Motivation - Post 2

Hannah seems to be showing learned helplessness. One reason she may be showing this is that she may have low self-efficacy. She probably feels that there is nothing she can do to be smarter. She is hesitant when doing her assignments because she is afraid she will mess up or get it wrong. She needs to become more motivated to do the work weather she thinks she will mess up or not. Hannah needs to set small goals for herself so that she can accomplish them one at a time and as she completes and fufills these goals she will gain more self-efficacy because she realizes that she can do it. To keep track of these goals I would use a file folder that dictates her goals and award her a sticker for every goal she completes to put in her folder. If I were her teacher, I would give her a second chance to complete any of her work. If she does poorly on one assignment, she would have the opportunity to revise that work. This would get her to feel like she doesn't have to get it right the first time.

Motivation Post 2

Hannah has learned helplessness. Another reason she may be behaving this way is because she has low self efficacy, she believes that there is nothing for her to do to become smarter. I think it is important for Hannah to see that she can make small goals and achieve them. I would give her problems to work on that she can accomplish, and build her confidence to get through harder problems. I would not worry about accuracy at first for Hannah. I think that once she believes she can put the effort in the problem, the right answer will take care of itself. If the teacher helped her make a journal of success it could display what achievements she has made and continue to grow as a student.

Post 2

It sounds like Hannah has very low self esteem in herself and I scared to get make a mistake on her assignments. She knows the work but she is very hesitant in making the moves to perform the assignments on account she’s scared of messing up. She has no motivation in her as well to just attempt the problems and if you get something wrong then you learn from your mistake. She needs to break out of her comfort shell and not only motivate herself to attempt the problems but break out into a whole new person. She needs to work on her social skills so if she does have a question about something she can either ask the teacher or even a friend to tutor her on somethings she has trouble with. 

As a teacher I would have the students work on half of the problems with a partner. By doing this Hannah would have to talk about the problems to another student and maybe open up on the social side as well. ANother suggestion I would make is have a couple of students work out the problems on the board. This will help her make that first step to completing the problem. I always hated doing work on the board in front of the class, but that feel worry made me want to work out the problem so when it was my time to do it on the board I would know how to do it and explain it to the class. 

Blog Post 2

Hannah is showing learned helplessness. Hannah does not think she is smart enough to individually finish the tasks given to her. She does not motivate herself to do the work and sits there non-responsive without trying.  Hannah probably feels like there is nothing she can do to improve her grade and may feel helpless in her own learning. She may have low self esteem and low self-efficacy. 

As a teacher, there are a few things I could do to try and help Hannah. I would try and improve her confidence by using a little bit or praise. I could praise her when she does work on her own. I could also pair Hannah up with other students so that she can share her answers and maybe think of new ways to do problems through them. Hannah also needs goals for herself either set me or by herself. She could work daily to complete a certain amount of problems correctly by herself and then check answers with me or with other students. She could also set long term goals for herself such as completing her work individually at the same time as other students. This goal would have to take place over a long period of time because she would have to work at her own pace. As she gets more answers right and moves at her own pace she will become more confident in her abilities. This will build her self efficacy and motivation. To help Hannah's intrinsic motivation I could find things that appeal to her that she would want to participate in. By intrinsically motivating Hannah she may feel more confident in her work and be more willing to try things for herself.

Intrinsic Motivation Blog Post 2

Hannah could be exhibiting a form of work-avoidance goal motivation that many students get as they reach higher grades. Because the scenario never specifically tells us what grade Hannah is in, she could very well be any where from 5th grade and up. When children get older, they start to exhibit signs of putting forth less and less effort and trying anything they can to avoid doing their work. Some of the behaviors that they engage in are pretending they don't understand an assignment or taking the easiest path when given choices. The way that Hannah is acting like she doesn't understand the material except when the teacher is walking her through the problem exhibits both of these behaviors and suggests a work-avoidance goal motivation.

Intrinsic Motivation Blog Post 1

These chapters talk about intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation refers to when a person has an internal want to complete something for a personal enjoyment of the task. Extrinsic motivation is when a person is being pressured  into completing a task by outside factors like the need for a good grade or a parent's expectations

One question that I had while reading was in regards to the work-avoidance motivation that children get when they reach middle school. I know that children at that age put forth minimal effort and try to avoid doing their work as much as possible, but the way that the book explained it made me question their motives why. The book states that students avoid putting forth effort in middle school because it is supposedly a way of indicating low ability. This is a trait that they think they can not change and is stable. My question is why they think that putting forth no effort as opposed to some effort would make them feel smarter. In my opinion, it seems that students feel more unintelligent when they don't show any effort or signs of knowing the correct answers.

Thinking back on my own experiences in school, I would attribute my successes to two major factors. The first influence is the standards that my parents hold me to. I am always expected to receive good grades and be above average. This is an extrinsic form of motivation that is stable and uncontrollable. The second factor that I would attribute my success to would be my aspiration to go to college and get a job one day. This motivated me to strive for good grades through high school and even middle school. This is a stable and controllable form of motivation. It is stable because my aspirations never change. It is controllable because if I wanted to, I could change this motivation by deciding not to finish college or deciding that I didn't care about getting a job one day. 

Post 1

In this chapter they talk about intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation is motivation that is driven by an interest or enjoyment in a certain task. This exists within the individual rather than relying on any external pressure. The book also talks about the Flow Theory. If you use this in a sports outlook it means that your “in the zone.” Flow means that the student or person has a feeling of intrinsic enjoyment in a certain task that is challenging and rewarding. With these two emotions it makes the player feel as one with the task that they are performing. Experiences that promotes flow have a tendency to: have rules that require the learning of new skills, established goals to achieve,provides feedback,allows the players to have a sense of control. Some examples that the book gives are playing an instrument,chess,and even rock climbing. 

Since the Flow Theory is suppose to make a person feel as though they are one with the task that they are performing, is there a theory that makes a participate feel like they are out of the game. Like an out of body experience? 

I have become successful in school because I push my self to succeed. I haven’t always been successful in school my whole life. It mainly started when I had to repeat the second grade. After watching all my friends move on to the third grade without me is when I really wanted to push myself to become successful in school. I would study more , ask more questions during class and really focus on my homework instead of rushing through it to go play. I pushed myself to get into the IU as well. I didn’t get accepted the first time I applied here. Instead of turning away and attending a scecond choice school I decided to do what I did in second grade. I studied harder, took more time on my studies and asked more questions then normally. My success was unstable at some points in my life but if I wanted to achieve something I could make my study success into a stable quality in my life. 

Intrinsic Motivation post 2

I think that Hannah has low self-efficacy and does not believe that she is capable of the schoolwork even when the teacher tells her she has been doing the work the whole time. Hannah has become dependent on the scaffolding and babysitting that the teacher provides when she claims she cannot accomplish the task put in front of her. Hannah might also be overwhelmed by an assignment as a whole, but when the teacher breaks it down into manageable pieces Hannah understands how to do the assignment. If the assignment is overwhelming the teacher might try to break the problem down in worksheet form ahead of time and give that assignment first. Then present the assignment as a whole and show how the broken down assignment gets to the whole assignment. This could help Hannah internalize the step by step process for the math assignment. If she were to start doing well she might gain self efficacy and come to expect that she can finish an assignment on her own.

Intrinsic Motivation Post 2

Hannah's case could be described as a case of low-self efficacy.  Self efficacy is the belief one has about his/her ability.  Although Hannah describes how to correctly do the problem to the teacher, she does not believe that she can work out the problem by herself.  Hannah's low self efficacy could be the cause of a number of factors.  Firstly, Hannah could have previously found herself to be good at math, and therefore, challenged by a previous teacher.  While doing more challenging work, she maybe didn't succeed as much as she thought she should have.  Because of a fear of failure, she now has a low self efficacy.  Second, Hannah could have been previously told that math was not her strong point from a teacher or peer, and she now see's math as her weak point.  Lastly, her parents may not support her as a student, not praising her for excellent work, or telling her she can do better if she brings home bad grades, therefore, conveying the message that they do not think she is capable of better work.  These three factors could be a contributor as to why Hannah sits through math class without even attempting a problem.

I think the teacher needs to help to correct Hannah's problem.  If I were in the place of the teacher, I would maybe assign homogeneous math groups, putting Hannah into a group of higher or average ability, therefore, starting by trying to boost her confidence and self efficacy.  If she sees that she is grouped with students of higher ability, she might see herself as a student with higher ability too.  I would also ask her to go up to the board to help me (the teacher) with a sample problem, and ask her step by step the questions that were asked in the scenario, so that she proves to herself she know's how to do the problems.

Intrinsic Motivation Blog 2

Hannah is exhibiting learned helplessness, which means that she doesn't think she is smart enough to finish a task by herself. She doesn't have the motivation to do the work, which is why she sits in her seat. Hannah may have low self-efficacy, and may feel that there is no way she can improve or become smarter. As a teacher, I would try to have Hannah do a few problems with me or with another student so that she has someone to piggy-back her answers off of, or ask any questions she may have while answering a problem. Then, I would have her set some goals such as finishing a problem by herself regardless of getting them right or wrong. I would later move on to having her complete two problems and so on. Her long-term goal would be to be able to finish class problems with the rest of the students. By moving slowly, she will build the confidence and have more motivation to complete problems on her own. Once she gets problems right, she will begin to have a higher sense of self-efficacy. A teacher can help Hannah’s intrinsic motivation by appealing to her interests and allowing her to choose problems or situations that she feels comfortable with. Enhancing her internal motivation will allow Hannah to do better in the class and excel.

Motivation Post 2

Hannah is obviously a student with learned helplessness. Another theory that may explain her situation is an attribution problem. Hannah may think that her failure comes from external sources, such as her teacher or parents. Or maybe Hannah realizes that her failures may be internal. Her ability is up to par because she can do the problems with her teacher, so maybe this is lack of effort on her part. She will continue to fail if she believes her lack of understanding is stable. If she does not take the effort to practice or study, this will always continue. Her cause of failure is stable. It would be unstable if she was a student who never failed, but based on the scenario she's been failing for quite some time and it doesn't look like she's going to pick up the effort. The controllability of the failure is essential to the cause of failure. Hannah is in control of her situation and can practice more to understand the material independently. Hannah is also in control of her belief of her failure. If she believes she will continue to fail, she most likely will. But if Hannah changes her attitude and puts the effort of studying and practicing in, she will most likely cease to fail and begin succeeding. Maybe there are other external factors pressing on Hannah, such as a chaotic home life and lack of guidance or parenting. The teacher can only strive to be the best positive role model for Hannah, but there comes a time when Hannah must attempt her work independently. It sounds like she is crying for attention and she's getting it in a negative way through her failure to do her homework. Soon enough, the teacher must stop giving her the attention she is asking for. The teacher can work as a team with Hannah and her parents/guardian(s) to formulate a goal journal and make room for practice work. This will hold Hannah accountable for doing work independently and with this practice, she will soon succeed in her work.

Intrinsic Motivation Prompt #2

          Dave is a student who intentionally does not put effort into his work in order to not appear to be dumb. This could be rewarded by the opinions of his peers who think that he is smart, just not trying hard. Dave is also being affirmed by his teacher who says he can do better. If he thinks he is capable and so do all of his classmates, Dave may not see the need to prove himself. He is displaying a poor self-efficacy by being so concerned with the perceptions of others.

In a way much different than with Hannah from the first example, Dave has learned helplessness. He has consistently gotten such low scores that, though they may be intentional, Dave is starting to believe that this is the level of capability. This also relates to what we have learned about brain research. As Dave’s class is committing useful information to memory, he is missing those opportunities. They are myelinating connections while Dave ties his shoes and sharpens his pencil, putting him at a disadvantage. When Dave decides he needs to start caring, he will have to construct learning from a much smaller base of knowledge.

Dave’s teacher could stop acknowledging his cries for attention. She could also make sure that effort was praised in the classroom more than intelligence. This would show Dave that he is defending his intelligence in vain. Dave may need some extrinsic motivation, such as realizing the need to start making better grades, in order to improve his behavior, at least initially.

Intrinsic Motivation Blog Prompt 2

Hannah has given herself a self-label that she will always do bad no matter what the subject.  This is shown when she refuses to try because she thinks she doesn't know the material.  She does know the material with just a little guidance with the teachers help, but when she has to do it on her own she says that she doesn’t know it.  This proves that she knows it however she will not do it by herself because she thinks she will never be able to get a correct answer.  One way to help her is to help her believe in herself.  One way a teacher can do this is by giving her positive feedback even if she can only do one step on her own.  This will hopefully motivate herself and have her realize that if she tries she can do the work and she isn’t the “dummy” of the class.  Also a teacher can give her an easy example to start and progressively get harder so she gets the problems correct to make her feel smarter rather than make her think she is dumb 

Intrinsic Motivation Blog Prompt 1

Self-Efficacy Theory is the theory from this module that I thought would help me to help a new teacher in their new classroom. The Self-Efficacy Theory is based on self-efficacy, self-regulation, and teacher efficacy. These are needed to fully understand student motivation and achievement in the classroom. Self-efficacy is when a student’s motivation for a task is influenced by his/her expectation of capability or success when performing a task or an activity. To be motivated a student has to have high outcome (particular actions lead to particular outcomes) and efficacy (requisite knowledge or skills are used to achieve the outcome) expectations. A teacher should also be aware that self-efficacy in a specific student can vary across subject areas. There are 4 main aspects that influence self-efficacy in students: past performance, vicarious experiences, verbal persuasion, and start of emotional arousal. Teachers should be aware that transitioning from elementary to middle school and from middle school to high school can cause declines in self-efficacy. Self- regulation is the ability for a student to control their emotions and behaviors by consequences. Students with high self-regulation set educational goals, they self- monitor and evaluate, and they use effective strategies. Teacher efficacy is the belief that they as teachers have all of the skills needed to teach students. There are many factors that can influence a teacher’s efficacy.

What does learned helplessness look like in a Kindergarten classroom compared to a 12^th grade class?

I have been very successful throughout school. I was successful in athletics and academics. I feel like I was successful in both because of my internal causes concerning my efforts and abilities. I was naturally athletic and school came easy to me when I was younger. All of my abilities were not just natural though. I had to study and practice hard and frequently to be as successful as I was. I believe that success is stable. I put forth effort in everything I did. I never just slacked off or quit trying.I feel like my success was very controllable. When I put in the effort I saw positive results and when I did not put in the effort I saw negative results.

Intrinsic Motivation Blog Prompt 2

In this scenario, Hannah feels as though she is not smart enough to complete the task that is given on her own.  This is known as learned helplessness.  This can happen to students when they have low self-efficacy and feel like no matter what they do, they cannot grasp the concepts that are being taught in the classroom.  Since she feels this way, she has no motivation to work harder to understand the topics in the classroom.  This is why she sits idle during class, accomplishing nothing without the help of the teacher.

At first to help Hannah, her teacher could establish short-term goals with her, so that she can see that reaching goals is possible.  If necessary, she could also include different reinforcements (or prizes) to help Hannah with the motivation aspect of learning.  After accomplishing many of these short-term goals, Hannah will most likely have stronger motivation to do well since she has seen herself to well many times.

The teacher could also use heterogenous grouping in her classroom to help Hannah learn.  Since Hannah feels as though she cannot accomplish a task on her own, it might help to place her in a group with many students so that they can help each other.  It would be best to put her in a heterogenous group because she can see both ends of the spectrum.  From the higher-achieving students, she can receive guidance and help while completing the assignments.  From the lower-achieving students, she can see that she is not alone and that other students are struggling, like she is.

Intrinsic Motivation Blog Prompt 2

Self-efficacy is an expectation that we are capable of performing a task or succeeding in an activity, which influences our motivation for the task or activity. In order to be motivated, we must have high outcome and efficacy expectations. In the scenario, Hannah is described to feel learned helplessness because she feels that she is not competent in doing the problems that the teacher is demonstrating. Since she believes that she is incompetent, she has no motivation to even try. In order to help Hannah succeed, instead of constantly going over the problem with her and trying to make her participate in the problem solving discussion it may be helpful to split the class into groups that demonstrate different types of learning. Therefore, Hannah will not feel pressured to do work completely on her own and she can observe her classmates solving the problem in different ways. This way, Hannah may find that one specific classmate is helpful in the way he or she solves the problem. Increasing Hannah's motivation requires her to be able to complete small tasks successfully and receive praise for these tasks. If this is done, than Hannah will be more motivated and confident to do specific math problems that she had no motivation to do before. If Hannah's motivation is increased, than she will have an increased self-efficacy as well. The teacher needs to have outcome expectations for Hannah as well, which are beliefs that particular actions that lead to particular outcomes, which would be success. If the teacher is confident that Hannah can succeed, than Hannah will believe that she can succeed herself as well.

Other ways that the teacher can enhance Hannah's intrinsic motivation are capitalizing on interest and relevance, providing realistic choices of tasks, teaching skills necessary for success, focusing on master, helping Hannah set appropriate goals, providing appropriate feedback, limiting external constraints n teaching, and fostering relatedness. All of these techniques can help increase Hannah's intrinsic motivation and self-efficacy, which will ultimately help Hannah succeed int he class as well.

Intrinsic Motivation Blog Post 2

The self-efficacy theory explains that if we are capable of performing a task or succeeding in an activity, then we are influenced to be motivated on that task or activity.  In the scenario, Hannah doesn’t believe that she is competent at the task at hand so she is not motivated to perform the task.  Hannah doesn’t believe that she has the knowledge or skills to do the long division math problem and has a low-self efficacy in math and most other subjects.  Since she has done poorly on problems in the past, she doesn’t think she should try and fail again. Since the teacher flawlessly completes the problem, Hannah doesn’t see any effort, and therefore doesn’t see the need to exhibit effort in the problem.  In vicarious experiences when students see teachers modeling effort they’re more likely to do the same.  The teacher uses verbal persuasion to persuade Hannah to try the problems in assuring her she’ll succeed.  This method is not as effective as past experiences or vicarious experiences.  Since Hannah has a low self-efficacy she shows states of emotional arousal of stress, anxiety, and depression.  Hannah is often gazing at the window, has no friends, and doesn’t disrupt class; she seems to be in her own bubble and doesn’t have any motivation to try to succeed.  

To help Hannah succeed, instead of continuing to go over the problem with her, and repeat the same actions again and again. It may be beneficial for Hannah to be placed in a group with other peers of different levels so Hannah can observe their effort in solving the problems and learn from her peers.  As a teacher it would also be beneficial to help Hannah find strategies and organization that would help her succeed in subjects in school.  By giving her small tasks she can slowly build up her confidence in order to understand the concept as a whole and be able to complete other assignments.  It’s important to help Hannah build a high self-efficacy in school so that she is willing to try to achieve at different subjects.  By eliminating classroom competition and proposing an emphasis on the value of learning, a teacher could help Hannah and the rest of the class develop more intrinsic motivation on learning.  

Intrinsic Motivation Blog 1

The main focus on the two chapters was the factors that motivate students to succeed and become intrinsically motivated to learn.  Cognitive theories of motivation suggest that in order to change a student’s motivation, they have to first change the way they think.  The first theory is the expectancy-value theory in which the expectancy concept is whether or not the students think they can do the task, and the value is students reasoning for doing a task.  Some of the values include intrinsic value- satisfying interest, attainment value-importance of being good at something, and utility value- usefulness for meeting goals.  Another theory is the goal theory in which students for goals for academic and nonacademic interests.  An achievement goal is important and focuses on the reason for choosing a task and the standards chosen to measure performance.  Different types of goals motivate students: based on need to succeed, fear of failure, and competence to others.  The attribution theory focuses on students past experiences and how it affects them.  Some students have an incremental view in which they believe that ability is unstable and controllable.  While others have an entity view of ability in which they believe ability is stable and uncontrollable.  It’s important for teachers to have an incremental view on student’s ability, because if they share an entity view they are likely to pass judgment quickly and not change their initial judgment when the behavior changes.  It’s important for teachers to teach students that failure is linked to lack of effort rather than low ability.  It’s also important for teachers to teach students to value effort, challenge, and improvement.  If teachers can reduce the competition in the classroom and emphasize the value of learning, students are more likely to become intrinsically motivated.  The second chapter focuses on the self-theories.  The Self-efficacy Theory in which students have expectations for success on a particular task, it’s important for students to believe they have the knowledge and skills to succeed at a particular task.  It’s also important for teacher to maintain a high teacher-efficacy, in which they believe they have the ability and skills to teach all students effectively.  Teachers with high efficacy spend more time on planning, are more willing to try new methods, use classroom management strategies to promote achievement, and show persistence in helping students who are having difficulty.  The self-worth theory focuses on the needs to maintain a sense of self-wroth and evaluation of values.   The self-determination theory promotes self-autonomy, competence, and relatedness as being necessary factors for students to be intrinsically motivated.  This theory focuses on four types of students who are approach success and failure in different ways.  It’s important as a teacher to understand which students fall into the different categories and use this to help them succeed. This theory relates to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs in which if lower needs aren’t met it’ll interfere with a student’s learning. 

How can you promote self-worth in a first grade classroom?

I have been successful in school for most of my life.  I found myself being successful in the classes that I put effort into, and less successful in classes that I blew off because they were “easy.”  For the most part I did well in classes, but I resisted taking more challenging classes for fear of failure, or that the teacher would be too hard.  Now that I’m in college, I’ve realized that I can achieve difficult tasks if I put effort in.  I could have easily taken more challenging classes in high school, if I would have put my effort into them.  But I believed that the external factors would inhibit my performance such as teachers hard grading skills and being in the same class with students of a higher-ability. In my hard classes I blamed external factors such as too long of reading assignments, and tests that were impossible.  If I received a low score I blew it off and didn’t try any harder for my next test.  When I did well in a class, I continued the same strategies.  I didn’t put very much effort into high school classes.  I thought many things were out of my control, but now I understand that if I would have worked hard I could have achieved at any level of class.