I First Selected Welcome Letter

Gratitude is one of the many positive emotions of positive psychology that has a correlation between and significantly impacts well-being. The word gratitude is a derivative of the Latin word gratia, meaning “grace, graciousness, or gratefulness” which has to do with “kindness, generousness, gifts, the beauty of giving and receiving, or getting something for nothing” (Reis 2009, p. 774). From a clinical standpoint, gratitude is the appreciation of what is valuable to oneself; it is an overall state of thankfulness. Essentially, gratitude is a form of visualizing that transforms our gaze. Gratitude starts with recognizing the fact that nothing can be taken for granted and thus, this life we have is a precious gift. The recognition of that gift is the beginning of gratitude. A number of life experiences can provoke feelings of gratitude, but gratitude typically draws on the belief that one has received this gift or benefit from another person. This gratefulness results from a bigger picture that another person is responsible for one’s well being; in essence, one is not necessarily grateful for the good done to oneself, but for that which another has bestowed upon them to help them achieve goodness in their lives. Not only does gratitude have an effect on overall well-being, it is also associated with

Bandura has studied self-efficacy, which is the extent or strength of one’s belief in one’s own ability to complete tasks and reach goals. Self-efficacy can affect all types of behaviors like academics, social and recreational. A child might have the ability to accomplish a task, but if they do not feel like they are capable of doing so, then they may fail or may not attempt the task. For example, in a study difficult math problems were given to children with

Albert Bandura introduced the Self-Efficacy Theory in the late 1970s. Self-Efficacy is the belief in one’s ability to perform actions to complete a task or goal attainment. It has been applied to many areas such as smoking cessation, eating, and pain control. It can also be applied to childhood asthma to share insight on the child’s belief. Believing in oneself and the ability to manage their own care is a very important aspect of self-care.

Self-efficacy can be described as the level self-confidence that a person has when they try to do something. It is important in making a behavioral change because people need to envision themselves succeeding.

If you would like to live a happy and more so, successful life, it is vital that you learn to express gratitude wherever you go. In order to reach where you would like to be in life, everyone should concentrate on their goals and objectives. Through expressing gratitude, people can learn to show good deeds, and hence be able to receive the same goodness, in return. (Radwan, Msc.) Gratitude refers to the act of being thankful, noticing simple pleasures, counting every little blessing, and acknowledging every good done unto you. In other terms, it can be described as living life as if everything happening in it is a miracle, and being able to continuously acknowledge every much you receive. On the other hand, when people decide to concentrate a lot of energy on bad things in life, it will make them remain in the state of conflict. But by developing gratitude, it will allow someone to focus on positivity and the good things in life. It must be understood that this will allow an individual to always remain optimistic, and with enthusiasm much success can be achieved.

Self-efficacy, for the purpose of this study, may be defined as a person’s optimistic self-belief. This is the belief that a person can develop the skills to perform new or difficult tasks to cope with changes in health and functioning. When a person perceives self-efficacy, it will facilitate goal-setting, effort, investment, persistence, overcoming obstacles and recovery from disappointments and failures. It can be regarded as a positive outlook or proactive way to handle stress factors. It is the ability to successfully cope with health changes, and implies an internal and stable acceptance of changes and ability to successfully adapt to those changes. Perceived self-efficacy is functional in

This portfolio has show my progress in many different ways. The biggest way is my rhetorical knowledge has been increased because of the sources we have had to read especially in this last unit when we had to use the UW database. The scholarly articles and journals pushed my reading and analyzing to the limit, but it really helped me for the future. Because of my ability to analyze the sources well, it has helped me increase my writing, because I have been able to really find good credible quotes to use within my work.

In this chapter, Rivera outlines and describes three existing theories: Bandura’s Theory of Self-Efficacy, Vygotsky’s Constructivist Theory, and Social Interdependence Theory. She also refers to multiple sources and explains their opinions about these theories. She goes one step further to clarify how these theories directly correlate with her research topic.

In conclusion, I believe that now knowing what my learning style and learning preferences are, this knowledge may help me become better in obtaining my college degree. I believe it is important to know how to be the most successful, and I believe that this personal essay allowed me to learn my personal motivation and personal learning styles to help me become the most successful learner that I can be. I am excited for my educational journey in obtaining my college degree.

Google and Google Scholar are my best friends, we have a very good relationship whereby I can ask as many questions as I like and they don’t get frustrated with me. I have found that being self-reliant in my learning has really paid off, by questioning, I have improved in my submissions. I am getting a lot better at everything I have tried throughout Ontrack but, I very much look forward to things becoming second nature. My tutor has been the reason I am at the point that I am, in providing tools and not necessarily answers, I have had no choice but to understand in order to improve. I am a very structured person and have always felt comfortable getting complete direction so I knew what was expected. I feel this has not necessarily made me learn much but given me a step by step map to get through things. I my last portfolio reflection I said that I thought I was ready for University. If I am honest with myself I would say that I was trying to talk myself into it. As of this portfolio I truly believe in myself, I truly believe I am

Virtually all people can identify goals they want to accomplish, things they would like to change, and things they would like to achieve. However, most people also realize that putting these plans into action is not quite so simple. Bandura and others have found that an individual’s self-efficacy plays a major role in how goals, tasks, and challenges are approached.

The concept of interest is self-efficacy. This began in 1977 with Bandura’s social learning theory that was renamed social cognitive theory in 1986, of which self-efficacy was one of the major concepts of his theory. Self-efficacy makes a difference in how people will feel, think, behave, and motivate themselves. A low sense of self-efficacy can be associated with stress, anxiety, depression, and feelings of helplessness. Such individuals also have low self-esteem and become pessimistic about their accomplishments and personal development. In thinking terms, a strong sense of efficacy facilitates cognitive processes and performance in a variety of settings, including the quality of decision-making and academic achievement. When it comes to behavior, self-efficacy can be said to influence people’s choice of activities as self-efficacy levels can foster or decrease a person’s motivation. People with high self-efficacy approach difficult tasks as challenges and do not try to avoid them. People’s self-efficacy beliefs determine their level of motivation, as reflected in how much effort they will

In order for my students to succeed I must have goals set for myself. My first action is to continually grow in my

In the week where I was inputting into a journal what I am grateful for, has been a week of pure joy and amazement. I was able to look at my day and really reflect on what effect of what people have on me and what effect I have on them. For example, on Saturday I wrote that someone held my door without me realizing it. I was just really grateful that someone took their time out of their day just to provide that act of service in my life. It makes me look at the little things and appreciate people in a different way. I was able to stop looking at the big picture but look for little details.

In review of the Capstone course and creating the Integrative Knowledge Portfolio (Professional Portfolio), the experience had has been very insightful and thought-provoking. The ability to create something revolved around both my personal and professional experiences not only allows reflection but also a sense of appreciation for the experiences I have had up to this point.