Mr. Gates is a second grade teacher. One of the most prominent things I notice about his classroom is his sticker chart for good behavior. This chart includes the names of all his students on the side and a list of good behaviors across the top. Each student can put a sticker by his or her name under categories like turning in homework on time, staying seated when Mr. Gates is teaching and staying in line on the way to and from recess. He understands that by praising these behaviors they will occur more often.
Another thing that stands out to me about Mr. Gates' classroom is how consistent he is when reprimanding a child for speaking out of turn or when a child performs other unwanted behaviors. He knows that being consistent with reprimanding (or other forms of punishment) is essential to changing his students' unwanted behaviors. If he is inconsistent then the students will think they can get away with things that they really should not be allowed to.
Mr. Gates also likes to make sure to give his students time to talk when they are finished doing a homework assignment. He knows that this strategy encourages working quickly and efficiently, and also adds variety to the classroom, which can help bring the students' attention back to classes when the time comes. This social time adds the element of fun to the classroom, and when students are having fun they are more engaged in the learning process.
Why is consistency important to behaviorism? (I'm not saying it's not, but I'd just like more connection to theory in discussing fixed schedules, etc)
ReplyDeleteWhy does time to talk encourage working quickly and efficiently? Does he only give the time when students finish quickly? How does that action control attention? Why is variety and fun important? What do you mean by engagement? .... I know that's a lot of questions. It's fine to share your opinion in these posts, but remember that the last half of that last paragraph is simply opinion and not broken down through theory. It may be a common assumption that variety makes things interesting, but how? And what do you mean by engagement (how would you describe that behavior and what stimuli have been paired with it)? I'd like you do try to be that specific and focused on the theory....