| Subject: Re: Assignment #2 |
Author:
Sean Collins
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Date Posted: 13:05:37 06/15/10 Tue
In reply to:
Dr. M-J
's message, "Assignment #2" on 19:25:40 06/11/10 Fri
In many ways, behavior and social learning theories consumed most of my thoughts as a first year teacher. At Fairley High School, we did not have a strong administration or school culture of compliance so simply getting students to show up to class and behave was exhausting at times. It often made me wonder about their previous learning experiences similar to social learning theory. A lot of the kids that struggled, probably grew tired of receiving poor grades constantly and hearing about how bad they were relative to the rest of the country. A perfect example of this idea was proctoring state exams. Many of the kids in inner city high schools are way over tested especially with the integration of the NCLB act. Their scores are so low relative to other normal high schools that they have to take more and more tests to constantly assess if they are on pace with AYP goals. I assume that it is probably disheartening to constantly receive results in the bottom 10-25%. As a result of being over-tested and receiving poor grades, the students do not put great effort into these exams. I specifically remember proctoring the ACT exam and having students that would put their heads down halfway through the exam. When I took these high stakes types of exams, I remember rushing through the exam till the very end. These students on the other hand, become so discouraged by the whole process that they decide not to emotionally invest.
In terms of social learning theory, it is easy to see why some of these students would not try hard on exams. Why would they want to put forth great effort when they will only receive disappointment in return? I do not want this response to sound like a sweeping generalization of students in that particular high school, because there are clearly some good students that will go on to succeed in college. The overwhelming majority, however, do not succeed on these types of exams.
Another part of this lecture that I found interesting was the behaviorist chart about removing baddies, adding goodies and vice versa. This is a constant battle as a teacher, deciding on the best course of action. For the most part, I have seen effective teachers that use both all types of rewards and punishments. Some authoritarian types lean more towards the punishment style while other focus more on positive reinforcement. In my first year as a teacher, I regretted that I did not have enough time for more reward types of activities. Most of my behavior focused classroom management was focused on negative reinforcement, either taking away or giving baddies. I am not saying that this is the best way to do things, but I noticed this tendency. In the beginning of the year, I was trying to do more reward types of activities but it became exhausting. I am not particularly outgoing so talking constantly was difficult enough, but I was often too tired to worry about giving compliments. I think that positive reinforcement in the classroom does not give you the same type of immediate results as negative reinforcement. I could call a student's parents and I would normally see immediate improvement in that child's behavior. I normally struggled with calling parents if I had something positive to say because I was so focused on changing the negative behaviors instead of reinforcing the positive ones. I think that more positive reinforcement would have more long term positive effects on the classroom, but I spent most of my energy on eliminating the negative behaviors.
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