Extrinsic and Intrinsic Motivation

   

  Motivation is every reason why we get out of bed, get dressed, go to school and/or work and "just do it". Whether it be for reward out of pleasure, or reward to avoid the negative consequences, motivation stands behind the reason.

   Extrinsic Motivation: Doing something to avoid negative consequences. The reward is avoiding
                                    the consequences.

   Intrinsic Motivation: You do something because you love doing it, that in itself, is the reward.

   The most fun I ever, ever, ever had in school was when I decided to go BACK to school (whaaaaat? Who does that?) Why did I WANT to go BACK to school? I have a desire. To teach. I have a desire to better myself. Going back to school after about 16 years of completed school, is my intrinsic motivation. I am doing it for myself, I am doing it for my daughter, your daughter, your son, I am doing it because of this quote that hangs above my computer day in and day out; "Perhaps no profession is more vital to the future of this nation than teaching".
   As a result, my courses are fun for me. They aren't a burden. It's food for thought. And I have been blessed with professors whom I give great credit for adding to school being my intrinsic motivation and not extrinsic. Most of my professors thus far have been inspiring, interested, and invested. As a result, I am motivated. As the video Motivation and Learning, by Dr. Linda Ventriglia shows: "The more pleasant learning is, the more motivated students are." My courses have all incorporated differentiated learning, which means, I have had the opportunity to express and transfer my knowledge in ways that best suite me and allow me to shine. As a result, learning and demonstrating what I have learned has been fun, rather than intimidating, dull or mundane. Another contributor to my inspiration to perform are my fellow classmates. The weekly posts allow us peers to communicate, collaborate, share ideas and praise one another. No negative feedback is allowed, only praise, "Praise is most powerful when success is attributed to effort rather than ability" ( Dr. Linda Ventriglia, Motivation and Learning). I am inspired to perform because I am excited for my end goal, and I know that during my journey I have people who are here to support me, guide me and give me the gentle push that I need, when I need to be redirected.

   Now, a very different experience. Algebra. I have always, and most likely, will always be afraid (actually afraid), of mathematics. I am afraid of math, the way some are afraid of the Dentist. I avoid it at all cost, even if it causes me harm in the end. Why? Because the idea of attempting it and failing makes me feel bad, very bad. It doesn't feel good. As a result, nothing about math is fun for me, I only do it when I have to. Math is very much my extrinsic motivation (yuck). But we need math. Math is all around us. The homes and buildings we live and work in, the shopping and saving we do, how much we eat versus burn. It's everywhere. And the reward of math is being successful inside and outside the classroom. Although there IS reward, it is still not FUN going through the process of OBTAINING that reward.
   A particular year-long-incident, was my Sophomore year of high school. Good old, Algebra welcomed me with open, intimidating, Frankenstein arms. I started off the year, sitting in the back, avoiding contact with my teacher, crying over homework, I could not complete and cursing the people who ever came up with the theory of Algebra. It truly was miserable. I hated Monday, Wednesday and Fridays with an actual passion. And then, I took action. I got a tutor. A gentleman named Mike.
   Mike, loved math. Math was Mike's intrinsic motivation (weird, I know). Mike and I spent the first two weeks of my tutoring going on walks. He would talk about how math was all around us, how we used math subconsciously. During these walks and talks, he never pointed out what he was referring to, he waited for me to see it on my own. Those first two weeks was the most beneficial time I could have possibly gained from Mike the Tutor. It was during the first two weeks that without being asked, I saw on my own, the use and benefits of math. Then, back at the pencil and paper, Mike remained patient, he remained kind and he never, ever, stopped praising my EFFORTS.
   Soon, math stopped looking like a monster under my bed, and actually started looking pretty useful and sometimes even...well...fun. By November of Sophomore year, I had moved to middle of the class seating, and started receiving B's instead of F's. After winter break, I was front seat and coming up to the class to demonstrate my A work. Although my teacher was proud of my efforts, he was also proud of himself, as he fully believed he had done something to change how I learned math. Now my teacher, was a good man and an OK teacher, but in reality, he hadn't changed a single thing for me. What and how he taught in September, was hardly different than how he taught in November and January. My math teacher didn't teach me algebra. It was how I VIEWED algebra that had changed. And it was Mike the Tutor, who helped me get there. Viewing Algebra differently, allowed me to learn it differently. To this day for as much as I cringe thinking about math, I welcome a good algebra problem. It really is actually fun.

   As a teacher, I want to be a Mike the Tutor. Someone who gave me the praise I needed, even with the wrong answers, praise because he saw the sincere effort. And now that I have completed this weeks assignments, I see that Mike used a strategy. He used the 3 Ps:

Pause and have a discussion with the students on why they are having difficulty. Prompt the student with a cue on how to improve. Praise the student with implementation of the cue. 

   For as much as Coach King was a good man, he wasn't the best math teacher. If I see a student dramatically improve their demonstration and understanding of their learning, and I haven't done anything differently, I would like to reach out and see what they have done differently, and see how that may help other students and my current teaching style. My goal is to make learning fun for my students. To keep them engaged, invested and passionate about what they are learning. Every learner has a unique learning style and incorporating those teaching methods into my lectures and activities will help ensure that I am reaching out to every one of my students.

So now, I leave you with the quote I started with, "Perhaps no profession is more vital to the future of this nation than teaching". How and why does it motivate you? Is it extrinsic or intrinsic for you? And are you a Coach King, or a Mike the Tutor?

References:

You Tube.  

Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation in Education Definition Examples. (Published, March 4, 2015). Retrieved on January 23rd, 2016, from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPDCdGgjxfc

National University. Motivation and Learning (Published, 2007). Retrieved on January 23rd, 2016, from: https://nu.blackboard.com/webapps/blackboard/content/listContent.jsp?course_id=_21082_1&content_id=_1360261_1&mode=reset

21st Century Communication Skills: The 4 Cs in our Elementary Classrooms

   The 21st century skills are a set of abilities that students need to develop in order to succeed in our information-based economy. Although these skills have always been important for students, they are especially important now, in our ever growing and changing world and economy. Our students need new skills for new jobs, they need to keep up, as a result, so do their teachers. 

   Students need to be flexible (think differentiated learning/instruction), take charge (think collaboration skills), be capable of handling a flood of information (time management, critical thinking, and prioritizing), and produce something new and useful (think, creative and innovative). All of these skills require the Cs. The quotes below help us better understand why:

"The American Management Corporation reports that employers want workers who can think critically, solve problems creatively, innovate, collaborate, and communicate." -Thoughtful Learning

"'The New York Times reports that low-skilled workers are being laid off and "turned away at the factory door and increasingly becoming the long-term unemployed . . .' This issue results from a disparity between the skills that worker have and those that employers need."   -Thoughtful Learning   

"The National Academies indicate that “The danger exists that Americans may not know enough about science, technology, or mathematics to contribute significantly to, or fully benefit from, the knowledge-based economy that is already taking shape around us.” - Thoughtful Learning

   

Alarming isn't it? So let us discuss and come to better understand the necessity, and use of the 4Cs. 

1) Communication 

"Students must be able to communicate not just with text or speech, but in multiple multimedia formats. They must be able to communicate visually through video and imagery as effectively as they do with text and speech. Communication is a broad term that incorporates multi-faceted levels of interaction and imparting information to others. Students love to communicate using technology, and this is an essential part of Media Fluency. But it’s more than just being able to effectively use digital media—it’s about personal interactions as well" Global Digital Citizen.

   Do we even have to ask why effective communication is essential to teach? You can find countless seminars, books, presentations and lectures on all of the reasons why this is such a significant, life long skill.  You need skillful communication to land a job (during interviews), to keep a job (meetings, emails, professional correspondence with fellow employees and clientele), healthy relationships with spouses, friends and family. The way you communicate says a lot about you. Without effective communication a message can be misunderstood and lead to arguments, frustrations, mistakes, unemployment and strained relationships. 
   Successful, professional and healthy communication help students strive while collaborating, you need to be a good communicator in order to be a good team mate. Communication, can also often be creative, which makes an individual engaging, stimulating, interesting and fun. All wonderful qualities to have in a friend, team mate, and employee. All qualities can be useful during interviews, proposals, meetings and socializing. Good communication skills also include verbal, written and listening skills. 
   Communication is a practiced skill. You get better with proper use and time. Reading, writing and presenting information are all effective ways to learn, use/transfer and better understand successful communication. Vocabulary is essential in communication. There are different ways you can add communication practice into your classroom activities: 1) Play a phonetics games in class. 2) Divide students up into small groups, each reading a page in their assigned story. Then ask the students to discuss amongst themselves the summary of the story, while completing a Q&A assignment sheet. 3) Have each student stand at the front of the class (or sitting down), and take the time to answer questions about themselves from their fellow classmates. 4) Ask students to group together and practice their assigned weekly vocabulary list by acting the word out and/or creating sentences with the word. 

2) Collaboration

"Students must possess the ability to collaborate seamlessly in both physical and virtual spaces, with real and virtual partners globally" Global Digital Citizen.

   Collaboration asks you to take responsibility. You are held accountable in your team, if you were to let the ball drop in your court, you could inevitably be letting the entire team and your project down too. Learning how to collaborate successfully and effectively will help students in both their college and working careers. Working well with others is essential in today's world. 

   I think today, especially in our newer day classrooms, with differentiated instruction, we are instilling successful collaboration skills at an earlier age. Group work, whether it be homogeneous or heterogeneous or even 'think-pair-share', can be implemented in almost all of our in class assignments today. Collaboration can be incorporated into classroom activities has often as you'd like, for example: 1) You can group students together to work on an art project, asking each student to be responsible for a specific task. 2) You can break students up into small groups and have them work on math problems or complete a digital book report together. 3) Students can work together to decide which role they will play in their group presentation or play. 

3) Critical Thinking

"Students need the ability to think analytically, which includes proficiency with comparing, contrasting, evaluating, synthesizing, and applying without instruction or supervision. Analytic thinking means being able to use the higher end of Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy, known as the  HOTS , or higher-order thinking skills" Global Digital Citizen. 

   Critical thinking is a decision making process used to solve problems. We use critical thinking in our every day lives, whether it be at home, in the classroom, on the playground, or in a working environment. Critical thinking is based on logical reasoning and evidence. Because it used and needed daily, employers expect and demand that their employees carry strong critical thinking skills. Critical thinking also allows you to be a better team player, which flows back into effective collaboration skills, "It allows you to be a better listener and collaborator when you’re working as part of a group, as well as to become more flexible in your problem solving. Plus, focusing on logical reasoning rather than on emotion or interpersonal team dynamics helps you check your ego at the door. That way, you more easily can be a valuable part of a team" -dsst.

   Critical thinking is used in every lesson plan and instruction in the classroom, but there are some ways to further assist my learners in obtaining critical thinking skills: 1) Do not jump in right away, giving students a few minutes to figure it out on their own, forces them to tap into their prior knowledge and logic. 2) Use brainstorming. Brainstorming can be used in every subject before starting a lesson. By asking a lot of questions, you are promoting students to use their critical thinking skills before even beginning the lesson, also prompting immediate engagement in the assignment. 3) Ask students to categorize, this activity prompts students to ask themselves where objects, people, and places go and why. 

4) Creativity

"Students need to be able to think and work creatively in both digital and non-digital environments to develop unique and useful solutions." Global Digital Citizen

   Students who create and complete rewarding projects and meaningful tasks are able to overcome challenges in imaginative ways. 

   Creativity, much like the other three Cs we've discussed, tie into the C strategy in one way or another. You need creativity while working with others. Your ideas, theories and efforts help contribute to the team's project, and the more unique, useful and creative it is, the better. Creative thinking can also make communication more colorful, interesting, fun, and catchy. Which can be quite beneficial during presentations, sales pitches, socializing and job interviews. Being creative is a process, you take an idea, feeling or hunch, and you work your way with it (using critical thinking), to the finish line. In order to complete the process, you need critical thinking. Many feel that creativity and critical thinking are as opposite as oil and water, but they do in fact go hand in hand.

   To be creative is very much to be innovative and in this ever changing world of technology, that is a good, good thing. Creativity helps set you aside from others, it allows you to stand out in your own way and express yourself in a way that is comfortable for you. It gives people a glimpse of who you are and how your mind works, your likes and dislikes et cetera. With technology advancing at a greater speed each and every day, it's imperative that we mold creative, innovative learners into successful engineers, scientists, and other useful, skilled individuals. You often (in fact, very often), here Fortune 500 businesses say, "We need innovative thinkers", and it's true. The world; our economy, needs creative and innovative leaders. We are not at a stand still, we are always evolving. It only makes sense to need creativity. 

   Creativity can be incorporated in the classroom in many ways: 1) Ask students to sketch responses to Q&A's during story time. 2) Gather a collection of different clippings and/or puppets, ask students to put together a visual story line of how their weekend or holiday break went, or even share a response to a story or history piece. 3) Give students an engineering projects such as creating a leprechaun trap or bridge out of Popsicle sticks. 4) Ask students to create digital book reports, instead of traditional written ones. 

Diagram showing how the 4Cs flow together:

   Adding the 4Cs into our classroom ensures that we as educators are keeping up with today's society, economy and world. Our world, is not the same as it was yesterday, it certainly won't be the same "tomorrow".  The 4Cs are life long essential skills for both inside, and outside the classroom, work place and every day society. The 4Cs also comply beautifully with the Common Core State Standers: 

   "The 4Cs, a fundamental aspect of the most rigorously-designed projects, are emphasized throughout the CCSS in a variety of ways.

·         In Literacy,  almost 90% of the reading standards are driven by higher order critical thinking verbs such as analyze, compare and distinguish.Similarly, these verbs describe what is required of students when they address a rigorous Driving Question in a project;

·         In Mathematics, the standards call for the real-world problem-solving and communication of ideas that are hallmarks of PBL;

·         In ELA, Speaking and Listening standards call on students to “engage effectively in collaborative discussions” – essential when students work in project teams – and “use technology to interact and collaborate with others”;

·         Speaking and Listening standards also ask students to make presentations that “present claims with well-chosen evidence” – such as their answer to a project’s Driving Question – and “use well-produced multimedia or visual displays,” when students present project work to an audience;

·         Speaking and Listening standards expect that by 12th grade students will be able to engage in conversations that “promote creative and divergent perspectives” – like those they might have when discussing different ways to answer a Driving Question or create a product for their project" - P21.

   It makes sense that our students must use the 4Cs doesn't it? To keep up? Be ahead, even. Yet, most of our educational systems remain traditional and are set in their routine of teaching for yesterday, instead of tomorrow. Hardly seems fair to our future leaders. Something to think about...

                

                                                       References:

Global Digital Citizen Foundation. The Critical 21st Century Skills Every Student Needs and Why. Retrieved on January 22, 2016, from:  https://globaldigitalcitizen.org/critical-21st-century-skills-every-student-needs

Thoughtful Learning. What are 21st century skills? Retrieved on January 22,2016, from: https://k12.thoughtfullearning.com/FAQ/what-are-21st-century-skills

dsst. Critical Thinking: What Is It and Why Is It So Important? Retrieved on January 22, 2016, from: http://getcollegecredit.com/blog/article/critical_thinking_what_is_it_and_why_is_it_so_important

P21. Is there a Best Way to Develop the 4CS in All Students? Retrieved on January 22,2016, from: 

http://www.p21.org/news-events/p21blog/1249-is-there-a-best-way-to-develop-the-4cs-in-all-students

Teaching and Learning Styles

Hello! My name is Lauren and I am currently obtaining my teaching credential and master’s in education/best practice through National University. This course is my fifth course at National and second course in my master’s program (a tad intimidating). 

I am a mother to a beautiful 19-month old daughter named, Parker Genevieve, wife, avid reader and hiker. One of my most favorite places to hike is in Mammoth Mountain, CA, as seen below.

Although I am not currently teaching, I am looking forward to the opportunity of reaching out to children and helping them achieve their dreams. I understand more than anything, in order to do so, I must help them believe in themselves. I believe that my passion for learning and recently revisiting the concept of being a student myself, will help me relate to my future class on a more even playing field. Learning, I believe, should be engaging, fun, and creative. In order for learning to be all of these things, to all of our students, we must contribute the method of Differentiated Instruction. Differentiated Instruction allows diverse learners to actively engage in their process of learning and demonstrating their knowledge. I am a firm believer in allowing students to choose their method of demonstrating their knowledge; whether they prefer to write a paper, create a power point presentation, blog, or poster board; there are many ways a child can show you what they have learned, and do it in a way that suits, excites and provokes their individualized passion and interests. After all, that is what learning is all about. 

Based on the learning and teaching style survey's provided in Week One's board; I scored "High" on being collaborative, dependent, competitive and a participant learner, and "Moderate" in being avoidant and independent. As a result, I feel as though my personality connects to almost all of the different learners I would have in my classroom, I would just need to focus a little bit more on students who prefer independent learning and shying away. Again, allowing students to choose how they wish to demonstrate their work, as well as creating an equal balance between group work and independent work, I believe I can successfully engage every student and help them meet their educational needs. 


Below are some examples of a method and softwares I intend on using, once I am teaching 3rd grade:

Teaching Matters: Scaffolding
Creating small group workshops for different area subjects such as: literature, music and math etc., will allow me to detect each student's strong and weak points. Having students on the same playing field working together, will provide them the support they need. For example, in a reading group; we would read through the context, stop and then discuss key vocabulary words to ensure each student has comprehended the material appropriately. Once this has been established, we would move on. ELL students, and/or students with special needs will be given extra practice, increased time and elaborate learning strategies. Advanced students can work together together to on advanced material (they should not be given more work, only more advanced work), or help their peers who may need some extra practice. 

With technology being widely incorporated in the classroom these days, it's getting easier, and easier to provide students with special needs, opportunities to learn, engage and demonstrate their knowledge, equally with their peers. Software's such as: BrainPOPJr. (web based learning tool), CLick Speak (a text to speech function designed for sighted users who want to hear text heard a loud) (www.clickspeak.com), and Click-N-Type (a virtual computer providing an alternative to a traditional keyboard to which some students with physical disabilities may not have access.) (www.clickntype.com), can help all students on various levels keep up and remain engaged.