Motivation

How do you motivate your students? I am finding that most of my students are motivated by The Game, but a couple of my classes don’t seem to be motivated by it. And I am struggling on what to do about it. I am hoping that a solution will show itself as I write. I have tried positive reinforcement, I have tried showing them other classes progress to show it can be done, I have tried sending them to tutoring. What have I not tried?

I still have the same problem I had before…zeros. I don’t know how to handle them. If they don’t know the material, then I am okay with them. But what do I do if they are just not working? Giving them a zero tanks their grade and doesn’t motivate them AT ALL. It seems that it only furthers their slacking attitude. Giving them a zero lets them off the hook…how do I keep them on the hook? How do I keep them on track? Grrrrrrr…this is so frustrating.

My personal motivation comes from deadlines and the fact that others are depending on me to get something done. But deadlines come and go and a few of my students still don’t do anything. Maybe if I offered a way to test out of topics, but then what do they do in class? How do I reach those few?

Suggestions, anyone?