We came across this article this past August on motivation and productivity. It was written by former-science teacher-turned-ADHD-specialist Gary Abud. We are familiar with Gary’s work and character from his previous devotion to high school science teaching so the article piqued our interest. As noted in the graph, the motivations of both student and teacher follows a natural roller coaster curve. And at the moment, we are sitting at a precariously low location. The article does an outstanding job attributing rising and falling motivation levels to a lack of learned skills for organizing and planning. As Gary notes in the article, the lagging motivation of students is not so much a lack of will power (as we often credit it to) but rather a lack of skill power. Gary describes it this way: “Whether it is assignment completion, classroom behavior, or giving students timely and useful feedback on their learning, issues of productivity in school come down to a set of skills for thinking, focusing, and taking action. Children are not born with these skills, they're developed. But when we see the results of a lack of these skills in schoolkids, it often gets the student labeled as lazy or unmotivated.” We will leave the rest of the article for you to enjoy. You will find it at …
