How can we motivate students to come ready to learn?

Here are five tips suggested by Barbara J. Winter from About.

1. Be responsible for what happens in the room

Do you realize, for instance, that you can help the leader do a better job? By nodding, smiling, responding, you can encourage - or discourage - the person leading the seminar. Nonverbal communication is strong in a classroom and good teachers are paying attention to the signals their students send. If you frown or appear indifferent, you may have a negative impact on the person leading the course. By supporting the tacher, you will get a better class.

2. Come ready to learn

Leave your problems and worries outside the room and let your sense of adventure take over. For a few hours, suspend your resistance and be open to the ideas and information you are receiving. Treat your learning experiences like a mini-vacation and be willing to encounter the unexpected.

3. Pick the best seat in the room

Arrive a bit early and select the best vantage point you can get. Make sure you can see and hear what's going on. The farther to the front that you place yourself, the fewer the distractions.

4. Take two sets of notes

Make one set factual (i.e important points in the lecture, etc.) and another of ideas that you get during the course of the lecture. In other words, begin applying ideas to yourself immediately.

5. Be a regular student

Of course, expanding your knowledge can be fun and interesting, but there are larger benefits. Seminars and classes can strengthen your self-confidence, motivate you, awaken ideas and thoughts that have been dormant. You can even transform your life. 

Barbara J. Winter is a Minneapolis-based tacher and author who conducts seminars. 

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