Hacking Student Motivation

As an educator, one of the hardest things to do is to help students engage in deep, long-term motivation, especially when assessments are involved. 

No educator wants to see students defeated or give up when they are confronted with something they don’t know yet or are unsuccessful on an assessment. 

Hacking Student Motivation supports educators in developing new structures and practices around their assessment system that tap into what we know about motivation, the brain, and learning to create environments where failure is just a part of learning, assessment is seen as an ongoing process, and growth is the focus for everyone in the room. 

Throughout the book, educators will be exposed to new ideas like:

• Rearranging the grade book to focus on learning, which opens doors for students to demonstrate learning in new ways that tap into their passions and interests
• Developing learning progressions and HyperRubrics (as featured in Cult of Pedagogy), which allow every student to see a spot for them to access the content and grow.
• Establishing a feedback system, which helps students organize their feedback to look for meaningful trends and patterns that give them guidance for the future
• Emphasizing learning conferences, which add a humanizing aspect to the assessment and learning process, allowing educators to better know and personalize the learning process for each student

Implementing these hacks not only makes assessment feel more powerful and meaningful in the classroom, but it has the potential to dramatically change the experience of assessment for our students from something that causes anxiety, fear, and doubt to something that builds self-efficacy, confidence, and hope for each of the learners we have in our rooms every day, no matter where they are at in the learning process.

As educators, we know what it’s like to see students hang their heads after an assessment. We know what it’s like to watch a student believe they just can’t be successful. We know what it’s like to see students give up because they just don’t see a path forward. None of us want to see students feel that way.

While changing assessment practices can sometimes feel overwhelming, this book contains tips and tricks for how to be efficient and effective in your journey towards more powerful and motivating assessment practices.

Pick up a copy of Hacking Student Motivation, and start hacking your assessment system in ways that can help students feel confident, resilient, and successful in your classroom.