EDUC 6711 - Behaviorism in Practice

Behaviorism in Practice 

             When thinking about education today, some people may dismiss the fact that behaviorism still plays a role in our schools and in our instructional practices. When initially thinking about behaviorism and its role in my classroom, I linked it to classroom management and operant conditioning of my students. However, after reviewing various resources and revisiting my initial thoughts, I do see that behaviorism is still alive and well in our instructional practices today. As a direct instruction teacher for middle school special education students, I see how behavioral learning theory can be used effectively to model behavior while reinforcing appropriate conduct and guiding performance through feedback (Magliaro, Lockee, & Burton, 2005). In a broader sense, behavioral instructional practices can be seen in many of our standard practices such as reinforcing effort, providing recognition, and assigning homework/practice.  The information below outlines how each one of these instructional strategies relates to the values of behaviorist learning theory.

Reinforcing Effort

            Effort is such a tricky concept to track and reinforce with students. We have all seen the students who get great grades because they work very hard and often times go the extra mile. But sometimes those students do not always grasp key concepts and skills that demonstrate a true understanding of material. On the other hand, we have seen the students who quickly grasp concepts and deeper meanings but their grades suffer because they put forth no effort or fail to turn in class assignments and homework. Major (2009) believes it is the teacher’s job to motivate students, provide energy in the classroom, establish classroom incentives for success, and display work that shows great effort and improvement (not just perfect scores). Obviously, Major’s ideas about reinforcing effort within a classroom are rooted in behaviorist learning theory principles. Teachers can reward and praise the appropriate, desired behavior, which in this case is the effort and energy a child puts in to an assignment.

            Pitler, Hubbell, & Kuhn (2012) said effort can be reinforced in the classroom through effort rubrics. Teachers can also have students track and compare effort and achievement through the use of a spreadsheet. And yet another example of reinforcing effort in the classroom would be to have students complete online surveys to compile formal data about effort and achievement to share with the class. One way I reinforce effort is through our class blog. (http://kidblog.org/MrsDerflersClass/) Students post to the blogs at least once a month, and I have a section on their rubric that grades students on effort and participation. It is similar to how we are expected to participate in our discussion board posts for our classes at Walden University. (See below)

                       

Providing Recognition

According to Pitler, Hubbell, & Kuhn (2012), teachers provide recognition to students as a means of encouraging student involvement while trying to decrease behavior problems. Obviously, praise and reinforcing behaviors is the basis for behaviorist learning theory. In order for recognition and reinforcement to motivate students to do well in the classroom, Pitler, Hubbell, & Kuhn (2012) believe the following guidelines should be established:

1.)   Praise must be meaningful and sincere.

2.)   Recognition must be related to performance criteria that students can control.

3.)   Goals and standards must be achievable.

One way I provide recognition to my students is through our class blog interactions. First, I take the time to provide recognition to excellent blog posts by commenting on their posts with praise  for their ideas and written communication. I also use that time to provide other forms of feedback for all students about areas of improvement or possible suggestions for future writing assignments.

I also have a bulletin board that shares all blog information. I have pictures of all of my students, the current blog assignment, and a “Blog Post of the Week”. I try to recognize 2-3 individuals per assignment and I print out their blog and post it to the board with their picture. This way, all of my classes can see their response and a picture of who contributed the ideas. Obviously, this praise is also related to attainable performance criteria and goals as students are provided a rubric prior to the assignment. The neat thing to see about the whole process is my students are excited to see whose blogs have been posted on the bulletin board, and I have heard students make comments that it is their goal to have their blog posted on the board in the future. I may take this a step forward and include the blog posts on my personal blog to share with parents and other teachers.

Here is a picture of my Blog Bulletin board. I had to quickly throw something together when I returned from my sabbatical so I would like to make it more creative and colorful when I have some free time.

Assigning Homework/Practice

            We all know the great homework debate in our schools today. Is it effective? Should it be graded? Should it even be given? These questions and more have been discussed ad nauseam in faculty meetings, school board meetings, with parents, and in professional development courses. Whatever one’s beliefs are about homework, providing practice time for students is a must. Marzano (2010) includes “practice and application” in his list of general principles for effective teaching. He said ample practice time is necessary to acquire learning and to apply that skill to a new concept or application. Pitler, Hubbell, and Kuhn (2012) recommend the following guidelines when providing practice opportunities for students:

1.)   Clearly identify and communicate purpose.

2.)   Design practice sessions that are short, focused, and distributed over time.

3.)   Provide feedback. (p. 169)

When looking at those key recommendations, feedback is essential for students to understand the concepts and correct errors. Again, the idea of feedback and reinforcing the behavior (in this case it is simply the student choosing an answer) displays the basic principles of behaviorist learning theory.

            In terms of my teaching practices, I struggle with assigning homework to my special education students. Often times they need teacher assistance and struggle to complete the work. Other times, their family or home environment is not all that supportive of school in general. So, I mostly provide practice opportunities in class. BrainPop is a great web site that can be used to reinforce skills (through the videos) and practice various concepts after lessons and activities have been completed in class. (http://www.brainpop.com/) I have also found hundreds of iPad applications that students can use to practice skills at the end of a lesson. A few helpful iPad applications that I use with my learning support students are: Super Speller, Sushi Monster (math facts), Bluster (vocabulary), Verb Mayhem, and StatesNCaps.

Overall Thoughts

            Obviously, behaviorism still has its place within today’s school systems. As with any instructional practice or teaching strategy, it needs to be implemented with careful planning while also taking into account the needs of each individual student within in class. What may work one year may not work the next, and what may work for one student may be a roadblock for another. The great thing about education today is there are so many tools and technologies available to address the needs of each individual. Therefore, there should be no reason why students cannot learn and be successful.

References

Major, M. (2009 April).  Building a culture of achievement. Education Digest. 74(8), 24-28.

Magliaro, S. G., Lockee, B. B., & Burton, J. K. (2005). Direct instruction revisited: A key model for instructional technology. ETR&D, 53(4), 41–54.

Marzano, R. J. (Ed.). (2010). On excellence in teaching. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E. R., & Kuhn, M. (2012). Using technology with classroom instruction that works (2^nd ed.). Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Reflections

When I began my graduate program last Spring, I felt pretty confident in my abilities to use technology and incorporate it in to my lessons. Sure, I often times encountered problems when messing around with some new gadget or application, but who doesn’t? After completing my most recent class, Impact of Technology on Education, Workplace, and Society, I now know that creating lessons that just include technology isn’t really going to benefit my students in the long run. Instead of doing things differently, I must do different things. I need to change my practices to include more collaborative activities so my students can learn to negotiate, work with others to problem solve, and create more-in depth products. We've all heard the saying “more is better than one,” so it's time to start utilizing the skills of many to complete authentic tasks in the school setting.

Through this course, I also learned that teaching can no longer be about the teacher. By that I mean when we generally think about education, we think about teachers standing at their chalkboards lecturing to students. In reality, how boring is that? We must begin to think of education where classrooms have much interaction and discussion towards a common goal, students working in groups while teachers facilitate the experience, and students helping teachers connect content with how they use technology in their home environment. In other words, we need to move away from teacher-centered instruction to learner-centered activities.

I have learned so many valuable tools and ideas through this course that I cannot wait to begin implementing some new strategies when I return to teaching mid-January. (Is it just me or has this sabbatical flown by?) I have established two goals that will help transform my classroom environment to include 21^st century learning.

Goal #1: Students will complete their journal activities through a classroom blog (instead of a private journal) where they will be expected to interact and respond to each other and publish their work for a global audience.

By asking students to publish their journals online, my hope is that students will get excited about writing because they now have “an audience”. Today, students are accustomed to being a part of a global audience through Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, and other social networking sites. They like the feedback they receive from their peers. My hope is that students will be more motivated to write and also their writing will improve since their work will be viewed by many, not just one.

Goal #2: Based on the new blog activity, I will revise my current journal rubric to include the skills demonstrated through blogging (i.e. collaboration, responding to classmates’ posts in an appropriate manner, and effort/participation).

By revising my rubric, I will make a shift from grading on just academic skills to grading on some of the skills needed for the future. Hopefully this will show the students the importance of these skills as they refine all of their academic skills.

These goals may provide some challenges in that many of the blog sites are currently blocked in our school. I also need parent permission so students can publish their work on the Internet. I have already reached out to our technology department to find out what our district policy is on blogging and what site would be most appropriate for our students. I am awaiting their response before I proceed further. I have already begun to formulate a letter to parents to explain the blogging process and gain permission from them. I must be prepared to find an alternate way to include students in the process if any parents have objections and do not grant permission.

As I reflect on my past practices and what I have learned in this course, I think the biggest perception that has changed for me is my belief that incorporating technology into the classroom environment helps prepare students for 21^st century learning. I have learned that it does not. Simply using technology does not solve the problem. It is when we teach our students 21^st century skills like collaboration, problem-solving, being creative, communicating effectively, negotiating, and being able to access information available on the web that we are providing the skills necessary for the future. With that in mind, I am now able to shift my thinking to include technology while also focusing on these important skills.

As I continue with my future courses, I want to continue to collaborate, share ideas, and learn from others so I can find news ways to increase student achievement to not only prepare them for those fun standardized assessments, but for the main purpose – their future.

Podcasting Help

Hi friends! I know some of my classmates have been having trouble uploading their podcasts to a server and then placing them in their blog, so I wanted to post some help tips.

Podcast Machine was the first server suggested on our Tech Resources page. http://podcastmachine.com/

Once you upload your podcast on that site, you will be taken to a page that provides you a link for the audio file as well as an embed code for your site. The code should look something like this:

You need to copy that entire code and then paste it in to your blog. When you are in your blog creator page, you need to make sure you are in HTML mode before you paste. Here's what it looks like for my Blog site:

I hope that helps some of you. If not, send me a message and I'll try to help!

Podcasting with my Peeps!

Today I had the opportunity to interview three of my students to get a better understanding of their thoughts on technology. We discussed their personal uses of technology and some ways technology is being used in school. The students also shared other ideas for incorporating technology in the classroom and how it may shape their future. Take a listen and see what you think!

21st Century Skills

 

As educators, our job is to prepare our students for the future. Sure, we have to teach them how to read, write, and do math, but if we don’t teach them how to be functional adults, hold a steady job, and be contributing members of society, I believe we have failed. The problem with trying to prepare our students for the future is that we don’t know exactly what the future will look like. There have been so many advances in technology that we’ve only begun to explore the benefits and skills in our classrooms.

The web site Partnership for 21^st Century Skills is a great resource to begin to look at the 21^st century skills needed in education, and begin to understand what changes need to occur in our schools to promote these skills (www.p21.org). The mission statement for “P21” as they are referred to on the web site is “to serve as a catalyst to position 21st century readiness at the center of US K-12 education by building collaborative partnerships among education, business, community and government leaders” (http://www.p21.org/about-us/our-mission). To me, this statement encompasses the ideas that should be at the forefront of educational reform as we look at the road ahead. School districts must form a partnership with community members, businesses, and leaders to determine how to address the needs of our schools and our students in relation to changes brought about by technology and the new outlook of work environments.

http://www.p21.org/about-us/p21-framework

One of the things I like about P21 is the way they breakdown the skills necessary for 21^st century learning and employment. Like most researchers and organizations, they focus on the need to improve the “3 R’s” – reading, writing, and ‘rithmetic, as well as subject specific content areas (Science, Social Studies, etc.). However, the focus is not only on those subjects but how we as teachers can incorporate the “4C’s” into our subject areas. The “4C’s include: critical thinking (problem solving), collaboration, communication, and creativity (innovation). I like this simplistic memory device because it helps me focus on the important skills that can enhance student learning.  The “4C’s” helped me look at 21^st century skills in a new way in that I don’t feel as overwhelmed when trying figure out ways to blend the skills in to my lessons and curriculum.

After reviewing P21’s information, I couldn’t find much to disagree with. I was a bit disheartened (but not surprised) to see Pennsylvania was one of the states not working with P21 to incorporate their statewide initiative (http://www.p21.org/members-states/partner-states). P21 also discusses the vision of 21^st century citizenship and what we must do “to make sure that all students are able to develop into true 21st century citizens” (http://www.p21.org/our-work/citizenship). If we are looking at a partnership between schools, community, and the workforce, I believe our focus should be on educating students, but it should not stop there. How do we educate and work with generations who don’t have experience with technology and grew up during a time where drill and practice where the means of instruction? Who is responsible for connecting and educating all generations for this ever-changing world? If we want to promote 21^st century skills in our youth, it is also imperative we make a push to have everyone exhibit these skills. So, I believe if P21 is looking at this full-circle, there should an initiative to bridge the technological gap with some of the older generations.

As we move forward, it may seem like a daunting task for educators to change their practices to include these 21^st century skills. In reality, it may take some extra planning and collaborating with other expert teachers and staff members as well as some “out of the box” thinking, but many of these skills can be incorporated in to what we are already doing in the classroom. We just have to begin “do different things” to promote change. The first step is to understand the skills and competencies needed to function in society and the work place, and revise our curriculum to incorporate these literacies.

In what way are you reshaping your curriculum to address these skills?

http://21stcenturyhawthorne.wikispaces.com/

Blogging in the Classroom

http://blogs.worldbank.org/category/tags/blogging

Over the past several years, my experience with blogs has only been on a personal level (usually to check up on the latest happenings and recruiting news surrounding Duke basketball). With a push to have students gain 21^st century skills, many teachers are experimenting with ways to use blogs to improve writing skills and have students collaborate with one another.

 If you haven’t taken the time to read up on how blogs are currently being used in the classroom, I encourage you to do so. Richardson’s (2010) book Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms is a great starting point for the novice blogger. Again, Edutopia has a tremendous amount of resources as well. (http://www.edutopia.org/technology-integration). I like checking out the current uses of technology via Edutopia because I am one of those people who try to avoid reinventing the wheel – if it’s out there on the Internet and I can apply it to something I’m doing in my classroom, why not (with proper citation when needed, of course!)? 

Taking in to account some of the ideas from Richardson’s book, I would like to try blogging with my 7^th and 8^th grade special education students. I’m not sure how “doable” it will be given the amount of filters and blocked sites from our district’s server. I’ll also have to tackle the task of creating student emails to access the blog site. If you’ve ever had students manage accounts and passwords, you know what a tremendous undertaking it can be. There is always one student every week who can’t remember their password, and/or can’t find where they wrote it down. It may sound silly, but that’s one of the biggest problems I have with using technology – students forgetting their passwords!

As you may know, I teach Direct Instruction Writing, so blogging would easily fit in to many of the writing projects in my classroom. In particular, I have students respond to journal topics on a monthly basis. This addresses their IEP goals by having them understand paragraph formation, use details and descriptions to enhance their topic, and use the proper conventions of writing. In the past, I had my students write about simple topics (tell a funny story, share a time when you felt scared), and I had them submit their entries to me using an iPad application called iDiary. The students like iDiary, but there is no room for collaboration and students are unable to publish their work for “the whole world to see”. Blogging would change this. In a previous graduate class, I also reflected on how I would like to revamp my journal topics and have students discuss current events or issues in society. I believe if I introduced blogging by creating a class site for students to share their journal entries, it would allow students to begin to collaborate with each other, expand on each other’s ideas, and it would force them to focus on their writing and grammar skills since the blogs would be published publicly.  Obviously, this tool would influence students to dig a little deeper to create quality responses and think about their writing on a deeper level, so they are clearly conveying their thoughts and ideas for others to review and respond.

 I know there are many more teachers using blogs in much more meaningful ways. How have you used blogs in your classroom? Have you seen more creative ways to use blogs as an educational tool?

http://amillionblogs.com/the-best-free-online-blog-sites/