The Behaviorist Theory is based on the ideas that you should reinforce desired behavior and punish undesirable behavior. I believe the strongest link to the behaviorist ideals is to reinforce good behavior. Students with behavior problems (in my experiences) have come from dysfunctional homes and need to hear positive somewhere. Posting class rules that were developed with the class and referring back to them as needed is a good way to reiterate what is expected.
Homework & Practice: another area of Behaviorism is the idea that a lesson can cause a behavior or require a behavior. I believe that homework is a product of this theory. Daily, students learn new things and are asked to build on their learning experiences. By practicing at home, the students are helping to embed these new ideas and theories. This is also another way to add an intervention or remediation to a student's day.
Reinforcing Effort Strategy: Working hard pays off...slacking off does not. This is a hard concept to teach first graders. School is still fun and games to them. Teaching 1st graders can be trying when convincing them to work hard at reading because it is the foundation of all learning. My class works hard because they want to please me or their parents. Getting parents to show up for conferences or answering their phone when their child is sick at school is hard, let alone asking them to help with homework or actually bring their child to school because they (the parents) needed to sleep in. The belief in one's self plays a major role in success and motivation (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn & Malenoski, 2007, p.155). I try to motivate my students by helping them set class goals and individual goals. A celebration at the end of the goal period is a super motivator for 1st graders. In my classroom, I help the class set goals and we pick a reward to celebrate with when we reach our goals; eat with the teacher, crazy hair, pj day, etc. During my student teaching experience, I had a super teacher to learn these skills from. Likewise, my first year, I had a mentor teacher that guided me through my PRAXIS and she did a fantastic job of modeling behavior expectations. According to Dr. Orey, "human behavior is learned" and I had a good learning experience with these two teachers.
Technology is a logical way to support struggling learners. The games or programs can be tailored to fit their specific needs and add another layer to reinforce their learning. Utilizing technology also makes it easier to collect data for IEP or SAM meetings, since the program will collect and graph individual success or struggles.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Bridging learning theory, instruction, and technology. Baltimore: Author.
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
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Your comment about reinforcing good behavior is exactly what I do in my classroom. I believe that if the students who have the negative behavior sees how the good behavior is being rewarded then they might want to try and have better behavior then they normally would.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you have the same issues with reinforcing effort strategies like I do. I have a lot of parents hwo are not involved in their child's education as well. However I too have great ways to reward my students. I teach third grade and use tickets as a means of rewarding my students. If they do their homework each evening they earn a ticket and on Friday's I have a drawing where they can win a large candy bar or a homework pass. I did enjoy your idea of setting goals and celebrating when those goals are met. This is something I would definitely plan to use or at least try.
I agree with you as well about reinforcing good behavior with postive praise. In my classroom, I am always trying to praise the students who are doing what they should be doing. It makes the other students look around to see what they are missing.
ReplyDeleteOur school does something similar to what Jeanne mentioned about tickets with prizes. We do that for having good character. When we see a student exhibit good character traits, we give them a "Caught Having Character". They then take it to the office, their name gets called at the end of the day for having good character, and their name gets put in a drawing to have pizza with the principal.
Kim, I agree with you when you say that students with behavior problems have come from dysfunctional homes and need to hear positive somewhere. When speaking with many of these students, it is clear that there is no one guiding them on the right path, and reinforcing rules and positive behaviors.
ReplyDeleteI also post class rules that were developed cooperatively with myself and my students. By developing themcooperatively, it allows each student a say, and by posting the rules, it is a good, visual way to refer back to them.
Lack of parental involvement is a sad but true reality in my school as well. I am more likely to get a parent to come into school to pick up a confiscated cell phone than to attend a conference because their student is failing. When the reality of parent involvement (or lack thereof) sinks in, I then focus on my time with the students while I have them, and try to provide a supportive, encouraging, structured environment that they can count on every day.
Jeanne, I love your idea to use tickets for doing homeowrk. I have a caught being good bucket in my classroom and this would be a fantastic way to give students an opportunity to add their name to the bucket. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteJacqueline, I alos like your idea of adapting the tickets for virtues. Our school district celebrates and recognizes students daily for showing the virtue of the month. I like the concept of adding a lunch date with the principal!
Do either of you allow your students who have had a color change (or whatever you use) able to go back based on good behavior later in the day? This is the biggest problem I have that our school district does not allow a child to make up for earlier bad choices.
Hi Judith,
ReplyDeleteThey really do not tell you how emotionally attached you get to students in college, do they? There are times that I worry about my kiddos over a weekend or a long break. I worry that they are not eating or being taken care of. I am so thankful for teachers like you that care and let their students know they are cared for!
While reinforcing good behaviors is a good plan most of the time, it does not always work. We currently have a first grader who is negatively reacting to any reinforcement or punishment. If you positively reinforce her, she does the opposite behavior that you praised. If you punish her, it makes no difference, the behavior continues. Have you ever encountered this? And how can we reach a student when everything we try is unsuccessful?
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