Group 2

Megan, Sophia, Abbie, and Morgan

One-on-one Interaction

Dear Ms.Wormwood,

Through observation of some one-on-one with students and looking into Calvin's case, I would like to share some advice to help Calvin. 

While looking into students who don't do work, it wouldn't be because the student is not interested in the subjects and what they are learning in class. It would be because they are unmotivated to see the end goal of what they are learning. Calvin uses a self-handicapping approach to justify his low score. But He wants to avoid trying to get good grades because he knows there will be higher expectations put on him, and he will be judged for failing. Low effort is a sufficient reason for failure; when someone puts in a lot of effort and still fails, they feel worse and lose confidence. Everyone around Calvin's friends makes him feel like he needs to be more intelligent. Because of this, he wants to do whatever it takes to avoid looking unintelligent. Calvin has no interest in the subjects he is learning in school. Therefore, he needs to be more motivated in class. Also, Calvin has been given awful grades that make him feel unintelligent and hurt his feelings without any improvement notes. This also encourages Calvin to avoid looking unintelligent. 

To help Calvin, you could have a talk with friends by fostering an environment that shows that everyone is supportive of bullying one another and questioning how smart someone is by showing others that it is not okay. You could also help Calvin with his not being interested or able to do homework or classwork in any of the subjects he is supposed to be learning. Making work exciting and putting a purpose behind it will help motivate Calvin and show him that assignments can be fun and that doing the work can be more than just getting grades. Lastly, you can help Calvin with his grades by giving him notes on how to improve so he does better on each test and each assignment. Each student needs to know why he is getting these grades so he can do better on each assignment he comes back; this will help Calvin and motivate him in class. This will help not only Calvin but all students who struggle in school.

I hope this will help, and thank you for listening, Sophia Diepeveen.

Classroom Management

Dear Ms. Wormwood,

I've noticed that Calvin's behaviors can present challenges for you in the classroom, and I think I might be able to offer you some advice based on different motivational theories. First, I've noticed that Calvin can struggle with staying on task, leading to you needing to redirect them. The best way top solve this problem is to prevent it and figure out what's going on at the root of the problem. Calvin is likely getting off task because he doesn't believe himself to be capable of doing it (Expectancy Belief Theory) and is self-handicapping as a result (Achievement Goal Theory), because he feels a lack of autonomy (Self Determination Theory), and because he has a lack of interest in the subject to begin with (Achievement Goal Theory). I would recommend you try to remedy this by increasing Calvin's self efficacy and giving him choice. To increase Calvin's self efficacy, I would recommend modeling a growth mindset for Calvin and giving him practice to apply it (Expectancy Belief Theory). This way Calvin will begin to see himself as capable of growth when presented with a challenging task, rather than shutting down and refusing to do it. Use explicit instruction in teaching Calvin how to apply a growth mindset in his own thinking (such as words and phrases we can tell ourselves in our heads when we mess up or make a mistake.) Also, be sure the words that you are using with Calvin focus on his growth and how he is capable of the tasks presented to him, rather than implicitly or explicitly confirming Calvin's own self-doubts.

Additionally, you can incorporate this growth mindset into something called the Zimmerman Model (Self-Regulation Theory). In this model, Calvin will reflect on his own thinking when planning how to accomplish a task, while completing a task, and reflecting on how to improve in doing that task later. This way, Calvin can begin to incorporate growth mindset based thinking in reflection through all phases of a task, reinforcing these thought patterns and leading to an increased self efficacy. With this increased self efficacy, Calvin is less likely to shut down and self-handicap and more likely to attempt the task presented to him (Self Regulation Theory and Achievement Goal Theory).

Next, I recommend giving Calvin choice in what he does. This allows him to have autonomy (a psychological need), which enables him to perform better and be more intrinsically motivated to complete the task in the first place (Self Determination Theory). (This means you won't have to redirect him as often).  If Calvin is given different options of the same task to complete, he will feel that he has a choice and autonomy in the situation, making him more likely to complete the task without constant redirection. Also, if he is given choice in tasks, he is likely to choose the task he is most interested in, increasing his engagement with the task and overall motivation to complete it (Achievement Goal Theory).

I hope you find this advice applicable and effective within your classroom! 

Best,

 Megan Riffel

Assessment (Morgan)

Dear Ms. Wormwood,

I am here to discuss where improvements can be made through assessments and Calvin. Some things you are doing may work well with other students, but here is advice on how to benefit Calvin in the classroom...

First, Calvin needs to be engaged in what he is assessed in. In order to do this, find things that interest him and expand his curiosity. With self-interest, he can be assessed in creative thinking by how he uses tools in a variety of ways. Self-determination is crucial in Calvin's performance and his ability to succeed. With self-determination, he first needs to believe in himself in order to complete a task. What you can do as a teacher is be there to support and believe in him no matter what. When he sees that his educator believes in him, he has hope in setting goals for himself. In assessments, if Calvin lacks motivation, he will find it impossible to complete them, which is where you swoop in and give him praise. With praise, he will feel more motivated in his assessments and know there is a reason for this. Some ways to find assessments more engaging to Calvin is, like I said, to find his interests. This may include expanding a certain activity, such as a project, by starting with a list of ideas for him to go off of. If he gains ideas from you before a certain activity, he will feel less pressure. This can also enhance your relationship with Calvin by understanding his likes and dislikes and how his interests relate to specific tasks. 

While assessments show you his overall knowledge and progress in a subject, in many cases like Calvins, a grade may not turn out how you had hoped. This doesn't mean you should bring him down by what he did wrong, instead you should highlight what he did right and increase his confidence with a reward. Positive reinforcement will help Calvin identify where he needs improvement and educate him on where progress is being made. If Calvin improves on a task, even if it is one point higher than a previous one, he still should be rewarded. This advice alone will encourage Calvin's ability to succeed in the classroom, knowing his teacher believes in him.  I hope you find this letter helpful, and remember to be patient with Calvin. 

Respectfully,

Morgan Hendricks 

Instuction (Abbie)

Dear Ms.Wormwood,

I hope you are doing well and that the information I am writing to you about will help in improving your students’ motivation during instructional time. Jumping right I want to discuss what kind of motivation might be occurring in your students. The self determination theory describes three types of motivation, extrinsic (doing it for a reward), intrinsic (doing a task for the love of it), and amotivation (lack of motivation for anything). During instructional time students will have one of these three types of motivation and they can all be addressed during instructional time. For extrinsic motivation I would suggest making a deal, possibly a token economy, with students that if they concentrate and follow the expectations at this time they could get a prize of their choosing. For intrinsic motivation it is a little simpler because these students are already motivated to learn to verbal praise for their attention is all that may be needed. As for amotivation, these students see no point and like Calvin will need the purpose and real world application explained in order for them to want to put forth any effort. 

Looking next at how the self regulation theory can be applied to instructional time the biggest priority should be teaching skills and strategies for students to be in control of their own learning. An example of the skills that could be taught during instructional time is the Zimmerman model which will teach students to set goals, monitor goals through metacognition, and self reflect. This can be a challenging task for young students. Therefore they will need instructional time to be used to teach and model these skills for them to eventually use them on their own. These skills will help them to find motivation within themselves and apply it to project based work as well as peer collaborative work.

 The expectancy beliefs theory focuses most on what you can do to build students confidence and in turn build their motivation. The goal is to establish a growth mindset which will help them to set challenging goals for themselves. During instructional time you could focus on teaching how failures and successes are learning experiences,  providing feedback that empathizes with the effort put out by students, and make it clear that effort counts for something (let them know grades aren’t everything). The main point I am trying to make through this theory is that instructional time doesn’t have to be only used to teach math to writing you can use this time to teach students to always try their hardest and challenge themselves. You need to inspire them to be okay with making mistakes. This could also be shown through using instructional time to note when you made a mistake and what you learned from it. 

The last theory I want to talk to you about is achievement goal theory. This theory focuses on what will make student want to work towards achievement. It is incredibly important to first make clear to them that grades and errors are not the end of the world. If they get caught up in focusing on those things or if you prioritize them they will not have any motivation. From there you can use instructional time to praise students when they are doing a good job, make clear the purpose of all assignments and/or areas of study (as this is something you had noted Calvin struggles with), and focus instructional time on topics that are interesting to them. If the student is interested in what you are teaching they will become more likely to want to learn more and/or focus better during instructional time. I hope all of this information will be helpful in improving motivation during your instructional time. If you have any questions feel free to reach out.

Sincerely,

Abbie Stromberg