Blog Post 2

According to the Dweck article, praise is often misused. Teachers and parents in the child's life can't praise everything they do correctly or they will think that everything they do is always right. Over-praising students can be very dangerous for learning. Children should not be praised based on their intelligence, but on the specific things that they do correctly. By doing this, children and students will know what it is they did right and they will know to keep doing this. When children are over-praised they often think that everything they do deserves praise and that they will receive praise no matter what. This may result in students putting in minimal effort and doing minimal work. They will think that they no longer have to put in as much effort as everyone else. This may also lead to not studying or cheating on tests.

Blog Post 1

The main ideas in this chapter that stuck out to me were intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation is when we do things for ourselves without needing a reward. We are interested in the things we are doing like reading a fun book or playing with our toys. Extrinsic motivation is when we are motivated by rewards. We do something well so that we get something that we want. This information would be useful to future teachers by understanding what type of motivation is best for each student. This will help each student learn in the most effective way for them. One question I had about the chapter was about using praise and rewards effectively. Is this is what students crave how do we know when it becomes too much? If students only do good work to get praise or a reward and then we stop this action, won't they be less motivated to do their best? What would good praise look like in a 1st grade classroom versus a high school classroom?

I could help my studente become less dependent on external factors by giving them the resources that they need to become self-motivating. If students think that they can do the work themselves they may be more inspired or encouraged. Also, praise and rewards can be good but we need to know how to use them. If students rely on these then they will only be doing their best knowing that they a receiving a reward or some type of acknowledgement. I also think students will respond positively to punishments and stop relying on rewards and praise. Instead of behaving a certain way to receive something, they will work hard because they don't want to be punished.

I would tell this student that creativity is in the eye of the beholder. Everyone is creative in their own way and there is no wright or wrong answer for creativity. Students may think that they will get something wrong because they are not creative, but this would be a good time to get students to motivate themselves to do well. Allow students to challenge themselves and not give up. Encourage them to do their best and write what they feel. Not everything creative has to be made up.

Extrinsic Motivation Post 2

According to the Dweck article, teachers and parents should praise the children on their effort and on specific achievements. They should not be praised according to intelligence. The more specific the praise the better. This way, kids will know exactly what they did right. Other students will also see small things that they can do.Students that rely on praise feel that they must prove their intelligence with little effort. If this is the case then students might have the tendency to cut corners on assignments or even cheat when it comes to taking a test. 

Extrinsic Motivation Post 1

The main points in this module was about extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. Extrinsic motivation is when there is some sort of reward or praise from an external source due to an activity or behavior that was done. Intrinsic motivation is when an individual takes part in an activity or behavior that is rewarding in and of itself to that individual. Younger students tend to be more intrinsically motivated versus being extrinsically motivated. Older students tend need extrinsic motivation over intrinsic motivation. Do kids use the extrinsic motivation when it comes to other areas besides school work. Do kids use it when it comes to sports. Even though they may have no interest in the sport they perform it just to make their friends or parents happy? 

Things incorporating technology, such as video games, Pintrest, and twitter are motivating because they are intrinsically motivating. They provide immediate response through exploration on the internet, therefore, they are rewards in themselves. As far as extrinsic factors, these technologies give you the reward of instant communication or response to something you were trying to find or figure out. 

Motivation blog post 2

In the article, Caution- Praise Can Be Dangerous, Dweck warns that praise can be detrimental students when teachers praise for behaviors that should be expected. Student then rely on the praise to get the already expected behavior. Students that rely on praise feel that they must prove their intelligence with little effort. Sometimes it results in the students cheating. Students should not be praised solely on intelligence but on their achievement and effort. When students are given specific praises rather than a general “Your Smart,” they can use this for feedback, along with other students, to do the behavior again. 

Motivation Post #2

               Praise is a powerful tool that can be effective in encouraging learning or detrimental to a child. Praise can be detrimental when the things praised are permanent. This traps the student in their current situation and doesn’t allow the ownership of actions to be taken. If kids are wrapped up in proving their intelligence, when they make one bad decision, they may begin to doubt their intelligence and to consider themselves as a failure.

                According to Dweck, children should be praised on effect and specific achievements. They should not be praised according to intelligence. The more specific the praise is, the better.  This way, kids will know exactly what they did right. Other students will also see small things that they can do.

Motivation Post #1

                Module 15 introduces the idea of motivation. It begins by explaining the difference between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. The difference has to do with rewards. The student who is intrinsically motivated sees the activity itself as its own reward. The extrinsically motivated student is driven by rewards outside of the activity, such as grades, approval, or free time. Praise is another key concept of motivation. This module talks about the power praise can have. It is important to be intentional and sensitive in how and what we praise.

                I was wondering what factors have been shown to improve intrinsic motivation among students.

                The content of this module is closely related to learning theory. Many of the concepts can be found in the Behaviorism Theory. Rewards are seen as motivation in both this module and in Behaviorism. However, this module on motivation takes into consideration the implications of using rewards and praise with children, while Behaviorism is only concerned with external behaviors and not the long term condition of the child.

Motivation Blog Post 2

Praise can be detrimental to students because if used too often, it can backfire.  If praise is used to often, and is suddenly taken away, the students will stop doing whatever said task is.  If used sparingly, they will complete the task not knowing whether or not they will be getting a reward.

Some problems with students who are obsessed with proving their intelligence to others is that they get to a point where they are so obsessed with their appearance to others, that they are not actually learning, but upholding their image.  They are fearful of looking less than intelligent.

We need to use praise sparingly because we do not want students to think that we are under the impression that they are unintelligent.

Motivation Blog Post 1

The main ideas for this chapter are intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.  Intrinsic motivation is where the activity that is being done by the student is rewarding in itself.  Extrinsic motivation is where the student participates/completes the activity knowing that there will be a reward when finished.  It is important for your students to be motivated in order to see the results you know they are capable of.  However, praise and rewards need to be used in moderation.  If you use rewards/praise too often, it is likely that the students will stop doing said activity the second that the reward is taken away.  If used sparingly, students will do said activity on the off chance that they might receive a reward.  Something useful I would tell a practicing teacher, is to not use reward too often.

One question I had was, is it a good idea to practice rewarding students for behaviors that are expected of them, like sitting in your seat, not speaking out of turn, and raising your hand?

I think motivation connects to behaviorism, because behaviorism describes learning as a change in behavior.  Using extrinsic motivation causes a change in behavior, even if only for a short while.  And if rewards/praise are used correctly, it could permanently change one's behavior; therefore, promoting learning.

Extrinsic Motivation Blog Prompt 2

Praise can de detrimental to students if they are praised by their succusses on easy tasks. This will lead children to think they are "dumb". Specifically, students should not be praised for their intelligence, because this will cause students to want to prove they are intelligent and become fearful of looking dumb. They will be more concerned with representing an image rather than actually learning. Praise should be saved for their performance and effort, because it will lead them to want to accomplish more challenging tasks.

Extrinsic Motivation Blog Prompt 1

Module 15 discusses two types of motivation: intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Extrinsic motivation means individuals particpate in an activity in order to receive an external reward. Intrinsic motivation means individuals participate in the activity because the activity itself is rewarding. . As a teacher, it is important to practice things that are academically intrinsically motivating. There are many ways motivation can be influenced. Rewards can undermine instrinsic motivation, because when a reward is taken away the behavior may stop. It is important to give task-contingent and performance-contingent rewards. Praise is also an important factor in motivation. To use praise effectively, it is important to use process and performance praise rather than person praise. I wonder, if praise really 
isn't as effective for older children, or if it is actually just as effective just not as well recieved>

Things incorporating technology, such as video games, youtube, and facebook are motivating because they are intrinsically motivating. They provide immediate feedback through exploration, therefore, they are rewards in themselves. As far as extrinsic factors, these technologies give you the reward of instant communication or knowlege.

Extrinsic Motivation Blog Prompt 2

One of the biggest problems with praise is when we praise students on their intelligence.  As teachers we can praise students on their effort or work because it motivates them to continue to work hard.  When we praise students on their intelligence it causes the students to get worried and stressed when they are given topics that are hard or above their current knowledge so they will refuse to do the work because they are not as smart as they thought.

Students that are obsessed with proving their intelligence they will not take failure very well.  Once they get to topics that they struggle with, they will not be as motivated to work hard because they are not meeting their own standards and therefore will not want to continue on that subject.

If we praise children on their work or effort than the children will continue to try even if they are not getting every question correct because they are being praised on working hard.  This will cause a child’s self-motivation to increase rather than decrease when a student praised on his intelligence comes across hard material because his self-motivation will decrease because he cannot be immediately intelligent, but a student can work hard from the start of the new topic.

Extrinsic Motivation Blog Prompt 1

Module 15 was about the behavioral theory which is based on motivation.  There are two different types of motivation, intrinsic and extrinsic.  Intrinsic motivation is an example of self-motivation.  Extrinsic motivation is motivation with objects such as candy and trophies.  There are different types of rewards for learning.  One is task-contingent rewards which is an example of rewarding a student for participating or completing a task.  The second is performance-contingent rewards which are given when a student is rewarded for doing a task to a certain level like getting all the problems correct.  However rewarding can be a very good thing some students get somewhat addicted to the reward and will not do tasks unless there is a reward, so a teacher has to find a balance between awarding students and making activities awarding and interesting in themselves the students are intrinsically motivated.

What is a good example of how to make the students in a first grade class be intrinsically motivated to learn there math addition and subtraction facts?

Videogames are very motivating because they are the reward in itself.  The reason is because the videogame is fun and entertaining all while completing a task.  Some of the extrinsic factors that are at play are completing the game and winning the game.  Another one is getting a better score than other students.  The score for a videogame motivates the students to try and do better to get a better and a higher score because they will either will be rewarded in the game or be considered better than the other people playing the game.

Dweck Blog Post 2

Praise can be detrimental to children if it is used in certain ways. Praise can be harmful to students if a person praises on intelligence too often as opposed to praising effort. When a child is praised purely for intelligence, they get used to looking smart in front of the teacher and their peers. As a result, they will purposely choose to complete tasks and assignments in the classroom that require less work and less of a risk of failure. Students that are praised for effort rather than intelligence tend to try harder in school and not just do the minimum required amount of work to get a good grade. They tend to take risks and try new things and do a bit of extra work. They are not as afraid of looking stupid or wrong.

This becomes an issue for students who are constantly looking to prove they are intelligent. They will try their hardest not to look dumb in front of the class or the teacher. Because they will always be choosing assignments and options that are within their academic comfort zone in order to guarantee they will be able to get a good grade, they will never have the opportunity to try some of the more thought provoking and creative assignment options. This limits that amount of higher order thinking that they allow themselves to experience.

Dweck suggests that teachers can praise as much and as often as they want as long as they are taking caution to what they are praising. As long as the praise is more focused on effort, concentration, effective study strategies, or other such productive things, then the children will benefit from the praise.

Motivation Post 2

1) Praise can be detrimental to students when teachers praise them for doing things that are behaviors that should already be understood and occurring in the classroom (for example, students raising their hand before answering a question, standing quietly in line before lunch, or staying seated during a class period).


2) A kid who is obsessed with proving his or her intelligence to others will lose interest in learning.  This student will begin to rely only on the praise of teachers instead of the joys he or she gets from learning.  This makes it much easier for students to think they have "failed" or performed poorly if they don't get a teacher's praise.


3) We should praise students for hard work and effort instead of achievement.  This helps the students realize that it is important to give your best efforts, even if the outcome isn't exactly what they were hoping for.  For the most effective praise, teachers need to praise their students in a genuine manner and avoid generic compliments like "good job" but say more personalized praises.

Motivation Post 1

One of the most important things to take away from this module is that kids are motivated differently as they grow.  Older students will not have the same motivations that younger students will have.  This is usually the case in external vs. internal motivation -- as kids grow, their motivation changes from internal to external.  This means that students who are externally motivated do things for external rewards as opposed to doing something just because they want to.

There are two types of rewards -- task-contingent and performance-contingent.  Task-contingent rewards are usually given just for completing a task.  Performance-contingent rewards are usually given based on a student's actual performance on a task.

I think another argument in this module is very important to take away as future teachers -- not all rewards will help students.  In fact, some rewards can be harmful to a student's education or motivation.  Teachers need to know their students and know what will benefit or hurt them.

One question I have is how much is too much (in terms of rewards)?  Should you praise a student every single time they do something right, or would that be overkill?  At the same time, how do you know if you're not giving students enough rewards?

According to the theory you know so far, why are new things like videogames, youtube, and facebook motivating? What extrinsic factors are there at play?

• Video games and other technologies are both internally and externally motivating.  They are internal because they are enjoyable, so kids play them just for the sake of playing them.  Video games can also be external when you move up in levels, earn points, etc.

Motivation - Post 1

The main points in this module was about extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. Extrinsic motivation is when there is some sort of reward or praise from an external source due to an activity or behavior that was done. Intrinsic motivation is when an individual takes part in an activity or behavior that is rewarding in and of itself to that individual. Younger students tend to be more intrinsically motivated versus being extrinsically motivated. Older students tend need extrinsic motivation over intrinsic motivation. There are also some activities that work better with extrinsic motivation than others. Such activities would be behavioral activities. You also do not want to reward a student for something that they have always done well. Rewards are good to use when you are trying to change a behavior.

I was wondering if there was a way to help students or teach students to be more intrinsically motivated?

Videogames and YouTube are motivating because there is immediate feedback when involved in these activities. This in the extrinsic motivation. These types of things can be intrinsically motivating as well. This is because, for example, when playing a videogame, if you get some sort of reward when completeing a task or mastering a level you want to complete that task or master that level to get the reward.

Dweck article post 2

Praise was thought to boost self-esteem until it was shown that certain kinds of praise, specifically praise for intelligence, actually caused children to not try so hard. The children figured if they could do a task easily and be called smart then if a task was difficult they must be dumb. This made children unmotivated to do challenging tasks because they were so focused on maintaining their status of "smart" or "intelligent".
When a child is obsessed with maintaining and continually reproving this status of intelligent he no longer delights in the learning process. The child becomes solely motivated by the acceptance of peers and teachers and he becomes afraid to fail. This is the wrong mentality for students to have if they want to be capable of higher order thinking and creativity.
There is a way to praise children that is constructive. When you praise a child for the effort they put into their task by saying "you must have worked really hard, well done" you show that the means is just as important as the ends. Also, when you are specific about what a student has done well and what they might need to improve on it also helps instill this idea of effort showing intelligence rather than just innate ability.

Dweck Article Blog Post 2

Praise is detrimental to students when they’re given praise for easy tasks signifying that you think they’re dumb.  Children begin to worry about how smart they seem, and when they fail at a task or have to work harder at something it means they’re dumb.  It’s detrimental to tell children they’re smart because they then believe it’s an innate quality they cannot control. 

A kid obsessed with improving their intelligence to others most likely will question their intelligence when faced with difficulties.  A student who sees their performance as a measure of their intelligence will feel denounced when they don’t perform well and try to hide it.  They will not focus on their efforts at achieving a certain task but rather the fact to show that they’re smart. 

The most effective way to praise children is to praise them for their effort because it is things that they can control and are able to enhance for improvement.  It’s important to praise the strategies children use and not their performance that reveals attributes of their intelligence.  It’s important to praise the quality of their work and not just telling them they’re smart.  It gives students an impression that we expect them to do perfect work.  Instead of praising students for easier work, we should have them do something more challenging.  

Module 15 Blog Post 1

The main idea of the chapter was the focus on keeping students intrinsically motivated and staying away from extrinsic motivation.  It’s important for students to learn to engage in an activity because there are interested and enjoy the activity and not for rewards and other outcomes that extrinsically motivate them to do the work.  If parents rely on extrinsic motivation for children at an early age they may be promoting lower academic intrinsic motivation.  Extrinsic motivation is not very necessary for younger children because they tend to be natural explorers that are curious and motivated to learn new things. The chapter talks about rewards and praise and the ways to effectively use them.  Task-contingent rewards are not as beneficial as positive performance feedback and performance contingent rewards, which are rewards that give feedback on the how they completed the work.  It’s important for teachers to make rewards go along with the quality of their work and minimize the use of authoritarian style.  Praising students for learning is more effective for elementary students because they realize the right type of behaviors to engage in while many times high school students seem to take it as an indication of low-ability.  Information praise includes process praise and performance praise, which help students understand how they did and what to do for next time.  It’s important as a teacher to make praise specific to the behavior being enforced and be sincere with praise. The flow theory is a way in which the reward is the activity itself.  Flow theory describes individuals who are motivated to engage in activity for its own sake.  For flow to happen an individual must have the right amount of challenge but also must not be bored with the material. 

What is a positive way to use praise and rewards in a first grade classroom that doesn’t undermine intrinsic motivation?

Video games are intrinsically motivating because the activity itself is what is motivating to the individual engaging in the video games. The extrinsic factor at play is the activity itself as the reward, ultimately making video games an intrinsically motivating activity because individuals engage in this activity for their own sake of enjoyment.