Classroom Management Strategies linked to Behaviourism by Natalie Pang

French immersion

2023-11-15 00:33:19 UTC

My kids both attend French Immersion and to encourage them to speak french they and their classmates earn tokens, when make a consistent effort to speak french in the classroom, the class works together to earn enough tokens to trade in for a pyjama day or movie over lunchtime.

Wuzzles and Riddles in Elementary School

2023-11-16 20:47:30 UTC

Back when I was a substitute teacher (and didn't have a long term relationship with the classes that I worked in), I always brought with me a book of wuzzles and riddles. At the beginning of the day, I'd put a few in the top corner of the whiteboard. I'd let students know when they'd finished their work, their next job was to try to figure out all of the wuzzles. They'd work them out in their minds, and write them on a piece of paper that we'd go over at the end of the day. There needn't be any extrinsic reward when we went over the answers at the end of the day... the anticipation of waiting all day to hear the answers, and if they got them correct was enough! They'd always be excited when I was a sub in their class again... for the wuzzles mysteries of the day! It also helped with their lateral thinking skills.

Reinforcing Good Listening in Think-Pair-Share Routines

2023-11-24 09:38:18 UTC

One of the issues I've ran into teaching primary school students is to ensure all voices are heard and respected. It is natural to reward/praise a student for giving thoughtful responses in class discussions, but I prefer to use think-pair-share and request students to recall their peers' answers, rather than their own. This way, I can encourage students to listen more attentively, in addition to valuing the insightful responses that come from students during class discussions.

Relationships and High School

2023-11-26 02:10:14 UTC

Thinking about classroom management and behaviourism from the perspective of a high school teacher, I think, looks very different. While they still get excited about external rewards like candy, it is difficult to foster and enforce whole class rewards. I really try to foster intrinsic reactions through relationship development by sharing anecdotal information. At that age, I found that natural rewards and consequences worked the best. If they wanted to work outside, did they earn it through their behaviour and work ethic? Did they get to choose where they sat that day because they made responsible and respectful choices previously? I often used the phrase, it is yours to loose - when referring to some type of 'freedom.' This helped to establish a culture within the classroom of mutual respect, acknowledgement, and ongoing independence and choice. It worked well for me.