Brophy, J. (2010). Motivating students to learn. New York: Routledge. Chapter 5. Rebuilding Discouraged Students' Confidence and Willingness to Learn.

The main points of this article is to show that not all students learn at the same rate/speed. Also students who don't put forth much effort or find school very meaningful need special motivational attention. For low achievers you need to work with them regularly so they don't become frustrated or humiliated that they can't keep up with the other students. Strategies for helping low achievers according to McIntyre are: individualizing activities and assignments, providing directions to structure tasks, providing task assistance or tutoring, and maintain motivation. According to Abbott they are: keep directions simple, seat student toward the front of class, extra credit opportunities to raise grades, and tutoring. Now "failure syndrome" students often fail because they do not invest their best efforts. If these students do not question their ability they will be able to handle challenging activities calmly and successfully. But if they do fail it is down hill from there. Strategies to help these students would be to guarantee success regularly, give them recognition for real effort, emphasize personal causation in learning, and use group process methods to enhance positive self-concepts. These students take time to "cure" and require patience. Students don't need to be stressing themselves out with goals that are unlikely to be reached. They need to be concentrated on themselves and how they are able to perform and work with that and be comfortable.

An idea I had when I was reading was when I get my classroom and notice the kids who "crunch down in their seats and avoid eye contact" so they do not have to answer a question, I am going to make mental notes of who those students are and little by little work with them on getting them out of their shell. I do not want my students to be afraid to speak up in class, therefore, I will take the time to notice the little details and movements that the students make.