These are some of my favorite sites that relate to motivation and study skills, ranging from collections of motivational quotes, to student handouts on motivation, to academic articles, to advice from a soccer psychologist.
The Education Trust is one of the most effective forces for educational change in this country. The website has great information on academic achievement and on closing the achievement gap. Their American Diploma Project includes end-of-high school benchmarks that describe what today's high school graduates should know in order to compete in the workplace and in college. The project includes examples of assignments from the workplace and from freshman college courses that show the benchmarks in action. These examples help answer the age-old question: "What's the point of learning this?"
Good tools for improving study skills, with especially effective memorization tips.
Leigh's Learning and Motivation Course
This is the homepage for the Dennis Learning Center at OSU, home of the learning and motivation course I taught for three years.
This website has some good, simple templates for teachers to use to create customized rubrics for project-based learning. Rubrics are all the rage, but in my view difficult to create and often ineffective. A good rubric starts with a consideration of what needs to be learned, and then fairly measures whether it has been learned. Far too many project grading rubrics are just silly grading guides that reward form over substance, do not focus on the important learning goals, and do not provide accurate, consistent, and replicable assessments.
Suggestions for administrators and teachers who want to keep older kids interested in learning. The entire website is a treasure trove of research that has practical application in schools.
Overview of academic theories of motivation, from various ed psych perspectives.
Kid friendly quotes and inspiration. Note: some prayers. The site is sponsored by Franciscan University.
Good collection of inspirational quotes.
Good dictionary of quotations from famous people, indexed by author and subject.
Captain Bob is short on grammar, but long on practical advice for working with teenagers.
Frank Pajares' Efficacy Website
This website was introduced to me by Dr. Anita Hoy. Dr. Pajares' site is full of fun stuff, good quotes, and a seriously good collection of materials on teacher efficacy.