Behaviorism in Practice
First off effort is very important for a student’s success. Of all the attributes that contribute to success “Effort is the one that is within an individual’s control” (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, Maleniski, 2007). As a physical educator effort is very important. My students gets grade for effort, rather than performance, as long as the child put forth effort they receive a hundred for the day. It is the students’ decision whether or not they want to put forth the effort during class time or suffer receiving a bad grade in Physical Education.
I like the idea given in the book Using Technology with classroom instruction that works, when it states an easy way to show effort and achievement is with a spreadsheet. I believe this is something that can be very beneficial for my students in P.E. I could create a spreadsheet that shows amount of effort put forth determines what you will get out of the class (Pitler et al., 2007). In P.E. the main goal is to get students heart rates up and help them get into shape, while playing fun and engaging activities. When handing out my syllabus in the beginning of the year I can include a rubric that will tell the students how they will be graded, and how much effort is will take to make the grade they want to receive. In physical education I find the more encouraging you are the better the effort seems to be. Teachers need to always provide positive reinforcements to their students if the student does something well. I try to everyday at least encourage all my students at least once during the class period. Positive reinforcements could be but not limited to, “smiling at students after a correct response or in my case performs the skill or activity well, commending students for their work or effort, call parents and let them know how well their child did that day (Orey, 2002). This is a great example for the behaviorist learning theory.
Effort is very important for students’ success and well-being. It was also stated in the text about homework. I do not give homework and our school does not allow us to give homework, but I believe that homework is very important because it helps the “student deepen their understanding of the content and to gain proficiency with their skills” (Pitler et al., 2007). I as a physical education teacher would not give homework but I think that for classroom teachers it should be required at my school to give at least get 2 nights worth of homework. I know for the students at my school that they have real difficult time writing, they write like they talk. In the book it talks about all the available tools that can be used in Microsoft word (2007), I think that teachers should familiarize these tools with their students and then for homework write a paper with a rubric given and use the tools they have learned about. Students showing effort and having homework to reinforce skills that are being taught are very important and all contribute to a child’s success.
References
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kunh, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom
instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD
Orey, M. (Ed.) (2002). Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Behaviorism.
Retrieved from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/
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Jennifer,
ReplyDeleteAs a fellow physical educator, I too, thought the spreadsheet would be a good fit for our classes. I think this is a two step approach. Step one is to develop the rubric. It is recommended that educators “explicitly teach students about the importance of effort” (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007, p. 156). This school year, at our county level meetings for pe department chairs, we have worked on developing a detailed rubric to be used in assigning participation grades. We decided to be very specific in our wording and it took us a while to come to an agreement regarding what we wanted each level to be. Next year our students will know exactly what they need to do in class to get the grade they desire. The next step will be to develop the spreadsheet for the students to use. It is suggested that “students keep track of their effort and achievement” (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007, p. 156). This is a step I will share with my colleagues at our next meeting. I think it really completes the circle and allows the student to see how effort and achievement go hand in hand. This strategy is a technology use that will benefit our students and also fit time wise into our classes.
I agree with you regarding the use of positive reinforcement. I try to always start my critique with something positive and then when I correct them on something they do not feel it was a negative experience. I think this is important when working with our middle school students in physical education. I agree that a smile, a positive comment, and a positive phone call home are all examples of the behaviorist learning theory.
Reference:
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD
NOBODY in your school is allowed to assign homework? Did I read that correctly? What is the rationale behind that? How long are your classes that they feel students don't need practice at home? I'm speechless - almost! :)
ReplyDeleteJennifer,
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of using the spreadsheet for effort in PE. PE might be the best subject to use that technique because PE is all about physical effort and the kids can actually see how much they are putting into what you are getting them to do.
I also was as surprised as BulldogPride about the whole no homework thing at your school. I too would love to hear the rationale behind that. I mean I can see limiting the amount of homework, but no homework at all? That does not seem right.
Tiffany
Our principal just said that we are not allowed to give homework because she thinks they do enough during the day and that when given homework in the past many students do not do it and do not take it seriously. We also only have a classroom set of textbooks for each team, so that is another reason because we do not have enough books for all students to take home in order to do homework. I totally disagree with not being able to give homework because I believe that students do not comprehend the material as best as they could because they are not required to "deepen thier understanding of the content to gain proficiency with their skills" (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski,2007, p. 187). The more practice the better the students are going to understand the material and with our school tests score results every year not being met, you would think our school would start realizing the importance of homework because they are not "getting it" in the classroom.
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