As teachers we are constantly trying to teach our students new behaviors in thinking, learning, and reacting in an educational environment. We try to instill in them how to behave generally in the classroom, with their peers, and in settings where they are faced with taking a test, writing a paper, or working on a group project. As teachers we can effectuate this by creating stimuli that will effectively reinforce desired behavior. We also need to make clear to our students what the consequences will be based upon their actions. These consequences should be both negative and positive depending on the situation.
I had an experience with this in my classroom today. I want my students to display good citizenship and attentiveness in my classroom. I have a rule in my classroom that if a student leaves the classroom without my permission for any reason, I mark them absent, which in turn results in a call to their parents. I had two students leave early without my permission and I marked them absent. These students' parents had seen that they were marked absent, and the students were negatively reinforced for their actions. These students were aware of this consequence, they chose to react and test it out, and they received the consequence that was expected. I hope that I effectuated learning of classroom citizenship in the situation and that these two students will learn a new behavior that will be desirable for our classroom environment.
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Hi Brandon,
ReplyDeleteIt will be interesting if you get a call from those student's parents or if they come in and complain. I personally say good for you for holding them accountable for leaving early. My school has an attendance policy and an absence can be a real problem. We teachers have to constantly use points and grades as motivators and rewards for the kids. Such is the nature of kids now. A few will do their best out of self-respect or because they really want to know. But so much comes down to grades.
Being an educator in today's climate is difficult, to say the least. During the 2006-1007 AY, Q3, one of my Jr. class American History students failed to turn in his final project, which accounted for 30% of his quarter grade. Subsequently, he failed the quarter. Being a Jr., he needed the credit to graduate.
ReplyDeleteThe FOLLOWING YEAR - QI 2007-08 - I was asked to meet our guidance couneslor in her office, and when I walked in, she, the student, and his mother were in the office. The student's mother had come into the school - 6 months and an entirely new school year after the fact - to bring up that her son was going to be a quarter short.
Now - the kicker, to me, is - the counselor had the audacity to ask me what I was going to do to allow this kid to make up his grade. . . I told her he could retake the quarter. Noone but me thought that was a good idea. I was totally at a loss. All three of them wanted me to allow him to do the project and turn it in - present it to me at some point. . . I was baffled. Needless to say, I never got on board with that, so they went around me and allowed him to do packets, I believe, to complete the credit. I was mortified.
Ciao.