This book is AMAZING! It’s fascinating, thought-provoking, funny and practical. If you want to read one book on motivation, this is the one! It’s a must-read for teachers and students, but I also recommend it for parents, business people, coaches and trainers. It is a guidebook of almost 200 pages into the world of motivation written from many different perspectives. Ian Gilbert talks about topics such as the reasons for being motivated, enthusiasm, IQ, emotional intelligence, MindMaps, learning strategies, lesson planning, delayed gratification, hope, learning through failure, the power of the smile and many more. I love the way this book is written and I know I’m going to read it again and refer to it for quotations and advice.
Below, I’ve included some interesting activities for language teachers (see p. 115-9):
- ‘See the learning’ strategies: use visuals such as highlighter pens, posters, pictures, videos; ask your students to use cameras on their phones, etc.
- ‘Hear the learning’ strategies: ask your students to record their learning on their phone and listen to the recording before going to sleep and after waking up; use music in the classroom, etc.
- ‘Do the learning’ strategies: use physical activities in your lessons, ask your students to walk or stand while they’re learning or act out their learning, etc.
Do you have a favourite book on motivation? Please share your recommendations in the comments below.
Written by Kinga Macalla