Tag: motivation

SIP 7.11 Sustaining Resilience in the Race to the Semester Finish Line

Thirsty for a Strong Instructional Practice? No matter when the semester break occurs nor the length of the respite, the last weeks of a semester regularly fill with malaise, procrastination, anxiety, and exhaustion. When the weather is inviting, attendance and productivity wane as students (and faculty) prefer to be outdoors more than indoors. You might …

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Permanent link to this article: https://sites.msudenver.edu/sips/sip-7-11-sustaining-resilience-in-the-race-to-the-semester-finish-line/

SIP 6.12 More Motivation, Less Stress

Thirsty for a Strong Instructional Practice? It’s week 12 of the semester and everyone is tired. Students feel mounting pressure from end-of-semester projects and exams. Students whose coursework requires time in schools or the community are pushing to finish those hours. End-of-semester school pressures can make it difficult for students to make shifts at their jobs. …

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Permanent link to this article: https://sites.msudenver.edu/sips/sip-6-12-more-motivation-less-stress/

SIP 5.10 Easy NFL Grouping

Thirsty for a Strong Instructional Practice? Coming up with creative and pedagogically sound methods of grouping students for collaborative learning projects can become tiresome by the end of the semester. And when left up to students, we find groups that are comprised of the same classmates time and again. So, how can we create pedagogically-sound, …

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Permanent link to this article: https://sites.msudenver.edu/sips/sip-5-10-easy-nfl-grouping/

SIP 5.7 Using Games to Reinforce Content

Thirsty for a Strong Instructional Practice? You have prepared the “perfect” presentation for your class; your PowerPoint includes stunning pictures, provocative video clips, music and challenging concepts. After ten minutes, your students start to move on their seats; to hide behind the student in front so they can slip unnoticed into the realm of texting; …

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Permanent link to this article: https://sites.msudenver.edu/sips/sip-5-7-using-games-to-reinforce-content/

SIP 3.9 Differentiated Assignments

Thirsty for a Strong Instructional Practice? With only a few weeks until the end of the semester, students are now (hopefully!) starting work on their final papers or projects. Have you ever shuddered with negative anticipation just thinking about receiving another set of what seems like the same work you saw last semester and the …

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Permanent link to this article: https://sites.msudenver.edu/sips/sip-3-9-differentiated-assignments/

SIP 2.12 Teaching Students to Embrace Uncertainty

Thirsty for Strong Instructional Practice? Students today too often are taught isolated, static “facts” that belie the complexity, interconnectedness, and rapidly changing nature of knowledge in the “real world”. If we are to successfully prepare our students for life after academia, where answers are seldom clear-cut or permanent, we much teach them to grapple with …

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Permanent link to this article: https://sites.msudenver.edu/sips/sip-2-12-teaching-students-to-embrace-uncertainty/

SIP 2.1 Ice Breakers

Thirsty for Strong Instructional Practice? Welcome to the first day of the new semester!  Everyone is excited, the room is filled with promise.  You don’t want to kill the mood by spending the entire first day going over the syllabus, but when you enter the classroom and look at 25 new students, you wonder how …

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Permanent link to this article: https://sites.msudenver.edu/sips/sip-2-1-ice-breakers/

SIP 1.15 Service Learning

Two female students packing lunch bags at a community event for the homeless

Thirsty for a Strong Instructional Practice? As instructors we are often met with students wondering why our content is important. Incorporating service learning into your course will help students intrinsically see the value of your content because they will be using the content in real-world applications. Take a SIP of this: Service Learning What is …

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Permanent link to this article: https://sites.msudenver.edu/sips/sip-1-15-service-learning/

SIP 1.14: Project-Based Learning

Four college students working on a project together

Thirsty for a Strong Instructional Practice? Regardless of discipline, some content lends itself to opportunities for students to engage in the community and be more self-directed in their learning. Project-based learning can provide a structure to increase student inquiry and motivation. Take a SIP of this: Project-Based Learning What is PBL? Project Based Learning is …

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Permanent link to this article: https://sites.msudenver.edu/sips/sip-1-14-project-based-learning/

SIP 1.13: Written Feedback to Students

College professor handing back papers to students

Thirsty for a Strong Instructional Practice? Giving students feedback on their writing is one of the most important ways that we can individualize instruction. It can be easy to lose sight of this, however, when we are confronted with a stack of student papers and feel pressure to focus our comments on justifying a grade. …

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Permanent link to this article: https://sites.msudenver.edu/sips/sip-1-13-written-feedback-to-students/