Positive Reinforcements!!!

     I am all for POSITVE Reinforcement in the classroom! You can draw more flies with honey rather than vinegar! (Prov. It is easier to get what you want by flattering people and being polite to them than by making demands.) I work in an urban district and found this article very interesting!

     Positive reinforcement was also used in the study; "A Token Reinforcement Procedure in a Third Grade Inner City Classroom" (Piper, McKinney, & Wick, 1972) states that elementary teachers usually have a collection of reinforcers within their personalities as well as material goods that the students see as a token/reward. (I.e. stickers, books, games, computer time, lunch with the teacher, teacher helper, etc.) The teacher must be able to match the desired reward to the student’s interest. First in this study the teacher made tokens out of poster board with number denotations on them and gathered three tubs with three different types of snacks/candy. (I would do pencils, erasers, sharpeners, or small dollar store trinkets rather than candy.) The students earned tokens for following four specific rules. They could then use their tokens to purchase rewards.

      After two weeks the teacher added reinforcers beyond candy. The "natural" reinforcers were added which included teacher’s helper for one day, token distributor for a day, leaving the room to get a drink, time to spend in the art center, privilege of playing with a game or puzzle, lunch with the teacher, etc. Soon the original candy reinforcer was rarely being selected by the students. The change in the student behavior and classroom atmosphere had been changed. This would not work as well in an art room just based on the large amount of students serviced during a week. However, if you had only one or two students with behavior plans in place it could definitely be carried on during art with the aid of the classroom teacher giving the rewards. This would also allow the students to see the teachers working collaboratively to make the learning environment better for them.

We must teach our students the importance of cooperation and collaboration by setting that example for them. To check out this article on your own you can find it here:
Piper, T., McKinney, V., & Wick, T. (1972). A token reinforcement procedure in a third grade inner city classroom. Education, 93(2), 118-123. http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED534397.pdf

Mondrian and Kindergateners LOVE lines!