Motivation Design Project

Anna V. Ralph

CEP 802: Developing Positive Attitudes Towards Learning

Michigan State University

Fall 2020
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Hesitant Kyle

Revised Motivation Case

Kyle is a ten-year old student in fifth grade. He is a Caucasian boy in a primarily middle-

class suburb. He began his school-year three months ago and has been learning virtually via

Zoom, Google Classroom, and Flipgrid. I am beginning to gather more information on Kyle, but

it has been tough getting to know him through Zoom calls. He tends to sit back and listen to what

his peers have to say, but does not choose to participate on his own, unless it directly connects to

his own life experiences. Kyle enjoys sharing about his life, especially hockey. I have noticed

that Kyle is much more relaxed and willing to share when he is in break-out rooms with a small

group of his peers, but still then is quiet and very brief with what he has to say. He is a kind boy

and as we have developed an in-person relationship I am learning about his interests and what

motivates him to complete work and stay engaged in an activity.

We completed an “about me” survey, as well as a reading inventory survey during the

first week of school and I gathered some information about what Kyle is interested in. He loves

the game of hockey, both playing and watching. As we have continued getting to know one

another he often shares with me about his hockey games, whether or not he scored a goal, and

how excited he is for the next hockey game. He is very interested in reading, especially the

Diary of a Wimpy kid book series. He stated that he enjoys this book series because, “it is funny

and has good words.” Kyle also loves books about animals and sports, and rarely chooses to read

non-fiction texts. While getting to know him in-person I learned that Kyle tends to stray from

non-fiction texts because teachers in the past have often not chosen articles or topics that interest

him. He mentioned that he would, “rather choose a fiction book that interests him than taking the
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time to find non-fiction texts.” He prefers to work alone and works best with quiet music playing

in the background. Kyle loves to create art, but is discouraged by math and feels very frustrated

when unable to solve a problem or understand new concepts.

I had a brief discussion with mom following the first two weeks of school regarding Kyle

not turning in any assignments. I reached out to let her know I was there to support Kyle and that

I understood that virtual learning is a much different way of learning. She described that he is not

coping well with online learning and has a poor attitude towards this form of learning. She

mentioned that he is a very social kid and needs school to be engaged.

As we transitioned to in-person learning I noticed that Kyle does thrive through social

interaction and is more motivated in completing assignments, although he is often off-task for a

fair amount of time before deciding to begin his assignments. This poses its own set of

challenges because while I am happy to see him excitable and interacting with peers, it has not

changed his motivation for completing assignments, rather it has made him more comfortable in

the classroom.

Kyle is a capable student with many interests that are shared with peers around him, but

does not want to put forth the work to complete assignments. As our school year continues to

progress I have watched Kyle’s motivation change through our different learning platforms

(Zoom, to in-person, and now back to Zoom). I will continue digging deeper into why Kyle is

not completing assignments and/or what is holding him back, although I am finding that virtual

learning has created the deepest problem regarding his motivation for completing assignments,

especially in math. My goal for Kyle has slightly changed due to the new things I have learned

about his motivation and the subjects he tends to have the hardest time with. My new goal for
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Kyle is to help him become exposed to failure situations and provide coping strategies that will

help guide him in the right direction. More broadly, I would like to see Kyle complete his

assignments at his own pace, but without the worry of failing the assignment, rather showing

effort and persistence.

Revised Motivation Assessment

The Learner

As stated above, Kyle is a ten-year old boy in my fifth-grade classroom. He lives in a

primarily middle-class suburb and attends one of three upper elementary schools in the district,

which is located in southeastern Michigan. Kyle is very active, as he enjoys playing hockey year-

round on a local team and organizing kickball games at recess with his classmates. He often

comments on how excited he is for physical education class, which we have twice a week. We

began our school year online, due to COVID, and Kyle did not complete any assignments, nor

participated during our Zoom calls. He frequently missed our lessons and upon reaching out to

his mom I was told that, “Kyle is not coping well with online learning and has a poor attitude

towards this form of learning.” As well as, “He is a very social kid and needs school to be

engaged.” I was hopeful that Kyle would begin to show a higher motivation to learn when

returning to the classroom in mid-October, but I unfortunately have not seen much of a

difference. He often asks when we are going home, falls asleep in class, and sits quietly without

completing work and not asking for any help. He has been very social, which I love to see since

these kids have not been in school for six months, but it can become disruptive to his learning

environment and his peers as well. Kyle has a tough time staying on task in every subject, but

math workshop has been the hardest for him. He is work-avoidant and does not like asking for
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help, instead he pretends that he is working when I walk by and quickly responds “fine” when I

ask how he is doing or how the work is going.

As we have transitioned back to online learning I am noticing that many of the behaviors

from the beginning of the year are being exhibited again, and have gotten worse. Kyle shows up

late to our meetings each day, is often laying down on the couch, and does not turn in

assignments. Upon reaching out to mom, she has once again mentioned that online learning is

tough for Kyle and he is not motivated to complete the work because he “does not understand it.”

The Learning Activity

Math workshop takes place in the afternoon, immediately following recess and lunch, and

is a 55-minute block. It begins with a warm-up or review that relates to previous concepts and

strategies learned. The warm-up is done on white-boards as students are sitting at their desk

(normally students would have a seat on the front carpet with their white-boards and turn and

talk, but due to COVID students must be at their desks for the duration of the school day, which

makes it tough to keep students engaged). As student’s complete warm-up problems, I walk

around, answer questions, and call on students to share their thinking and the strategies they

used. Proceeding the warm-up, we begin our mini-lesson for the day. While teaching I am at the

board using the document camera and smart-board pen to demonstrate the problems. Students are

following along in the same page of their math journals. During this time students are sharing

out, asking questions, discussing with students next to them, and practicing the skill whole-

group. Students are encouraged to be actively engaged during this portion of our math block, as

this is the time they should be asking questions and engaging with those around them. Math
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workshop ends with students completing one or two practice pages, as well as their math-boxes

(review problems) for the day.

The Learning Setting

My classroom has 21 students this school year, with an even mix between boys and girls.

My classroom looks and functions much different than normal years and this has posed many

challenges thus far for myself and my students. The desks in my classroom are normally in table

groups, but this year they are 4 feet apart, dispersed around the fairly small room. Each student is

facing the front board, as well as my desk. We are unable to have our classroom library, small-

group table, or learning rug, so I had to get creative with how I was going to make the room feel

“homey” and functional. The decor in my classroom is very inviting, with black bulletin boards

and bright, colorful accents. The walls are filled with anchor charts, student work, our “house”

system, and pictures of our class family. Kyle is seated in the second row of students, directly in

front of my desk, and is located on the outer perimeter of the classroom.

As we have transitioned back into a virtual learning environment, on Zoom, the

environment is much different for the students. We now meet three hours a day and their

learning environment is their own house. Many students have a desk set up in their bedrooms, or

use their dining room tables, although a few students sit on the couch or lay down on their beds.

Kyle chooses most days to lay down on his bed, even with reminders from the teacher to find a

productive learning environment.

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Observations of the Motivational Problem

The Behaviors and Observations

Kyle was observed over the duration of a week, during math instruction. Each math block

was allotted towards review for the upcoming math test.

Observation A:As the math block began on Monday, Kyle was visibly becoming disengaged

during the warm-up. I instructed the class to get their white boards and a white board marker on

their desk and asked them to put a quiet thumb up when ready to begin. Kyle was the last student

to complete this task and was grumbly under his breath while gathering his supplies. As we

began I noticed that Kyle was busy sharpening his pencil instead of completing the warm-up

problem on his white board. As other students began holding up their completed work I told the

rest of the class I would give them one more minute to finish. As doing this, I chose to stand next

to Kyle’s desk to see if this would prompt him to complete the problem, but instead he put his

pencil sharpener away and looked around the room, pretending to be thinking about the problem.

I knelt down next to him to ask if he understood the problem and directions and he very politely

responded, “yup, just taking another moment to think about how I will solve it.” I told him to let

me know if he had any questions and that I was happy to help, as I had just helped a few of his

peers sitting near him. He chose not to ask for help and was the only student to not complete the

warm-up problem. As the math block continued, I gave Kyle many prompts to get started. He

only completed 30% of his work page that day, and only worked while I was standing with him,

walking through the problem.

Observation B: Upon completing the math warm-up problems on the white-boards on

Wednesday, I asked the class to turn and talk to the students sitting near them about the steps
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when completing a three-by-two multiplication problem using the traditional multiplication

strategy. Students began sharing the steps and Kyle sat quietly, looking around the room. I

walked over to the students near him who were sharing and invited Kyle to join the discussion.

He stated that he was thinking of the steps in his head. I gave the students a few more moments

to share with one another and as I walked away I noticed Kyle turned back to his own desk and

began drawing on his paper. As soon as I asked students to raise their hand to share with the

class Kyle turned to the student behind him and began talking about his upcoming hockey game.

Later in the math block, students were working on their review coloring work page. The

review work page had multiplication problems on the front and a color-by-number on the back

that coincided with the multiplication problem answers. I stressed the importance to my students

to show their work on a separate piece of paper because during the test on Friday they would

need to show their work. We discussed as a class that showing your work is important so that

you can go back to check your work/find mistakes and because it allows their teacher to “see

inside your brain.” In addition, I instructed students to complete all of the multiplication

problems before coloring on the other side. I asked the class to give me a thumb up if they

understood the directions and each student, including Kyle, gave me a thumb up and began

working. Kyle solved each of the problems correctly, but in his head. He did not show his work,

as I had asked students to do, and he took fifteen minutes to begin the assignment. Kyle was

more interested in the coloring than the actual multiplication review, although he got the

questions correct.

Observation C: On Friday, the class took their unit one math test. Before the test we had a

discussion about test-taking, its importance, and why we do it, as this was the first test of the
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school year. We discussed that during a test there is no talking, looking around, or walking

around. I also told the students to view tests in our class as a time to show what they know and to

show off all of their hard work and learning, instead of becoming anxious over a grade. I told my

class that I am more concerned with them putting forth their best effort than receiving 100%. As

students began the test Kyle took 5 minutes to put his name on the test, and then proceeded to

sharpen his pencil for a few minutes. I began walking around the room to observe how students

were doing and to answer any questions. While doing this, Kyle put his head down and fell

asleep for the duration of the math testing block. At the end of the block Kyle mentioned that he

had been up until midnight playing video games and asked if he could complete the test during

our science block, another subject that does not interest him.

Kyle completed the math test during our science and half of our social studies block. He

took many breaks in between math problems and was more interested in what other students

were doing. Usually students would complete unfinished work, such as tests, in the back room,

but we are unable to utilize that room this year, so this posed many problems with Kyle staying

engaged enough to complete his test. Upon grading Kyle’s test, he received an 81%, which

proves to me that for the most part he understands the material, yet does not want to engage with

it.

Motivational Analysis

Preconditions for Motivation

Many preconditions are put into place in our classroom, with the first being a supportive

and caring environment. I am adamant on beginning a school year with many getting-to-know-

you activities, about myself and my students. I find that it is incredibly important for my students
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to see me as more than a teacher, and that I see them as more than a student. With that, I ensure

that I continue learning about my students throughout the school year. I quickly noted that Kyle

is very invested in his hockey team, so I am sure to ask him frequently about upcoming games,

his team, and how they are doing. The social environment in our classroom is very friendly and

we frequently call ourselves a classroom family, who experience challenges and successes

together. Additionally, I have implemented a predictable structure in my classroom. Students are

aware of the daily routines and have ample time to practice these routines in the beginning of the

school year. Our routines range from what they do upon walking into the classroom in the

morning to how they silently ask to use the restroom using a hand signal. I find that these

routines help our day run smoothly, as well as create a sense of normalcy and predictability for

myself and my students. Finally, we often discuss the importance and value of what students are

learning, which help create meaningful objectives, which is another precondition for motivation.

There is a bulletin board in our classroom that highlights the students as being mathematicians.

Each student wrote down ways that they interact with math on a daily basis, in and out of school.

We often refer to this board when learning a new concept in math, so that students are able to

apply the importance to their own life and future.

Approaches Used to Motivate Learning

Through math instruction, I often change up the story problems that are given in student

workbooks by adding in specific student or teachers’ names and their hobbies. I find that by

making the math problems personal, students are more motivated and excited to solve them

because they are able to see themselves in the problems and begin applying it to their own lives.

With the past week being review, I was more focused on students concentrating on the content,
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so I did not do as well of a job making the math meaningful. Instead, I chose fun review

activities, such as color-by-number, jeopardy games, and task cards to peak their interest.

TARGET Analysis

Task: Upon reviewing the TARGET framework, I believe that the feature of task is implemented

in my classroom 80% of the time. I say this because I do not challenge students at their

appropriate skill level as often as I should, but I am clear on presenting my students with the

purpose of learning specific content, and am careful to find ways to connect to students’ interests

by creating math problems that include them and their interests. I am realizing that Kyle may

have been uninterested during our review week because he was not being challenged enough.

Authority: It is difficult to provide choice within our math curriculum, due to the strict pacing

guide we are given, as well as the work pages provided and expected for all students to complete.

In “normal” school years, I would provide choice for early finishers, by allowing students to

choose between many activities to practice skills, but I have not found an effective way to do this

with the limitations due to COVID.

Recognition: I put careful thought into how I recognize all of my students’ work and progress in

math. Unlike writing and reading workshop, I do not meet with students individually to discuss

their work, but I instead walk around during work-time in math to chat with each student about

how they are completing problems. We have a bulletin board in class that says, “M(mistakes)

A(allow) T(thinking to) H(happen). We often discuss that mistakes are celebrated, and finding

mistakes in math allow us to grow and learn. Through these discussions, each of my students are

being recognized for effort and progress, rather than getting the answer correct each time.
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Grouping: I view our classroom as being a collaborative learning community, especially this

school year, as students are unable to work one-on-one with their peers, rather we work as a class

community to complete math problems. Through accountable talk students are growing in their

discussions by helping one another find common mistakes, rather than boasting about getting the

answer correct. It has been exciting to watch my class support one another and grow together.

Evaluation: Students are encouraged to make mistakes in order to learn, therefore I allow

students to redo assignments and take alternative tests to show their knowledge and growth. I

record their growth on their report cards to show families their progress throughout the school

year, rather than focus on one test to display their grade or content knowledge on a specific

standard.

Time: This portion of the TARGET framework is where I would like to improve upon the most,

especially in math instruction. I allow students to take home unfinished work, but we rarely

revisit this work in class, due to our strict pacing guidelines and the way in which our math

curriculum is structured. My goal is to create time in our math block to discuss students’ work

from the previous day to allow for deeper understanding of the content, and to show its

importance. One small way in which I provide time for students is during our morning work

block. During this short 20-minute block students are able to ask me any questions regarding the

homework from the night before, as well as work with me one-on-one.

Conclusions

Overall, Kyle appears to be motivated when he finds value in the content-matter, or has

confidence in the subject. Kyle is incredibly motivated during social studies, due to his love of

creating art, because we do a lot of hands-on, creative projects to showcase knowledge.

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Additionally, he is motivated in writing workshop because of the choice that is involved. He is

currently writing about hockey in our mini-unit on sensory details. He loves sharing about his

writing, because it is something that applies directly to his interests outside of school. I believe

Kyle is lacking confidence in math and is experiencing failure syndrome and learned

helplessness. Upon further observation and review of how Kyle learns, and what hinders him

from learning, I have come to the conclusion that Kyle perceives himself as a "failure" in math.

He exudes the idea that he should not try, because if he does he will automatically fail. I no

longer believe his motivation is directly correlated to his lack of interest in the subject, rather

how he views himself as a learner in math.

Proposed Motivational Intervention

Proposed Motivational Strategies

Based on the motivational assessment, I have come to the conclusion that Kyle could

benefit from cognition retaining methods, as mentioned in Wentzel and Brophy (2014). Through

observing Kyle’s behaviors, specifically in math, and by getting to know him as a student for the

past three months, I have noticed many common themes emerge in regards to his lack of

motivation. Kyle is often off task, unwilling to ask for help or clarification, falling asleep during

math instruction, or mentions that he is “not good at math.” While observing Kyle for a few

months in other subjects he participates often and completes his work in a timely manner, except

when we are learning remotely. A common theme that has emerged is the notion that Kyle is

motivated to learn when he finds value in the content, has experienced much success, and has
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confidence in his abilities. Thus, I have determined that Kyle is experiencing failure syndrome,

along with learned helplessness in math specifically.

Wentzel and Brophy (2014), mention that students experiencing failure syndrome and

learned helplessness often give up quickly at the sign of difficulty or failure. Additionally, they

discuss how deeply rooted these beliefs can be, often coming from a place that they lack ability,

and the notion that it has something to do with “them” specifically and their abilities. Wentzel

and Brophy (2014) go on to say that once they experience these failures it all comes back quickly

to them and the cycle continues on. It takes much effort on the students’ part, as well as their

teachers and parents, to help reframe and shift their mindset past the chronic feelings of failure.

The first step I took in helping Kyle push past these feelings of failure was through the

development of a strong teacher-student relationship. Wentzel and Brophy (2014) mention that

relationships are necessary in helping students succeed because for them to begin believing in

themselves they need someone else to also believe in them. Secondly, I communicated with Kyle

that it is ok and important for him to work at his own pace when completing math assignments. I

reminded him that students all learn differently, and at different paces. Lastly, I reminded Kyle

of his prior achievements and success in math, and the importance that math builds on itself. I

wanted him to begin making connections to past successes and using those to guide him forward.

More specifically, I chose to focus in closely on one cognition retraining method,

attribution retraining. I chose this method because math instruction often comes with experiences

of “failure.” Math is not a subject that we get the right answer every time, so I believed that it

was important to expose Kyle to failure in a way to retrain his mind on how to handle the failure

and use it to push forward and find success. I often tell my students that the best way to learn
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math concepts is to learn through their mistakes, because their mistakes will show them what

they need to change moving forward in learning a specific skill, such as multiplying decimals.

As Kyle and I began working one-on-one I taught him to view his mistakes as an opportunity to

learn. I also showed Kyle that even teachers make mistakes, but we use those mistakes to

become better in the future and we do not let it stop our momentum to teach or learn. Through

many days and weeks of working together I began to see Kyle shift his mindset, slowly but

surely. Instead of giving up at the first sign of “failure”, he looked back at his work to ask

questions and push past the feelings of inadequacy. Kyle also began to focus on the math task or

assignment with a critical lens, rather than worrying about failing right away.

TARGET Analysis

Previously, in my motivation assessment, I analyzed the present features of TARGET

that are in my classroom in general. Since working with Kyle, and implementing strategies in

helping him cope with failure syndrome and learned helplessness, I analyzed the features of

TARGET that would most greatly impact and benefit him specifically as a student.

Task: I determined that Kyle was most likely not being challenged enough, nor did he know how

to cope with failure in challenging activities or assignments. Kyle would complete assignments

that were “easy” to him rather quickly, but would not share his thinking or his work. This led me

to believe that he was still experiencing a sense of failure syndrome, even from assignments that

he tended to understand, because he was unwilling to share his thoughts with others, thus he was

afraid of making a mistake. Additionally, when he was being challenged he did not know how to

push past the negative thoughts that consumed him about failure.
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Authority: To help Kyle gain a growth mindset it was necessary for me to provide choice within

assignments. I did this by individualizing the assignment, such as allowing him to begin by

completing either the odd or even problems with me. Once he felt comfortable he often went

back and completed the other half of the assignment on his own, which began fostering

confidence within him in his ability to achieve on his own.

Recognition: I found it very important to recognize even the smallest victories to maintain his

motivation. Wentzel and Brophy (2014), mention the importance of encouraging students by

providing positive comments and calling attention to small successes. This helped Kyle begin to

link prior success with new strategies he learned in math, by building on the confidence he had

gained previously.

Grouping: At the beginning of face-to-face instruction I had not yet found a way for students to

work together, due to the restrictions on spacing between students in the classroom, but I knew

just how important it was to make this happen, so I found a way for students to turn their desks

around in order to work with peers. Once students were able to do this I found that Kyle’s

confidence spiked. As he began gaining confidence in his own abilities he was more comfortable

sharing his success and expertise with his peers.

Evaluation: Following our first math test, Kyle was not meeting standards on three out of five of

the standards that were accessed. Upon revisiting the material with Kyle one-on-one and

fostering confidence within him, I allowed him to re-take these portions of the test. He is now

mastering four out of five of the standards and has been able to watch his growth over time,

which I believe has impacted his confidence and motivation drastically.

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Time: Upon reflecting the comments made regarding time in my motivation assessment, I knew

how important it was for myself to shift how I taught math to my students, in order for them to

understand the importance of how content from the prior day connects to lessons that follow. I

now begin each math block with a review from the day before and together as a class we discuss

how that specific strategy is important, relevant, and how it connects to the unit as a whole. I

have noticed that as Kyle is gaining confidence he is sharing out more and more during this time.

Rationale

Kyle began the school year perceiving himself as a low achieving math student and

lacked confidence in his abilities. Additionally, he was afraid of failing, which hindered him

from taking any risks with new material, or sharing his ideas with his peers. Through knowing

this and getting to know Kyle as a student in all subject areas I knew that he was suffering from

learned helplessness and failure syndrome when it came to math, whether it stemming from prior

negative experiences in math, or the new concepts that were present in fifth grade. Thus, I

determined that focusing on building a strong relationship, and teaching Kyle strategies for

dealing with failure, and exposing him to success, as well as failure, was the most beneficial for

his future success.

Expected Outcomes & Results

My goal was to begin seeing Kyle more engaged, less off task, and focusing on

participation rather than always achieving on every single problem he completed in math. It is

more important to me, and I believe more beneficial for Kyle, to view math as a time to learn

through mistakes and push past failures in order to grow in his abilities. I was more focused on

Kyle fostering a growth mindset than always getting 100%, and that is what I am beginning to
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see. Kyle is beginning to gain interest and confidence in math due to the exposure he has been

given with failure, and how to cope with it. I understand that it will take a long time for him to

truly move on from the beliefs that he lacks ability, because I am aware just how deeply rooted

these beliefs are, but I know that with persistence and determination he will be successful in

moving forward. I am going to continue exposing Kyle to failure and encouraging him to use the

moments as learning opportunities, rather than moments to give up and become frustrated.

Unfortunately, with our shift back to online learning, I have seen Kyle begin to exhibit the

behaviors that were present at the beginning of the school year. My hope is that through working

with him in break-out rooms on Zoom I can once again remind Kyle of all that he has achieved

thus far, and hopefully that will begin to foster the motivation and confidence Kyle was

beginning to exude in our math instruction.

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References

Wentzel, K. R., & Brophy, J. (2014). Motivating students to learn (4th Ed.). New York:

Routledge