Leroy is an African American second grade student at Martin Luther King Elementary School. He is 8 years old and lives with his mother and two older brothers. His favorite school subject is mathematics. He enjoys playing video games and basketball, especially when he plays with his friends. Leroy's favorite holiday is Christmas, because he gets to visit his grandmother and enjoy all the delicious foods his mother and grandmother cook. When asked where he would go if he could go anywhere, he responded with Skate Park. He likes to skate in the park with his brothers. Leroy wants to be like his older brother when he grows up. Leroy is a competitive student even among his friends. He likes to read at the same table as his friends or in the same room with them. When his friends are present, Leroy is more cooperative. Follows instructions and puts more effort into his reading. He wants to perform better than his friends; however, once he begins to struggle, Leroy loses motivation to succeed. According to Svinicki (2005), Leroy's behavior and attitudes portray a student with a performance goal. To be more precise, a student with a performance-approach goal, because Leroy's main interest is to appear competent. The main reasons for the effort he makes are to surpass his peers in order to receive recognition and attention. After determining Leroy's goal orientation, my goal was to encourage him to move from the performance-approach goal to the achievement goal. I believe that changing Leroy's goal orientation will benefit Leroy in numerous ways. He will be intrinsically motivated to read, which will increase his involvement in the reading games we play together. When engaged in learning content on his own, h...... in the middle of a paper ...... during challenging tasks. To encourage Leroy to shift his goal orientation from performance approach to mastery goal, it may be necessary to provide a variety of supports. Leroy needs to learn in an environment that minimizes competition and supports failures as learning opportunities. He needs to witness his successes and recognize that it was his effort and not his ability or inability that determined it. It may take some time for Leroy to change his goal orientation from a performance-based approach to an achievement goal, but I believe that with the right support and encouragement, Leroy will be able to develop a mastery goal. Works Cited Dweck, C.S. (2007). The dangers and promises of praise. Educational Leadership, 65(2), 34-39. Svinicki, M. (2005, February). Goal orientation, motivation and student learning. Idea document no. 41, Center of Ideas.