Week two's resources showed us about the effect of reinforcing effort. Although I have always known that effort correlates with success, I never used any type of tracking system to show my students the importance of effort. Research shows that not all students realize the importance of effort and attribute their success or failure to outside factors (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007.) I always praise the efforts of my students whether it be for behavior, during a lesson, or on an assignment or project. When we begin a new unit I put the learning outcomes up on display in terms they can understand and talk to them about what we can expect to learn and how we will assess our learning throughout the unit. I have used rubrics with my students before to give them an idea of how I will grade a project or assignment, but I really like the idea of doing an effort rubric. The effort rubric in figure 8.1 on page 157 of the text really displays effort in a great way and I am hoping to adapt this to fit my third grade class. The way this correlates to the Behaviorist Theory is the fact that effort is being reinforced. Reinforcement is a part of Operant Conditioning and B.F. Skinner argued that reinforcement was one of the more powerful instructional strategies used to receive a desirable behavior.
We also learned from Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn & Malenoski that Homework and Practice are essential in helping students “apply and review what they have learned. Again B.F. Skinner concluded that the typical classroom instruction consistent with the behaviorist theory includes drill and practice. I too agree that homework is not meant to be busy work but practice to reinforce a specific prior learned skill or concept. I also think that homework that doesn't get feedback or correction and explanation is not proper practice, but only practice in which the students is reinforcing a skill improperly. A version of the drill and practice technique was created by John Saxon. It is called Incremental Review. “It is a technique of instruction that breaks the whole skill into many bits and pieces or fragments. Each fragment is then taught in isolation from the other parts. The individual fragment is usually repeated over long periods of time. The initial instruction involves many problems of the same kind. The child practices this same skill over and over again for many days. However, the number of similar problems is reduced as time goes on. Incremental review simply spreads out the drill and practice over many months.” retrieved from http://www.cornerstonecurriculum.com/Q_A/cornerstone_answers7.htm My school uses the Saxon Math program and it is a very successful way to teach math and its skills. The idea I like best is the way the skills are taught and reinforced through the grade levels. This practice in bits and pieces and repetition are based in the Behaviorist Theory as well.
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
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I too have heard great things about Saxon math and wish my district used it. I really like the behaviorist approach to teaching math and it sounds like that program is designed with that in mind. We use Everyday Math and kids never spend enough time on a concept in one unit to really master it which is frustrating for me, the parents, and the students.
ReplyDeleteI'm new to the teaching arena and have a very thick file of recommended websites and programs to use. There is so much out there sometimes its overwhelming.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to pass along the recommendation for Saxon math to our math group.
Positive reinforcement can really go a long way but I can see my methods are week in helping the student track their success. I found that sometime just giving them a chart to mark off their assignments can be a great motivator in completing assignments. It becomes a competition for some.
I feel Saxon is a AWESOME math progrma, I feel this way becaue when I teach it, I think, as a studnet who always had trouble with math myself, Why didn't they teach it to us this way, way back when. It is so broken down and easy to understand and what I love most is the reinforcing way in which skill are taught. As well as the fact that this program is used K-6 and the techniques for teaching remain the same year after year. It makes teaching it easier becasue the students are familiar with the routine. With each lesson, there is a skill practice sheet. A guided practice, and a homeowrk sheet that has fact practice on one side (side A ) and review the the current taught lesson (side B) this is given as homework each night. I used to fear taching math in the middle school level but with this program I feel confident!
ReplyDeleteI am fairly new to the teaching profession. This is my 5th year. I teach high school math and find that our students lack basic skills. Is the Saxon program strictly for the lower grades or do they offer something for high school?
ReplyDeleteI like the effort rubric also. I find that my students lack motivation to complete work in the classroom and this rubric may be an opportunity for all students to earn daily points towards their marking period grade. They can also see for themselves exactly how much effort they put into the class on a daily basis.
Teresa, I am not sure if Saxon advances to the highschool level but it is definitly something to look into! I hope it does, because it is a wonderful program!!
ReplyDeleteI think that the Saxon skills that you described would work in Math especially for students who need remediation. I have worked in a school where there are a lot of G/T (gifted and talented) students and many who are not identified, but very easily learn the concepts. I would be afraid that this type of learning would be rather boring for them and not keep them challenged. In this school the upper elementary grades regroup students for Math. In this they have above level, on level and below level. While often each are taught the same, it is more the way they are taught and the enrichment.
ReplyDeleteWhat I do like is how each day a review is done to reinforce previously learned skills and to get the students minds ready for math. It seems to help get them focused. In a way, it is drill and practice because they are asked basic math facts, story problems, fractions, algebraic questions, measurement, etc.