Behaviorism Learning Log

What?

In chapter nine we explored the concepts involved in the behavior of students. Much of this chapter seemed rather familiar from my psychology class a few years ago. Being able to condition behavior in your classroom is what will save you as a teacher. Classical Conditioning is a common form of learning in order to get students to do what you want. Students come into your classroom with unconditioned responses from their past experiences. For example, you mention a pop quiz, and many students freak out and get really flustered. This is unconditioned, little do they know that the quiz could be simply writing their opinion about the past class period, an easy task, however they have already overreacted. It is the teacher’s job to be the reinforcer in most cases. Positive reinforcement is always a good strategy; however, negative reinforcement is also a very beneficial application. I personally find negative reinforcement more motivating for me. When I have a big project due, I get stressed out and I often times get it done early so that I don’t have to stress over it anymore and joy my time. That is an example of negative reinforcement. A positive reinforcement would be getting extra credit if it was done early or something like that. Often times that is unrealistic.

The definition of Learning when associated with Behaviorism is SEMI-Permanent change in behavior. The biggest misconception found in this unit is the difference between Negative Reinforcement and Punishment. Reinforcement ALWAYS INCREASES behavior, while punishment DECREASES behavior. Overall Behaviorism is successful because is to goal oriented and frequently shows success which increases self-esteem.

So What?

This is a very important chapter when studying Educational Psychology. It is very beneficial to be able to learn how to better train our students. From my experiences growing up and teaching, I have learned that it is easier to get the desired behavior you want if you make the students think it is their idea or repeatedly training them until it is second nature to them. I believe that Reinforcers are the best way to get the desired behavior from my students. Kids want recognition, so positive reinforcements will come in handy and really boost students work ethic and self-esteem.

Now What?

As I prepare to enter the work force, I need to come prepared with ideas of how to use these reinforcers to gain the behavior that I want from my kids. I need to come up with a system that my students may follow and allow it to become second nature to them.

There are many different ideas of reinforcers that we can use as teachers to get the behaviors that we want in our classroom. You can provide short periods of free time, spend one on one time with your students that need the attention or who seem isolated, or provide explicit feedback about what things students have done will. Also in older grades levels it is helpful to acknowledge student’s concern about getting good grades, acknowledge student’s involvement in extracurricular activities or sports in the local media, or provide opportunities for independent decision making and responsibility, especially when students show that they can make wise decisions. All these examples will help me in the future. As I do my Teacher Work Samples and Observations, I need to really look out for different ways in which teachers condition their students and gain that desired behavior.