Opinion Blog

Classroom Q&A

With Larry Ferlazzo

In this EdWeek blog, an experiment in knowledge-gathering, Ferlazzo will address readers’ questions on classroom management, ELL instruction, lesson planning, and other issues facing teachers. Send your questions to lferlazzo@epe.org. Read more from this blog.

Teaching Opinion

Student Motivation and Social-Emotional Learning Present Challenges. Here’s How to Help

By Larry Ferlazzo — July 08, 2022 6 min read
A group of people help each other out.
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

During the summer, I am sharing thematic posts bringing together responses on similar topics from the past 11 years. You can see all those collections from the first 10 years here.

Today’s theme is Student Motivation and Social-Emotional Learning.

You can see the list following this excerpt from one of the posts:

itsamatterofsanchez

1. Want Students to ‘Build a Better World?’ Try Culturally Responsive Social-Emotional Learning

The practice includes expanding students’ networks and developing their awareness of what it feels, looks, and sounds like to manage emotions. Read more.

2. Culturally Responsive Social-Emotional Learning: How to Get There

Bringing culturally responsive SEL into class can’t be done as an add-on. It needs to be integrated into daily routines and academic work. Read more.

3. Nine Strategies for Promoting Student Engagement

Five educators discuss how to maximize engagement, including the importance of understanding student motivation in and out of the classroom. Read more.

4. Increasing Engagement With Student Choice

Four educators discuss ways to increase student engagement, including providing choice and building a sense of classroom community. Read more.

5. Student ‘Compliance Does Not Equal Engagement’

Four educators share suggestions on how schools can maintain student engagement, especially during the teenage years. Read more.

6. 17 Approaches for Encouraging Students to Revise Their Writing

Five educators offer instructional strategies to use when teaching writing revision, including the power of an authentic audience. Read more.

7. Ways to Help Ignite Students’ Intrinsic Desire for Writing Revision

Five educators make suggestions that might help students want to revise their writing, including by using “editing stations.” Read more.

8. ‘I No Longer Give Grades on Student Writing Assignments, and It’s the Best Thing Ever!’

Five educators share how they have helped students motivate themselves to revise their writing. Read more.

9. Making Revision of Writing a ‘Collaborative Process’

Six educators discuss strategies they’ve used to encourage students to revise their writing, such as demonstrating their own practice. Read more.

10. 12 Strategies for Encouraging Students to Want to Revise Their Writing

Four educators share suggestions for creating the classroom conditions in which students want to make revisions to their writing. Read more.

Related Video — "Student Motivation: Why Autonomy Matters"

More videos on student motivation:

More Q&A posts about student motivation and social-emotional learning:


Explore other thematic posts:

The opinions expressed in Classroom Q&A With Larry Ferlazzo are strictly those of the author(s) and do not reflect the opinions or endorsement of Editorial Projects in Education, or any of its publications.

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Artificial Intelligence Webinar
Managing AI in Schools: Practical Strategies for Districts
How should districts govern AI in schools? Learn practical strategies for policies, safety, transparency, and responsible adoption.
Content provided by Lightspeed Systems
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Reading & Literacy Webinar
Two Jobs, One Classroom: Strengthening Decoding While Teaching Grade-Level Text
Discover practical, research-informed practices that drive real reading growth without sacrificing grade-level learning.
Content provided by EPS Learning
Jobs Virtual Career Fair for Teachers and K-12 Staff
Find teaching jobs and K-12 education jubs at the EdWeek Top School Jobs virtual career fair.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Teaching What's the Ideal Classroom Seating Arrangement? Teachers Weigh In
Educators employ different seating strategies to optimize student learning.
1 min read
swingspaces pgk 45
Chairs are arranged in a classroom at a school in Bowie, Md. Classroom seating is one of the first decisions educators make at the start of the school year, and they have different approaches.
Pete Kiehart for Education Week
Teaching 'There's a Firehose of Information': Talking to Students About Minneapolis
Find curated coverage on discussing confusing, scary, or politically charged topics in the classroom.
2 min read
A child kneels in the snow among demonstrators holding signs during a news conference at Lake Hiawatha Park in Minneapolis, on Jan. 9, 2026, demanding Immigration and Customs Enforcement be kept out of schools and Minnesota following the killing of 37-year-old mother Renee Good by federal agents earlier on Wednesday.
A child kneels in the snow among demonstrators holding signs during a news conference at Lake Hiawatha Park in Minneapolis on Jan. 9, 2026, demanding Immigration and Customs Enforcement be kept out of schools following the killing of Renee Good by federal agents.
Kerem Yücel/Minnesota Public Radio via AP
Teaching Opinion The Most Exhausting Part of Teaching Isn't the Students
Teachers reveal what drives them from the field and what leaders can do to improve teachers' lives.
9 min read
Conceptual illustration of classroom conversations and fragmented education elements coming together to form a cohesive picture of a book of classroom knowledge.
Sonia Pulido for Education Week
Teaching In Their Own Words ‘Normal Looks Different’: Teaching Through Fear in Minneapolis
Tracy Byrd, a 9th grade English teacher, shares what teaching entails as federal agents patrol his city.
8 min read
MINNEAPOLIS, MN, January 22, 2026: Ninth grade teacher Tracy Byrd helps student Avi Veeramachaneni, 14, with his final essay on the last day of the semester at Washburn High School in Minneapolis, MN.
Tracy Byrd helps students with essays on Jan. 22 at Washburn High School in Minneapolis. As immigration raids and protests have played out across the city, he and fellow educators have sought to create a stable environment for students.
Caroline Yang for Education Week