ENTHUSIASM

I´d like to share with you some very essential ideas that Ron Clark highlights in his book "The Excellent 11" (Qualities Teachers and Parents use to motivate, inspire and educate children). I will be putting together some conclusions and quotations from the book so we can have a clear reference. It is my desire that this will help us, teachers, to remember how important these qualities are. We should always look at them and honestly ask ourselves if we are doing our best to bring them into our job, and to our lives.

ENTHUSIASM
"Your enthusiasm will be infectious, stimulating, and attractive to others. They will love you for it. They will follow you and go with you” (Norman Vicent Peale)

1) Enthusiasm is contagious:• Students will be excited about learning if you are eager about teaching them.
• Enthusiasm is a powerful thing. It is contagious to students and teachers. When you use that spark to motivate others you are affecting more people than you ever know.
• Children are impressionable. When they look to adults for guidance we must inspire them and motivate them to want to learn. We need to light their desire to achieve and to want to be the best person they can be.

2) Enthusiasm is best when it serves a purpose:
• It´s one thing to have a lot of enthusiasm and energy, and it´s another thing to use that spirit and attitude to make a difference.
• One thing I remind myself constantly about teaching is that I must focus on the educational purpose behind everything I do. I have to make sure that it´s not only motivating to my students but challenging.
• I believe that as a teacher we must set the bar as high as possible. If we aren´t setting our expectations extremely high, students aren´t going to perform extremely high.
• Teachers should always clearly outline their objectives and set educational goals that are challenging and beneficial.

3) Enthusiasm is fueled by our surroundings:
• A teacher might spend a quarter of an entire year in his/her classroom. We should do whatever it takes to make that room a place where we are comfortable, inspired and enthusiastic about teaching.
• Having a good working area in you classroom ,including plenty of light, resources such as dictionaries, pens, pencils or colors as well as other elements such as classical music, plants and nice paintings, will help students become more engaged in their class work. They will enjoy the time they spend there, and so will you.

4) Placing enthusiasm in the hearts of unmotivated students:
• Children are excited and enthusiastic about learning when they are confident, see that they can be successful, are having fun and are praised. These four components will light a fire in the hearts of students and it will get them to perform better.
• It´s my hope that in every classroom out there teachers will work with passion energy and enthusiasm, but at the same time I hope that teachers will provide a little extra attention, compassion, and confidence building to those students who are struggling and so often fall between the cracks.

5) Effects of enthusiasm on others:• When you show that you really care about something and that it means a lot to you, even the most challenging students will tend to get on board and help achieve that goal you have in your mind
• When we engage in activities we enjoy and have an occupation that excites us, we feel better about ourselves, have greater self-esteem, wake up energized, laugh more and live longer. Having enthusiasm is self sustaining and it can affect our outlook as well as our environment more than we realize.