There has been many discussions about the use of behaviorism in the classroom. I believe that the use of behaviorism is important to managing classroom behavior. The first step is making the students aware of expectations, rules and procedures. During the first few days of school each year, my class goes through "basic training". We practice everything....how to line up, small group procedures, bathroom procedures, to name a few. We are in training for ten days. I explain to my students that there will be individual rewards for positive behavior and punishment for negative behavior. I also give group rewards and class rewards. This has worked very well. It helps that there is a little competition between groups too.
I really enjoyed the reading assignments from the book Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works. I had not given much thought to the concept of reinforcing effort. The effort rubric is a great idea for using operant conditioning. With the use of the rubric, the expected behavior is clearly defined for the students. They know exactly what is expected of them. This is an excellent visual tool when combined with spreadsheet and data collection tools. The students are able to see the relationship between effort and achievement.
I also read about homework and practice. I do give homework to my students, but only as additional practice to reinforce the lesson we have done in class. I do not believe is giving homework just to give them something to do. I keep it to a minimal, but I do expect my students to do it on their own. I want to know who has mastered the skill and who need additional instruction. The text gave several examples of sites where educational software can be found that students can use for practice. One of the sites I love is IXL.com. The site has all the math standards for Pre-K through 8th grade. Students practice their skills and get rewards along the way. There are reports that show strengths and weaknesses, problem areas, amount of time a skill is practiced and many more. It makes it very easy for the teacher, student and parents to track their progress. This was a great hit this year in my class.
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
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6 months ago
I love IXL also. I do not have a site membership but I did sign up for the 30 day free trial to use for review purposes for my state testing. :)
ReplyDeleteI feel the same way about homework. I try to keep it to a minimum usually no longer than 30 minutes of homework. If I give homework, it deals with what was taught in class that day. This gives me an idea of those students who are still struggling or do not understand at all. My students know that I do not give homework on something they have never done in class. I want my students to be able to do the homework by themselves and then have a parent check over it. There have been many times this year that parents have completed their child's homework. I just wish parents would understand the importance of homework.
Glad to see we see eye to eye on homework :)
I too would never give homework on something we had not done in class. I also try to keep homework to at most 30 minutes. For some students it does take longer, in particular if they are having problems focusing during the evening hours. Parents doing students homework for them is a concern. We rarely have students do projects at home because of the number of parents that do it for their child. I want to see what the child can do, not the parents.
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