There are many factors that one might say make a person successful. One that my course text says we all have control over is effort. Keeping this in mind, educators need to find ways to motivate students to be aware of, put forth, and reinforce effort. The internet provides many websites that make it easy to create rubrics. I had never really thought about making a rubric for student effort. When I first read this idea I was not so sure it would make sense to my students. As I read further, I realized that an effort rubric followed with a personal chart or graph truly could make an impact on students. Students use an effort rubric, chart how they believe they rated for the week, chart their grades they received for the week, and finally create a graph of the results. When they do this procedure over the course of a few weeks they see the correlation between effort and their grades. This is a source of behavior reinforcement for each student. They see that their grade is going up or down depending on the effort they produce and are reinforced by an improved grade, or a dropped grade. If the grade is improved from their improved effort, they will in theory, continue to work hard. If their grade has dropped, they know they need to produce more effort to bring the grade up. I think this strategy could even work for third grade students.
Homework has been used in schools for many years to practice the skills being taught at school. It is still used for this purpose. "As an extension of the classroom, homework provides opportunities for students to deepen their understanding of the content and to gain proficiency with their skills." (p. 187) Much of the homework that is assigned today is still paper and pencil work. In the future I think it will be more technology based. There are so many wonderful websites that provide opportunities for students to practice the necessary skills to become proficient. At this point in my teaching career, I want to focus on using technology to enrich my students learning and homework assignments. I have to admit I am one of those people that think of word procession programs strictly for word processing. It really can do more than that. I want to use it to explore research with my third grade students this year. I like the idea that they will not have as much information to search through if they had used an internet search engine. I also love the idea of having students complete programs and print or email the end completion certificate for credit. This ties into behaviorist theory using tutorials. By completing the tutorial program, they have been positively reinforced with a certificate of completion. If they do not complete it, they have more chances to try again to receive the certificate. The idea that students can collaborate on a project using communications software is getting easier all the time. There are more and more programs out that are becoming very user friendly. This is a great way for students to receive feedback from each other and their teacher. The main problem I see with these types of assignment is that not all students have computers in their homes. In the future this may be different, but for now, they may have to be in class assignments. Either way, they are great ideas for incorporating technology into our classrooms.
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
I agree that homework is absolutely a continued practice to enrich students learning. In my years of teaching, I have required many types of homework at different grade levels. The paper and packet pencil work has been the norm and I would like to extend and incorporate technology within this practice. Last year in my weekly newsletter, I would add Internet sites we were currently using in the classroom. I also discussed with parents who were asking what could they do more at home and complied a list to support their child. I have found my students have the energy and drive when completing and practicing with these educational websites. I also agree with the instant feedback students receive when completing a goal with a certificate. I have used these in subjects such as electricity and studying Canada. In gaining the reinforcement both positive and negative student, are still being active learners.
ReplyDeleteYou made great connections and ideas to further your understanding of behaviorism in your classroom. I wish you good luck with your incoming third grade class!
Have you found that most students use the internet resources you provide in your newsletter at home? Have you had any students that do not have a computer at home? I wonder how we can get students more involved with technology at home, especially those that might not have strong parental support.
ReplyDeleteHi Shonda,
ReplyDeleteI also really liked the idea of having students collaborating on projects using communications software. I have also primarily used word processing programs for word processing alone and did not know there were so many other possibilities within Word. I agree with your statement that it is still not possible for teachers to use websites and other computer programs as homework assignments because there are still students in our classes that do not have computers or access to the internet. For now, the websites that I show to my students are optional for them to use and explore at home. As you said, maybe one day all students will have computers in their homes.
Hi Shonda,
ReplyDeleteUsing a rubric to measure effort was also very new and surprising for me when I read the textbook. However, I had to wonder. Me when I put effort into Math, science, or social studies I have seen a result, but for Language Arts, if I did not understand it in school, I could not understanded on my own no matter how much I tried. I'm sure there will be students like me. What can we suggest to them when they can't see a difference?
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ReplyDeleteHello Shonda~
ReplyDeleteYes, I have found many of my students do use the websites provided in the newsletter. Many of my parents when asking what else they can do to support their child was excited to have this tool to use at home. I had a low student this year who benefited greatly from practice at home. For the students without computers, I tried to encourage the practice at school and supplemented it with educational games.