"Praise Progress It's A Moving Target"
The A B C's of Performance
A= Activator
What Gets Performance Going
B= Behavior
The Performance That Occurs
C= Consequences
Your Response to the Performance
4 Kinds of Responses
1. No Response
2. Negative Response
3. Redirection
4. Positive Response
Reflection
1) Please describe a time that you used one of the above 4 responses and the long-term outcome what positive. Why do you feel that this response worked?
2) Please describe a time that you used on of the above 4 responses and did not get the long-term results that you wanted. How would you do it differently next time?
14 comments:
Whale done was so motivating. I started the week very positive. I was in the hall like always to greet the children but I made a special effort to greet my two toughest students. I was using the positive response. The “Activator” was; I complemented them for getting to school on time and getting there stuff hung up so quickly. Two things they don’t do regularly. The “behavior” was; they had big smiles on their faces and were happy to be back at school after a week off. Then I made sure to keep that going by recognizing everything they did correctly. The “Consequence” was; the more I praised the better work I received. I send a note home every night for one of those students. He floated out of the classroom with his good note that night.
I feel using a positive response worked because the students felt good when they were hearing what they were doing well instead of what they were doing wrong. They were doing better work because they were told they were good at what they were doing. We always work better when we feel good about what we are doing. I loved the story in the book when Wes remembered how he felt a renewal of energy and a commitment to do his best after his meeting withhis boss Mike. The two students I focused on had a renewal of energy and a commitment to do their best.
I did not get the response I wanted Friday when I was working with a student on contraction. Instead of slowing down and thinking he was blurting out an answer. I was loosing my patients using the negative response and the more I got frustrated the more wrong answers he was giving me. I had him get some cards I had made that showed the two words and flipped to the contraction. He still was giving the wrong answer because he wasn’t going to give that mean old teacher what she wanted. I started to think if he was a whale he might eat me. Then I reminded him that early this week he doing a great job with contraction. He said, “I did.” Then I got the answer I was looking for. Next time I would start by reminding him what a good job he did early in the week. Starting with the positive response will set us both up for a positive learning experience.
I think that I have at times used all of the response techniques. The hard part for me is that I think my responses vary depending on my moods. I try to be very conscious of my responses to kids when I know I am having a bad day. When I really put it in my mind I can make some of my worst days my best teaching. That is why I like reading this kind of writing because it keeps it in my forethoughts.
With that said I have seen a positive result with redirection. I have a morning routine and, this year I have a few kids that have a hard time settling down when they first come in. As a result I have one girl whose grades were being hurt by not finishing her morning work. I took some time to have a conference with the girl. I described what I was seeing (She was talking to others, getting drinks, watching others). I did without trying to sound attacking. I then talked about why this is a problem. Then I tried to put a feeling of trust into her that she would be able to fix the problem and do better. When she was able to do better I made sure I praised her. She was able to fix the problem and I feel she put forth effort to improve after talking with her. She wanted to do better.
On the opposite side I have seen negative responses I have given backfire. I have another boy in the class that can be very silly at times. One day he seemed to be even sillier that usual. It was a bit disrupting. Later he did not know what to do on his homework. I gave him a negative response about how if he would focus during discussion he might know what was going on. He took it very personal and had hurt feelings. Now he was having a bad day for another reason and I was getting no work out of him. I wonder if I had redirected during his initial silliness if it could have been solved in a better way.
I agree with Sam in that the book is a great reminder to stay positive and how hard it can be when we are having our own bad day/mood.
The positive experience I had with using redirection happened yesterday. I brought one of my 1st grade guidance classes to my room and the rule I have when they are there is that they may be/sit next to anyone they would like UNLESS it becomes a problem for a classmate or myself (I give them one chance and then move him/her on the second after identifying the reason why). Thus, one of the students was creating a problem for another (the student asked him to please stop bothering him while he was trying to work) and there was the first warning. When I noticed that he was then trying to distract another student, I quietly went over to him and stated the problem (he was distracting another student and it was now creating a problem for the student AND myself in that I had to come and talk to him.) I then asked him how he thought his behavior was affecting his classmates and also himself, and what ideas he had to help him focus and allow his classmates to focus. He thought for a minute and then said that he thought it best to move to a less crowded area so that he could work. I immediately praised his excellent idea and told him how he never fails to impress me with his good ideas:) A couple minutes later I stopped by his area, stooped down to make eye-contact with him while touching his shoulder, and told him how hard he was working and asked him how it felt to accomplish the project. To me, this approach worked because I did not bring attention to him in front of the whole class, talked calmly, on his level, and with direct eye contact, had him take ownership in changing his behavior, and not only praised how he was then able to work, but he was able to identify feeling "proud" that he was able to finish the project.
The time where I used no response backfired when a student was playing with his shoes, which caused them to squeek. I was trying to ignore the behavior and continue to teach because I knew this student was doing it for any attention possible. Two of his classmates gave him a look, but he just mouthed "What?", smiled, and then did it some more. As I continued to talk, I simply walked by the student, put my hand on his shoulder, and gave it a squeeze. He did stop for a couple of minutes and then low and behold, he started up again. I finally had to ask him to please stop because it was bothering his classmates and myself and I gave him the choice of either stopping the behavior or giving me his shoes. He stopped, but I didn't want my comment to give him the negative attention that he has been used to receiving from others.
When the book talked about the Activator, it mentioned setting goals. When each class comes in, I begin with describing what they are to do that hour. To me that is goal setting. I try to make things clear by showing, explaining verbally and writing notes or an outline on the board. The other day I took it a step further and reminded the class of 5th graders, who are usually so noisy, I can’t stand it, that last week when they were in art class, they worked quieter and the result was that there was less mess and more quality work was accomplished by most of the students. So I said today when we continue work on our masks, lets try to work like we did last week. That seemed to work well. I saw a number of smiles on their faces as if they were proud of themselves last week.
I got a positive response from the goal setting presented.
On the other end of the grade levels, there is Kindergarten. I still struggle with that age.
At the beginning of the long hour of Kindergarten, I sometimes begin with a book. Gathering 27 little bodies on the floor, to listen has it problems. There is always one who can’t keep quiet and disturbs all of us. I tried to ignore the boy who was under the table talking to himself. I tried the “no response”. Other students were looking at him and then looking at me and I am trying to focus on reading the book. I wasn’t sure how long I could ignore this, as the students know I want it “quiet” when I am talking.
Well he kept it up and then bumped his head on the underside of the table. I stopped reading and asked him to come and sit by me on the floor.
It is really hard for me in a classroom setting where I want good listening to ignore or redirect. I am big on discipline and learning how to not reward negative behavior is something I continue to work on daily.
Positive Response worked for me when the class was using their silent reading time constructively. Everyone was reading, no one talked to their neighbors or tried to talk to me about something insignificant due to boredom- now remember- I teach 2nd grade so their silent reading time is only 20 minutes!!!! My class has done this before, but not as well as that day. Now it seems like a competition. They want to see how much praise they can get the next day! They are now feeding off of me making a huge deal about all of them using that time for reading like they were supposed to- I went on and on about how proud I was... They all smiled and some turned red and were embarrassed from all of the praise. It is a very productive time for them now. They look for the praise when they are done reading now. It is kind of cute!
Negative Response- I have a difficult child in my room- don't we all have to have one to keep us on our toes? He takes a long time to get in the classroom everyday so his BD teacher got involved and we got a sticker chart going. He gets a sticker if he is one of the first ones in the room. If he gets 3 stickers in one week, he chooses something from her prize box. I greet the kids every morning out in the hall. This particular morning he was talking to everyone instead of getting his stuff in his locker and getting in the room. I was like, "Come on, come on, you aren't going to get a sticker if you keep talking with everyone." He didn't listen so I repeated myself 2 or 3 times. It didn't work. As usual he was the last one in and I told him he wouldn't be earning a sticker for the day. He said he didn't want a dumb sticker anyways.
Next time I will let him choose to be the last one in with out reminders from him. I will redirect all of the other students into the room quicker so they aren't making the situation worse by talking with him in the hall. When he is one of the first ones in- I will use the Whale Done Response with him. He has Attatchment Disorder so it is hard to connect with this student. He is like all other kids, positive comments will work better than negative ones!
There was a time in my years of teaching third grade when I most likely gave out far more negative responses than positive. I am sure that as a new teacher I had no idea how to get through the day without using them simply because that is what I was used to when I was in school. It didn't take long to realize that giving a negative response just brought more negativity to the situation.
The most common negative response I can remember using was telling talkative students that they would know what they were doing during work time if they had been listening when I was teaching. I now realize how negative this was as well as how nonbeneficial (is that even a word???) it was for the student. It generally resulted in them shuffling back to their seats and creating some sort of pencil/eraser/paper schnibble monstrosity. They didn't get their work done and I didn't get any feedback on what they could do (well besides the "artwork" they could create out of complete boredom and lack of sufficient supplies!).
Now I use redirection and positive responses to nip this behavior in the bud. First, I don't allow those darn Pink Pearl erasers in my room anymore... no, no, no, just kidding. Actually, first, I quitely walk over to the student during the teaching time and tell him or her about their two choices. They can either sit and listen with out distracting my teaching and the other students' learning or they can go sit in the reflection chair. I also tell them that if they choose the chair I want them back as soon as possible. This would be the redirection part- I try to avoid the end result of not knowing the dirctions due to not listening all together.
When they get to the end and they can start a task on their own I make sure I really lay on that positive response thick. After all, that's what most of my naughty students are looking for- attention right??? It works out pretty slick.
I have an EBD student who thrives on and disrupts even more of the class when receiving negative attention. He's loud and rude almost always, but when there is a substitute teacher it REALLY sets him off! I have used a positive response (after discovering this) by praising him (not falsely) for his sense of humor or intelligence as close to the beginning of as many periods as I can. I think because of this he is under control when there is a sub now and he knows he will be praised when I return. When I am there I try to talk to him one-on-one at the beginning of the period and speak to him as I would an adult. He is responding very appropriately now...(knock on wood!)
I've used a negative approach and things have gotten worse through the year with a student who seemed to me to be just like Pavlov's dog: He would be talking socially and as soon as the bell rang, his eyes would look off in the distance and he zoned out for the lesson. Then during work time he became alive again and didn't know what to do. I'd tried having him sit right next to me and occasionally touching his arm or other non-threatening attention-getting devices. I then tried anger because I was angry! Nothing has changed. I'm back to other interventions including parent communication but he's still 'not there.'
I am still doing lots of things differently with this last case. I do know that the negative did no good whatsoever though - it only frightened him.
I have a student who is almost always late to class, rarely gets his homework done, and wants to talk, nonstop, to anyone that is listening. These problems are mostly due to forgotten medication or lack of time to allow his medication to work. Anyway, that is another story that I won't get into. I have really worked hard at looking for any positive response from this student with redirection for what he does wrong. If he is late to class, I let him know I am glad he made it and am confident that he can "catch-up" with the rest of the class. When homework isn't done, I praise him for remembering to come in at recess to work on it. If he talks, I invovle him in a question or activity. I'm pleased to say that this seems to be working amazingly well. Although there are still many problems, I see small steps of progress. The other day I came across a blue sticky note attached to a late math assignment with the word "Done" scribbled on it . . along with a smiley face. I smiled myself as I realized we truly were making progress.
Along with teaching 5th graders, I work with 7th and 8th grade confirmation students on Wednesday evenings. One of our biggest challenges for this age group is to keep them engaged in a lesson. Chatting with their friends, even if it means disruptng a lesson, is so important to this age level that we have build in time before class for them to talk with friends
and try to get some of this "out of their system". Anyway, I feel like I am getting nowhere with a few students who continue to talk and rudely interrupt others who are talking. I think we need to try something different . . .Rather than "glaring" at these students with my angry, "you better stop talking" looks, I am going to catch these kiddos when they ARE on task. Now teenagers are a different kind of breed and I need to be very careful with how and when I priase them. Kids this age don't necessarily want to be praised in front of their peers for doing things like listening attentively or not talking. In fact, praise for this may actually create more problems. I need to be more creative in re-directing their energy toward positive class involvement and participation. I think giving kids opportunities to talk as part of a lesson is the best solution, and may result in more engaged learning anyway. I could also try complimenting kids privately about how well they were participating and helping the group out. Perhaps, pointing out how quickly we were able to cover a topic because of no interruptions, and how this translates into getting out on time could also be helpful for this particular age group.
I enjoyed reading through other people’s responses and finding that we all have very familiar situations, in which depending on the type of response, typically we all get the same long-term result as a result of our initial response.
This past week I purposefully used the redirection response to get a student of mine in 5th grade to achieve and maintain a level of focus that would not interrupt the entire class, as he typically does. He is a very intelligent math student, and loves to blurt out answers. Coming into the class period, I even told myself it was going to happen, and I had to be prepared to redirect his focus on the wanted goal, rather than on his behavior. So, I found myself using him more as a peer mentor. I talked to him in regards to blurting out, and rather than that, if he knew an answer, he could assist another student that needed the assistance. To my amazement, he worked extremely well with the other students as he was helping them. I was really impressed when he wasn’t willing to give them answers either, but rather assist them with strategies to get correct answers. As the week progressed, it was amazing how quickly his blurting out had come to a sudden diminishing.
I currently have an extremely challenging sixth grade classroom, loaded with several different special ed. students. I have a few students in the class that will read a question, and write the question as their answer in math! Yes, NOT answer the question, but rewrite it, and say that is their answer. Most recently, I had a student answer the following question, “What is 3/10 written as a decimal?” The correct answer, obviously, would have been .3, however, the student answered it, “repeating”. Now, the day before we had been talking about terminating / repeating decimals, however, clearly she did NOT read the question, or had no clue here. I became very frustrated with her response, and asked her if she had even read the question. Go figure, she completely shut down for the remainder of the period. So, needless to say, I need to figure a way to either hit a Redirection Response, or Positive Response to get her behavior to change.
My “toughest” kid, Jesse, is now on his third ADHD medication of the school year, so, as you can imagine, it’s been a roller coaster ride! The first couple weeks of school were tough, so I wasn’t surprised when his mom sent a note that he was going to start meds over the weekend.
Monday was crazy. Jesse literally COULD NOT sit down or stop talking for the entire school day! He was constantly thinking out loud, and it was obvious it was out of his control. He couldn’t even play on the playground, because every time he started toward the equipment, he turned around and came back to tell me something else. Well, I stupidly let him go on like this all day, thinking the medication would be wearing off at any time. I sent a note home to Mom about his wacky behavior and the possibility that his meds needed to be adjusted. (“I’m no doctor, but…”)
Well, I guess Jesse was up walking and talking until 3 a.m. that night, and Mom had him at the doctor’s office by 8 a.m. He stayed home from school and slept Tuesday. Wednesday, he was back at school on half the dose and was a completely different child! In fact, I remember using the word, “delightful!” Looking back, he was obviously overdosed on Monday and I should have contacted his mom about his symptoms right away. I’m just thankful he didn’t have a heart attack or who knows what?!?! I’m sure you all have more common sense than I did, but I wanted to write about my experience just in case you find yourself in a similar situation.
Anyway, Wednesday I sent Jesse home with a simple “I had a great day at school!” shoelace award tied on one of his laces. He was beaming! Then on Friday, I sent Mom another note, this time telling her what a great three days he’d had. When I talked to her early the following week, she thanked me for both and said she sobbed when the little note came home on his shoelace because he’d never had a note about a GOOD day before… I chose this example because I think it’s important to note that not only do kids thrive on positive responses, but parents do, too! Since then, Jesse’s mom and I have had a really positive relationship with open communication (sometimes also positive, sometimes not as much).
The story doesn’t end there. Jesse behaved much better on that medication, but he didn’t have an appetite and was losing weight. We tried everything from skipping snack (so he’d eat more lunch) to weight-gain shakes but to no avail. So in December, he switched medications. He still didn’t have his temper tantrums and his appetite returned, but so did the rest of his undesirable behaviors. Let’s just say the winter months really wore on me, and most of my responses to Jesse were negative or a desperate attempt to just ignore him (which usually didn’t work). Thank goodness class started when it did and I got the much needed reminder to catch Jesse doing things BETTER. (It was difficult to find anything he was doing WELL, but his behavior did slowly improve with positive responses for doing BETTER).
I think Jesse’s mom was struggling at home, too, because over Easter break, Jesse switched medications yet again. Now, thanks to both practice on my part and the new medication, it’s much easier to catch Jesse doing well! As for his appetite on medication #3, I think it’s so-so. Only time will tell if he gains or loses weight.
Working with High School students is no different than Elementary. Keeping them on task is a never ending job. I ask that students be quiet while in the library. Everyone stays focused and more seems to get done. Last week, a student just couldn’t settle down to anything. He was playing with his pencil, up and down constantly getting a magazine, throwing something away, trying to distract other students. I went over and asked him what the problem was and if there was anything I could do to help. He said his parents were going to see his report card and he hadn’t done very well. I asked him what we could do to make him feel better. He didn’t seem to have an answer. Then I asked if he had some schoolwork to do. Of course he did, so I got him started on that. He finished the assignment before the end of the hour and realized he had accomplished something. I thanked him for being quiet and I talked to the teacher that had given the assignment. I asked that she acknowledge the fact that he had completed his assignment. She did and he couldn’t wait to come in and tell me about it. He’s been coming in everyday since, finds a table by himself, to work on his assignments. I praise him everyday he does his work and redirect him if he goes off task. I also ask his teachers to acknowledge his accomplishment. If I or the teacher doesn’t say something he has a tendency to go off task. I now make a conscious effort every time to thank him for working so hard.
Here is a big negative. I have 6th graders 1st hour. They come to the library after classes have started and are very disruptive in the hall. I have run out of ideas on what to do so now they walk single file with 3 feet between each student. I’m not sure this habit can be changed, because generally when they walk in the halls they are allowed to talk. I may be fighting a losing battle.
Hey, everyone! I had these done weeks ago but wasn't able to post! Deb just helped me figure it out so here they are.
I agree with Sam. My mood really is such a determining factor in how I relate to my students. I feel like I need to take five minutes every morning right before they enter the classroom to try to separate my personal/professional life concerns from how I plan to react to them that day. It sounds like a great idea but the reality is – LIFE! For instance, this past Friday before the students entered the building, I had a technology meeting, met with another teacher about a student’s behavior issue, had a mother waiting for me at my classroom door, and got a call from another mother just as the bell was ringing. I didn’t have five minutes to use the bathroom, let alone meditate on my planned approach for the day! Not all mornings are that crazy but that is more the norm than the exception.
Redirection is my life right now. My 2 ½ year old son does not reason things out – he just expects, demands, explodes, wants, refuses, and has a hard time understanding any kind of time delay. When he doesn’t want to brush his teeth or wash his face, we sing a song he likes. When he won’t eat, we pretend that he has dinosaur food on his plate and eating it will make him roar even louder – then we spend dinner roaring like T. Rex. When he is mean to the dog, we tell him that Charlie scares away ghosts and keeps our house safe (watching a few episodes of “Scooby-Doo” at his uncle’s house unfortunately introduced him to ghosts.) I find that I have more of a tendency to try redirection at school because I am getting such good practice at home.
Recess duty has its own challenges. Right now, the students do not want to wear their coats but our principal demands that they do (although he doesn’t do follow-through with it). I feel that I spend the entire recess issuing negative responses that I know are only followed when I am looking. It becomes a competition. The students try to sneak around or argue and nothing really changes. Isn’t that a prime example of the result of a negative response – nothing really changes for the better and animosity is the only thing being built?
How would I do it differently? It’s tough when it is a dictate from above (the principal) but you are the one on the firing line. Since we are supposedly a Love and Logic school, I personally believe that they should make their own decisions but I am also not the one getting calls from parents who are angry that their child did not wear his coat at recess. Anybody have a solution?
I had a student who thrived on attention, but the only he knew to get the attention was by acting out and therefore receiving the negative attention from his peers, teacher, and administration. He had a reputation for throwing major temper tantrums when he was "pissed off" and doing everything he possibly could for the shock value of it. Our school is a 5-8 school so by the time I received him in my class in 6th grade, his reputation preceded him. With this particular case, I began the year using the no response with him (under the recommendation of the special education teacher as he was EBD). On the occasions he did not get a response, the behavior tended to get worse and worse until he elicited the response he was hoping for which was a negative response. I would end up getting very frustrated and sending him out the classroom to either the special education room or to the office. His behavior began to get worse as the year progressed. After a couple meetings with the special education teacher and administration, we decided to go another direction and we began giving him the positive response. It was amazing how much this helped. This is not to say the tantrums completely disappeared, but this child suddenly started repeating behaviors that elicited the positive response once before and he was hoping for it again. The smiles, "good jobs," "I'm proud of you's" all helped to improve his behavior. There was even one occasion where he felt himself losing his temper because another student was antagonizing him and he went to stand by a teacher so he would not lose his temper. And when he did get caught up in his temper, once he was settled down, he would actually apologize to all of the teachers that ended up being involved. It was such a success story that it brings a smile to my face to think about this child.
Some of my students had been meandering into the classroom late after every passing time bell. As the warmer weather slips in and the end of the year starts to approach, I’m noticing more and more of my 6th graders’ chrysalises are hatching, and more and more social butterflies are springing forth! In the past, I’ve taken Honor Card points (demerits) for students who’ve been chronically late. Instead of using a negative response, one thing I have been doing lately is combining no response and positive response.
My class uses play money in a token economy for various privileges and an end of the year raffle. When the bell would ring, without saying a single word, I speedily started moving about the room, doling out money from a wad of “Denoon Dollars” in my pocket, to anyone who was in their seat and ready to go. Those who walked in the room late, got no verbal or body language feedback at all from me, but they also got no cash. The kids who happened to be in their seats but who were lollygagging around, soon started noticing that others were getting something, and they did quick mental gymnastics to figure out what they needed to do in order to get the money too.
I had been doing this randomly for a little more than a week, and…problem solved! Now, pretty much everyone is regularly in their seats, quiet, with materials out, even BEFORE the bell rings. The other day, there were a few kids who were talking to friends at the door as the second hand was counting down. Some of the kids in the class started egging them into the classroom because they were running out of time. Zooom! Positive Peer pressure worked great!
We talked about how much more efficiently and effectively class has been running now that they have turned things around, and how much better focused they are on what comes next. They are enjoying the praises they get from doing the right thing, without the Denoon Dollars.
On the other hand, I have a student who’s been a super challenge this year. He’s hasn’t been clinically diagnosed as having Oppositional Defiant Disorder, but he sure has the symptoms! We’re consistently trying all of the different responses with him, with no visible long term impact so far. It seems his behaviors so ingrained, and he is so difficult to motivate, that I’m not sure we have enough time left in this school year to see a significant positive change. There was a little glimmer of hope the other day when I completely ignored his overdone dramatics of limping around the room and his malady seemed to lessen throughout the day………
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