Positive Reinforcement - Zach Dean
It took me a year or two to learn that negative consequences in the classroom aren't generally successful and can sometimes lead to worse behavior and less student engagement. A case in point is when you put a name on the board, call a parent, take away a portion of recess the students generally are upset and may be violent depending, on the situation, in reaction to the punishment or because they are upset with themselves for their behavior. Don't get me wrong I know there is something to be said for home/school contact but if the child will get a spanking when they get home sometimes the rest of their day is less than stellar.
We spoke in class about building relationships with our children and figuring out what matters to each individual child, I took this into consideration with a "rewards choice board" I put in things that the students liked like, "using the teacher chair for a day, lunch/movie date in the classroom with 3 guests, free use computer time (on appropriate school approved sites), Pokemon card time with 3 friends for 15 minutes etc) it should be noted that none of these items cost anything. Which I think is helpful in that students can be rewarded with non-material things. The students had input in what would be on the choice board and I tried to include something every student enjoyed, when a new trend came out or they were getting tired of certain rewards we would revise the choice board.
I also had a differentiated system of rewards, some children who were making positive choices got 2 stickers for each "caught making good choices" Other students would get more, some students would just get 1 sticker for doing the right thing. I know this goes counter to what we learned about rewarding students for doing something they already do but this was a process to earn the stickers for doing the right thing over time and build stamina but not every student was on the same level so I thought it would be ok to have some students who struggle with making smart choices earn more stickers than others. By the end of the year about 95% of the students were able to get a 1:1 sticker ratio and they were filling up their charts very quickly!!1
Verbally I would also say things like "Thank you, John, for standing quietly while we waited for the other class to pass us in the hallway" or "Thank you, Sally, for pulling out a book while I had that quick side conversation with a guest/parent/principal/teacher" etc. I learned early that "I like how Seth is working quietly" doesn't necessarily work if that student doesn't care what the teacher "likes" or makes the teacher happy. Especially if you don't have a great relationship with that student.
I know all of this is at an elementary level but may work in some settings with older children. My only experience was 1 year in a K-8 building but I was in 3rd grade and frankly the older kids were taller than me so I just stayed down in elementary land!
We spoke in class about building relationships with our children and figuring out what matters to each individual child, I took this into consideration with a "rewards choice board" I put in things that the students liked like, "using the teacher chair for a day, lunch/movie date in the classroom with 3 guests, free use computer time (on appropriate school approved sites), Pokemon card time with 3 friends for 15 minutes etc) it should be noted that none of these items cost anything. Which I think is helpful in that students can be rewarded with non-material things. The students had input in what would be on the choice board and I tried to include something every student enjoyed, when a new trend came out or they were getting tired of certain rewards we would revise the choice board.
I also had a differentiated system of rewards, some children who were making positive choices got 2 stickers for each "caught making good choices" Other students would get more, some students would just get 1 sticker for doing the right thing. I know this goes counter to what we learned about rewarding students for doing something they already do but this was a process to earn the stickers for doing the right thing over time and build stamina but not every student was on the same level so I thought it would be ok to have some students who struggle with making smart choices earn more stickers than others. By the end of the year about 95% of the students were able to get a 1:1 sticker ratio and they were filling up their charts very quickly!!1
Verbally I would also say things like "Thank you, John, for standing quietly while we waited for the other class to pass us in the hallway" or "Thank you, Sally, for pulling out a book while I had that quick side conversation with a guest/parent/principal/teacher" etc. I learned early that "I like how Seth is working quietly" doesn't necessarily work if that student doesn't care what the teacher "likes" or makes the teacher happy. Especially if you don't have a great relationship with that student.
I know all of this is at an elementary level but may work in some settings with older children. My only experience was 1 year in a K-8 building but I was in 3rd grade and frankly the older kids were taller than me so I just stayed down in elementary land!
Hey Zach (I think),
ReplyDeleteThis is one of the things I think I'm going to struggle the most with too. I love learning the theory behind different approaches to behavior modification, and I understand how all the approaches need to be adjusted to work correctly in the situation, but I'm worried that level of customization will lead to some of the adults we work with pushing back and saying it doesn't really work. I'd like to develop what we know and what we've seen to the point that we can respond clearly to their challenges.
How do you guys think it's best for us to go about learning what different students find incentivizing? I feel like there have to be good activities people have come up with that tease out real answers to this question in an enjoyable way for the students.
Stephen
The teachers at my placement Columbus middle school had a discussion about your question, Stephen. And they arrived at the conclusion that students only were incentivized by money-related items like gift cards. Apparently, they collect money from teachers to buy the incentives. I thought that was interesting for a lot of reasons, but I think my main takeaway was that age and perceived value are very much correlated.
ReplyDeleteVal,
DeleteThe conclusion at your school intrigues me. This raises my eyebrow a little because this could be seen as controlling as defined in out classroom motivation class. I would also wonder what are the values of the gift cards. This sounds great, but at what point are we seen as paying the students. I think we all could agree with your main take away as we understand that each school, region, and demographic might have different reinforcements and it will just take us time to figure these out.
Hello Stephen, I have always found that the best way to properly incentivize students, is to first know your students. You have to understand what their hobbies are outside of the school. I had one student that was really big hunter. So, getting him a gift card to GameStop did nothing for him. In order for us to properly incentivize him we had to get him a gift card to Cabela's. At my last job, we ran several incentivized programs. We used (gift cards, food, computer time etc..) but we also had to recognize that if we sent home rewards for students, some of them would not get to use them. Because some parents would take them to spend on themselves. We didn't know this was happening until a student came to school and asked for another reward. Students will tell you what they like, if ask. Before we would start an incentive program, we would ask the students what they would be interested in most.
ReplyDeleteWill
Will
DeleteI agree with you regarding incentives, the one size fits all approach doesn't work. Getting to know the students is probably the most important thing you can do. Those that are struggling and may need an incentive, need you to know that you care first. The fact that you take the time to build those relationships, and ask them their likes and dislikes, speaks to why you are an effective leader.
Hey guys, I have read many of your comments, and to add my two cents, I think that positive reinforcements are the key. I do not think that giving the students money is always the key. I think that being positive and acknowledging effort is key. I have had students complete assignments and be totally off, yet they gave great effort. I would then use the descriptive feedback discussed in the academic motivation course, so that I tell them exactly what they did wrong. Acknowledgement and praise of effort is the key. The instruction behind is the motivation. Secondly, knowing your students, and or staff members is key. Some students need a lot of positive reinforcement, while others need to be challenged. Just as we need differentiated instruction, we also need differentiated motivation. It is no different than being a coach in sports. Some kids you can yell at, some you put on "front street", others you must pull to the side, and others you can just give them a look. What motivates one can deflate another.
ReplyDeleteI have also read everyones comments and here's my take on a few of them:
DeleteZach- You win!!! Your humor suggesting the reason for staying in the elementary wing is hilarious. But I really like the way you acknowledge and draw attention to the behaviors you want to see repeated. Our text for this class spoke about it, but I don't remember the page #.
Stephen- You asked "How do you guys think it's best for us to go about learning what different students find incentivizing?" I think you simply ask. You can do a survey on paper or on the board. You could record your findings and pivot table or histogram (Stats humor). But if you ask, be prepared to use it. Kids wont forget.
Valerie- Yikes to the money! Sounds like DINGDONGERY to me.
William- I'd like to know more about your incentive programs that you found successful. lets talk in two weeks.
Kevin- you said " It is no different than being a coach in sports. Some kids you can yell at, some you put on "front street", others you must pull to the side, and others you can just give them a look". I agree, and you really gotta know the kid who putting on "front street" will work for.
I enjoyed reading this post. Differentiated systems of rewards help to incentivize students on an individual level. What may work for one student, may not work for the others. I also agree that punishments should not always be the first approach. As mentioned, a student's day may be ruined after learning that a parent will be called. On the other hand, the student's family may not care at all about a call from school, which also makes the "punishment" ineffective. A student in this case may continue to behave badly because the phone call is not punishing. As William stated above, knowing your students seems to be key. Even as a mother of three I recognize that my children respond differently to both positive reinforcement and punishment.
ReplyDeleteIt is a curious thing that despite the research on positive reinforcement, schools still mainly rely on punishment to change student behavior. Maag (2001) speaks about the use of punishment being preferred because it is less coercive than positive reinforcement. The general rule of thought is that students are supposed to be intrinsically aware of what behaviors they are supposed to exhibit. It would seem that modeling desirable behavior then using positive reinforcement is much more effective. Potty training comes to mind, research has shown that punishing children when they have an accident does the complete opposite of what parents are trying to achieve. Positively reinforcing the training with stars, snacks, or another motivating object(s) has been found to be much more effective.
I'm afraid that a big push for punishments come from the teachers and staff within the building. When a different way from punishment gets selected, there will be conversations where an adult in the building will think you "don't have their back". If a child continues down the wrong path, the punitive measures may get resorted to by default, after further transgressions. Hopefully there are some successes to highlight as time goes on; a child who didn't get punished who straightens up and never had to get punished.
ReplyDeleteAsking kids what they like is a great way around the problem of assuming wrongly. Even better if you know the young person to already know the answer.
For what it is worth, my wife works in a Truancy Diversion program at West High School in conjunction with one of the Juvenile Judges, Judge Gill. They have run this for several years now, and have had success with gift cards. The kids in the program are often very close to dropping out, and they respond to such incentives. Each has their own preference however, and these are known to those who run the program. Grandma's Pizza on the west side is a hit with them, and some get really psyched up about Mickey D's. Easton seems a world away to some of these westside kids, so those get used only with kids who ask.
Just for the record Grandma's Pizza will also work for most teacher's motivation :)
DeleteI found the post very informative and thought provoking. In the proper context I can see where rewards can be effective and also where they can do harm to the learning culture. The challenge of rewarding students individually while promoting a socially interactive culture places a big burden on the teachers and administrators. I do agree with incentives but I think they should involve a team goal, that if accomplish triggers a team win or team loss. The reward should encompass all the students, for example a trip to Kings Island for the 6th grade class or none of the students fail. The need to create competition among students is unnecessary in my opinion, because it already exist through grades, sporting competitions, and certain teacher and students relationships. A school centered objective promotes positive reinforcement as well as unity towards a shared goal.
ReplyDeleteI have found that getting to know my students has helped me to discover what motivates them to perform and what they consider tone rewards. Being in a Montessori environment, external incentives or rewards are frowned upon. Teachers and administrators are encouraged to help children discover what motivates them to perform as well as identify what they determine to be a reward. Rewards can be interpreted in an infinite number of ways. When children discover that they are in an environment where there is not an external reward coming, they tend to create their own rewards. This method is supported and encourage by the environment as well as how the children are treated and spoken to by teachers and administrators.
ReplyDelete