Motivation Series Part 1: How to Motivate Students in Your Primary Classroom

Student motivation is a HUGE issue in the classroom! Follow along in this multi-part series for fun and effective ideas to motivate students in your primary classroom. First up… smart beads! 

Why You Should Motivate Students

Motivation is one’s driving force and enthusiasm to do something. In the classroom, motivation guides children to focus on learning. Students who have motivation have been shown to be more goal-oriented. This also results in taking initiative, not giving up, demonstrating hard work, and respecting themselves and others. 

Motivation drives children to engage in learning for life! Teaching unmotivated children often feels like spinning tires stuck in the mud. 

Finding ways to motivate unmotivated children and keep already motivated children inspired isn’t just a good idea, it’s essential to having a positive social-emotional learning environment. When some classmates are motivated, they are more likely to encourage other classmates too— yay for a great classroom community!

Using Smart Beads to Motivate Students

Smart Beads are a fun and effective way to motivate students by celebrating their hard work every day. (They’re also a super inexpensive option, so that’s another win for every classroom teacher out there!) 

Smart Beads are sure to be a HOT COMMODITY in my classroom!

What You Need

It’s so easy to create Smart Beads for your primary classroom! 

Head to your local Dollar Store and buy 4 “cheapo” plastic bead necklaces for $1.00, and rename them “Smart Beads”. Make a big deal about these special new Smart Beads to your favorite little friends, and suddenly the beads are worth more than The Hope Diamond! 

How Students Get Them

Inform your students that they can earn Smart Beads in your classroom by using their best Brain Building Behaviors in class and providing SUPER SMART answers during classroom instruction. 

Smart Beads become a WIN-WIN for everyone involved! 

You win, because your students are focused, participating in lessons, and paying attention (well…most of the students…these aren’t MAGIC beads after all!) 

Your students win because they get to show off their smarts in front of their classmates, and get to wear VALUABLE, SHINY, BLING around their necks for the rest of the day!

Brain Building Behaviors Explained

“Brain Building Behaviors” is just another way of saying “whole body listening”. 

Introduce this concept to increase your students’ focus on learning by reading this social skills story. The story explains the importance of paying close attention in class so that your brain can take in all of the important information. 

Read it several times to reinforce positive Brain Building Behaviors. Hang Brain Building Behavior posters in your classroom for easy visual reference for students. 

Find this social skills story and posters together in one resource in my TPT store.

Home Connection

Along with wearing the beads all day, the student also gets a certificate to take home explaining all about their reason for being celebrated in class. 

If the beads become a distraction, then I have the student put the beads on my desk so that they can still see the beads, and they still have the certificate to show they received recognition.

Motivation is increased for students when their special adults know what’s happening in the classroom and can reinforce positive behaviors at home. Motivation increases all around with Smart Beads!

Grab this certificate for FREE to start celebrating and bragging about your students today! **Print on colored paper for the most fun-factor!

I would love to know what you do in your classroom to motivate students and their hard work each day. Also, if you decide to spring for the BLING and try Smart Beads in your classroom, leave me a comment below or tag me in your stories on IG!

Don’t forget to pin this post to refer to it later!

Other posts you may enjoy:

4 Powerful Ways to Immediately Boost Student Well Being

Struggling Readers? Have You Considered This To Be The Reason?

Find Out How I Get My Students To Use Capitalization And Punctuation Like Superheroes!