As a teacher, it is my job to provide a classroom environment where students can learn and succeed. Part of this involves managing behavior so that all students can learn and so that expectations are being met. One way to manage this is through the application of behaviorism. Developed by B.F. Skinner, behaviorism either reinforces or eliminates behaviors by adding or removing stimuli from the environment. For this lesson, my instructional setting is a 3rd grade classroom in an urban environment. The school is located within a large city, while the neighborhood of the school itself is primarily a family residential area. The school is immediately surrounded by a city park and nearby to a shopping center that includes restaurants, a grocery
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Skinner’s idea of Operant Conditioning principles. This means that I would set up a clear expectation for the lesson of what is to be learned and the behavior I expect (Snowman 2015). Elaborating on this, I believe that writing the objective in a simple manner somewhere such as on the whiteboard so that all students can view it would be a beneficial addition to the lesson. This would allow for students to be aware of what their goal is, and they can reflect while working if they are making progress toward that objective. Next, to include other principles from Skinner, I would follow this clarification of the objective by presenting the material for the lesson in smaller steps to allow for the natural progression of learning (Snowman 2015). By giving students independent work time to move at their own pace, students also have the opportunity to apply one of Skinner’s principles. Together these principles could allow for a more successful lesson where students are prepared to learn, have a clear idea of what the expectation is, and can work at a pace that is comfortable for themselves as individuals (Snowman, …show more content…
I will continue this practice from my math lesson to our daily activities. Not only could I use positive reinforcement, but I also believe that the concept of a token economy would be beneficial to my students. The idea of a token economy is that students are rewarded for desired behaviors with a token of some sort that allows for them to turn those tokens into a more tangible or desired reward (Snowman, 2015). For example, I have seen this done as a “classroom economy” where the teacher handed out money in incremental values depending on the behavior of the student. Raising their hand politely would earn them $1, whereas helping a student who dropped some papers on the floor to clean up could earn them $2 or $3 for strong initiate and responsibility. By rewarding my students for these positive behaviors, I can hope that they will only increase in frequency and that I will also shape my students into the best versions of themselves. Students who are taking part in unwanted behaviors may then witness others being rewarded and choose to take part on the more desired behaviors instead. Thus, it will allow for me to work toward the extinction of interruptions in my
Skinner’s idea of Operant Conditioning principles. This means that I would set up a clear expectation for the lesson of what is to be learned and the behavior I expect (Snowman 2015). Elaborating on this, I believe that writing the objective in a simple manner somewhere such as on the whiteboard so that all students can view it would be a beneficial addition to the lesson. This would allow for students to be aware of what their goal is, and they can reflect while working if they are making progress toward that objective. Next, to include other principles from Skinner, I would follow this clarification of the objective by presenting the material for the lesson in smaller steps to allow for the natural progression of learning (Snowman 2015). By giving students independent work time to move at their own pace, students also have the opportunity to apply one of Skinner’s principles. Together these principles could allow for a more successful lesson where students are prepared to learn, have a clear idea of what the expectation is, and can work at a pace that is comfortable for themselves as individuals (Snowman, …show more content…
I will continue this practice from my math lesson to our daily activities. Not only could I use positive reinforcement, but I also believe that the concept of a token economy would be beneficial to my students. The idea of a token economy is that students are rewarded for desired behaviors with a token of some sort that allows for them to turn those tokens into a more tangible or desired reward (Snowman, 2015). For example, I have seen this done as a “classroom economy” where the teacher handed out money in incremental values depending on the behavior of the student. Raising their hand politely would earn them $1, whereas helping a student who dropped some papers on the floor to clean up could earn them $2 or $3 for strong initiate and responsibility. By rewarding my students for these positive behaviors, I can hope that they will only increase in frequency and that I will also shape my students into the best versions of themselves. Students who are taking part in unwanted behaviors may then witness others being rewarded and choose to take part on the more desired behaviors instead. Thus, it will allow for me to work toward the extinction of interruptions in my