lend themselves well to self-directed learning, because gaming taps into the variables which inherently motivate the desire for progress. In fact, using a set of constructs called game mechanics one could conceivably create situations that enhance learning by incorporating the kinds of motivating strategies found in today's best video games. Whether you choose to "gamify" your physical classroom all the way or only use video games as an occasional learning enhancement, making learning fun will positively reinforce students' experiences of school. Here are some suggestions on how to successfully use video games in the classroom."

"We are strong proponents of children learning to code, but we have concerns about the motivations and methods underlying many of these new learn-to-code initiatives. Many of them, motivated by a shortage of programmers and software developers in industry, focus especially on preparing students for computer science degrees and careers, and they typically introduce coding as a series of logic puzzles for students to solve. We co-founded the Scratch Foundation in 2013 to support and promote a very different approach to coding. For us, coding is not a set of technical skills but a new type of literacy and personal expression, valuable for everyone, much like learning to write. We see coding as a new way for people to organize, express, and share their ideas. This approach to coding is embodied in our Scratch programming software developed at the MIT Media Lab and available for free online. With Scratch, children ages eight and up snap together graphical programming blocks to create interactive stories and games with animated characters. They can share their projects in the Scratch online community, where others can try them out, give feedback and suggestions, and even revise and extend the projects with their own ideas."