Individual Student Study TemplatePart 1: Motivation and Mindset

DUE BY END OF WEEK 1

Alyssandra Jaquith
March 20, 2016

General Information

Teacher Grade __1__ Subject __General Education, Bilingual Classroom_____

Student Age __7__ Grade Level _1__ Male/Female

Description of students behavior and work habits:

This student works very slowly in the classroom. While I continue to teach and push urgency in my students,
this student seems unmotivated. I try to excite her with data charts about her progress, and topics that
interest her (she loves art and drawing). The student requires constant teacher prodding and reminders to
complete her independent work. If she feels as though she is unsuccessful at something, she quickly gives
up or will simply guess, when I know that she truly can complete the task at hand. This student also seems
to struggle socially. She does not have many friends in the class. Finally, she appears to be extremely
dependent on her mother. Her mom is involved in an extremely positive way, and I have a strong
relationship with her.

Information on students academic achievement:

Part 1: Motivation and Mindset

Goals for Student Growth
1. Based on your learning in Week 1, identify one or two goals for the student related to the motivation
and mindset theories you studied.

- One goal I have for this student is to obtain a growth mindset. I want her to truly understand the
progress she is making, and how every idea she has and every contribution she makes to class
conversation helps her on her larger path towards mastery of a concept. I want her to value all of the
things she already does know, rather than focusing on what she does not know.
- Another goal I have for this student is for her to be intrinsically motivated to complete her work and
have urgency in the classroom. In order to establish this, I will have to first implement extrinsic

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 rewards for independent completion of tasks, and then eventually transition to building intrinsic
motivation

Plan of Action
1. Describe a plan of action that will move the student toward achievement of the goal(s) outlined above.
Explain how you will use strategies presented in the Week 1 resources and the steps you will follow
when implementing this plan.

- First, I will meet with this student 1x/day to talk about what I want her to work on that day. I will
explain to her that every time I notice her completing x behavior, I will give her a stamp on her punch
card (this is a school-wide incentive system). At first the behaviors I will be rewarding will be taking
out her book and materials in a timely manner or being one of the first 5 people to the carpet. Then, I
will transition the rewards for amount of independent work completed before requesting teacher
assistance. I will eventually start rewarding her with stamps when I notice she independently made
decisions in the classroom or solved her own problem (eg. She was able to get a new pencil or ask a
friend for help). Over time, I hope that I will reward less and less, and she will become more
intrinsically motivated to be independent. By using the expectancy value theory, I will hold this
student to higher expectations and she will see her true potential for independence and motivation.
- I also have been thinking about ways to make her feel more comfortable in the room. I worry that her
feeling uncomfortable socially might be getting in the way of her completing tasks. I will invite this
students mom into the classroom 2x a week to run a small group. This will help excite my student
and also perhaps help build her friend-making capacity since having the parent in the room will be
exciting for other students. This will help her to develop a growth mindset and change her
perspective in the attribution theory. The social cognitive theory is also relevant here, because with a
change in the environment (her mother coming into the classroom) I think this student might feel more
confident and comfortable.
- Finally, I will try to better understand the reasons behind why she might be unmotivated. I will meet
with her and interview her about her thoughts about school and about doing classwork. I will try to
better build a relationship with this student. I believe this is relevant to the social cognitive theory
because I am better understanding the situation that is occurring for this student in the classroom and
I would be re-setting the expectations for her.

2. Describe the impact you expect this plan to have on the students motivation and/or mindset.

I explained some of this in the section above. I think that setting goals and rewarding my student will at first
establish extrinsic motivation. At this point in time, there is no motivation. Therefore, I see establishing
extrinsic motivation as a step in the right direction. Then, overtime, I hope that this learned behavior will then
become an intrinsic motivation. Next, I think that having the parent in the classroom will boost my students

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confidence and will provide her with some structured support. It will show her that just like at home, the
classroom environment is there to welcome her and protect her, but also push her. I think it will help to build
her confidence, which will help in her understanding of self in the attribution theory, and overtime make her
realize her true potential in the growth mindset. Finally, building a relationship with this student will help me
to better improve my practice and make adjustments to the above action plan so that I can continue to evolve
and change what is working for this student to best meet her needs.

Reflection on Implementation (Complete this section only if you chose to implement this part of your
Individual Student Study.)
Write a reflection on what worked well during your implementation and the results you achieved in terms of
impact on the students motivation and/or mindset. Also, describe what you could do differently in your
planning and/or implementation to have an even greater impact.

There have been a few positive changes. First, I have noticed this student light up and get SO excited when
her mom is in the classroom. This has helped to build investment in this student, and as predicted, it has
strengthened her confidence. It has also helped her make a few more friends in the classother girls want
to be her friend because they see her mom getting to work with certain students. I am so happy with how
this aspect of my plan has played out. I will continue to have the mom come into the classroom and
volunteer running small groups. For the future, I would like to work more closely with the mother to better
explain some of my concerns with a lack of independence in her daughter and ways that we can work
together to build independence and motivation at home and at school (eg. setting timers for her to complete
her homework or having her daughter get herself ready for school in the morning). This is something I will
consult some of the veteran teachers about, because as a young teacher, I walk a fine line in consulting and
advising parents, and seemingly like I am trying to tell them how to parent with no parenting experience
myself.

Next, Ive noticed that implemented the stamp extrinsic motivation component of the project is a bit
challenging when there are a variety of other demands on my time. I have found that I am able to reward her
intermittently, but it is not consistent. Therefore, Ive been positively praising her and using other methods in
addition to the stamp method. However, my student has also seemed somewhat disinterested in some of
the things in the school-wide prize bin. Therefore, in the future, I will set up a more personalized system for
this one student. I will print coloring pages and crayons and use art time as a reward for urgency and
motivation in the classroom. I think that incorporating this students interest will be key in making the
progress that I want to see.

Finally, the student conferences have been successful. I better understood that this student has an
extremely low and negative self-concept that stems from insecurities about her body. This deeply concerns
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me since she is only 7 years old. Because of this, I have actively thought about different types of literature
that I can bring into the classroom that will help teach appreciating our differences and the power of loving
oneself. This is something I am still seeking guidance on, however, because I am so shocked that this
student is feeling so negatively at age 7. I do not see or hear students actively picking on this student
because of the way she looks, but I know that this student does not stand up for herself and feels shy for a
variety of reasons. I want to build confidence and a growth mindset for these students not only in what they
can achieve academically, but also in who they are on the inside. I want her and the rest of my class to
realize that we are all growing every day and we need to love, respect, and value one another. Though this
student has opened up to me about this, I am concerned that the moms knowledge of this is what is
somewhat holding her back in my classroom. I worry that the mom is babying her daughter because she
wants to protect her (understandably so). I am currently working on ways that I can best communicate
building independence with the mom in a way that is appropriate.

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