In pre-COVID times, Chelsea Shotts, Ed Assistant, Sped Life Skills at Dundee Elementary School in the Newberg School District ran mindfulness rooms for Dundee elementary school, and then she did behavior intervention. She would help out the students who were struggling, meeting whatever expectations they were having in class. Now, she runs about 10 small groups in the morning focusing on social emotional skills, and in the afternoon she has academic groups. According to Shotts, “I have noticed that motivation does play a huge factor in how well my groups are doing as I'm sure anybody who's done distance learning can say. Sometimes it's lack of motivation for my students. But one thing that I've really had to acknowledge is that sometimes it's a lack of motivation from myself. And whether it is me or the young people I serve, I know that intrinsic motivation is really what we want in a remote learning. Because we don't have a lot of those different aspects that we can control. It needs to be 100 percent student driven.”

For a truly fresh take on student motivation during remote and hybrid learning, you’ll want to watch this video. Research shows that student motivation is difficult to achieve for many remote learners, so you’ll need every edge you can get. This educator discussion will give you the tools that you need to make it happen.