Chapter 2: Literature Review
The Good Behavior Game: An Oldie but a Goodie
Many teachers, especially new teachers, struggle with off-task behaviors in the classroom and finding ways to implement strategies that will correct or improve those behaviors. When teachers systematically implement class-wide interventions, teacher-student interactions become more positive, students are more engaged, and teachers are able to focus on teaching appropriate behaviors (Conroy, Marsh, Snyder, & Sutherland, 1987). The Good Behavior Game (GBG) is a contingency group game designed to improve the teachers ability to define tasks, set rules and discipline students, reduce disruptive aggressive, off-task and shy behaviors in elementary aged children and promote good behavior by rewarding teams that do not exceed maladaptive behavior standards (Conroy, Marsh, Snyder, & Sutherland, 1987).
Rules of the Game
The Good Behavior Game is designed to help improve the teacher’s ability to define tasks, set rules and discipline students (Conroy, Marsh, Snyder, & Sutherland, 1987). The Good Behavior Game can be used during quiet or independent work periods to reduce distracting behaviors within the classroom, such as staying seated, raising your hand to be called on and talking out of turn. The Good Behavior Game is also used to promote good behavior by rewarding teams for their good behaviors. Teachers should incorporate the game more than once throughout the day to keep the students involved. The teacher and students should come up with the rewards together, that way students are more likely to work hard and stay focused during quiet and independent work. Some examples of reinforces could include stickers, treats, classroom ...
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...eeks of school by all teachers and staff. At first, students will only be evaluated 10 to 15 minutes at a time. After the initial baseline, teacher training will be used to re-evaluate any corrections that need to be made.
Data Analysis
The study will consist of 41 teachers/teacher aids and 2 principals from the School District. All recording sheets from the classrooms, lunchrooms and library will be reviewed by the researcher. The researcher will be neutral on the subject matter of student disruptive behaviors and the Good Behavior Game. The researcher will first separate the recording sheets by classrooms, lunchroom, and library. Next, the researcher will plot the number of student disruptive behaviors within each area. The researcher will look at the data analysis plot to see which, if any, area in the school needs more focus on the Good Behavior Game.
In a classroom setting, there are many systems of behavior management. Behavior management uses different strategies to either decrease an unwanted behavior, such as a temper tantrum, or increase a desirable behavior, such as the completion of homework assignments. A common way for modifying behavior in a classroom setting is known as a token economy. The goal of a token economy system is to increase a target behavior through the usage of tokens that are exchangeable for backup reinforcers (Alberto & Troutman, 2009, pg. 230). According to Alberto and Troutman (2009), token economies are used in both special education classrooms, as well as general education classrooms.
teach new skills and decrease challenging behaviors” (pg. 24). Based on my own observation, I’ve seen teachers implement a token economy (e.g., happy faces, stars, and stickers of different forms) to shape and reinforce positive behavior in the classroom. To maintain instructional control, tokens would be delivered immediately to a student when following simple instructions (e.g., following circle time, cleaning
How to Use Positive Reinforcement to Address Child Behavior Problems - Ways to Effectively Promote Good Behavior By Amy Morin
After completing the “Cooperative Discipline” course through the Regional Training Center, I am planning on revising my behavioral management techniques to follow the cooperative discipline model in my eighth grade English classroom. The cooperative discipline, or the hands-joined style, is a more appropriate approach to managing behaviors in my classroom than the hands-off or hands-on styles. With the hands-off style, there is too much freedom and not enough structure in the classroom, and with the hands-on style, defiant students are likely to rebel against the teacher’s strict rules. However, with the hands-joined style, “students are included in the decision-making process and therefore are strongly influenced to develop responsibility and choose cooperative behavior” (Albert, 2012). When students are provided with clear expectations but are still part of the decision-making process, they are more likely to behave appropriately in the classroom.
In the video “When the Chips are down” by Rick Lavoie, I learned not only the same information as mentioned above but also helpful solutions that Rick Lavoie offered for teachers in how to respond with negative and positive student behavior. The presenter suggested among the following that teachers: restrain from yelling too much, as that might leave students to be less responsive over time; to extend verbal praise and other positive reinforcement as change from negative behavior; reinforce behavior progressively as the child makes steps towards positive behavior; set deadline incentive challenges to have the student complete tasks with positive behavior; and also the ‘broken record technique’ in which to state the rule 3 times to the offending student after indicating the infraction that was committed by the
Scheuermann, B., & Hall, J. (2012). Positive behavioral supports for the classroom. (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education Inc. ISBN # 10:0132147831
...lating their own behaviour as they have had lots of practice doing so (NSW DET, 2003, p. 13). By most students demonstrating their ability to self-regulate throughout the lesson, it leaves the teacher the opportunity to better manage challenging behaviours such as Ray’s ADHD/ODD, Michael and Kendall’s tendencies to defy or be oppositional and refuse to engage and Bens’ inclination to withdraw. Strategies such as using the trust tree and taking time to self-regulate outside or in the quiet corner, coloured cups to display moods or a sense of urgency, social stories/scripts to assist with difficult and new situations, labelled praise and positive reinforcement or extrinsic motivation, extension activities of interest, ignoring minor inappropriate behaviours and redirecting when possible are used to help manage these behaviours (See lesson plan and Appendix A and B).
As teachers, we are often expending more of our energy than is necessary by not taking time to implement a more comprehensive approach toward behavior management. In many cases one will need only a few of these strategies in place to create a positive behavioral support plan.
There are different ways that a teacher can deal with a student’s undesirable behavior. Some of these strategies are: positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, punishment or extinction. The type of r...
In this paper I will be discussing the information I have learned from the article “From Positive Reinforcement to Positive Behaviors”, by Ellen A. Sigler and Shirley Aamidor. The authors stress the importance of positive reinforcement. The belief is that teachers and adults should be rewarding appropriate behaviors and ignoring the inappropriate ones. The authors’ beliefs are expressed by answering the following questions: Why use positive reinforcement?, Are we judging children’s behaviors?, Why do children behave in a certain way?, Do we teach children what to feel?, Does positive reinforcement really work?, and How does positive reinforcement work?. The following work is a summary of "Positive Reinforcement to Positive Behaviors" with my thoughts and reflection of the work in the end.
Classroom management, involving all the strategies used by teachers in order to provide order in the classroom, can be regarded as an essential for effective teaching and learning. According to Davis (1981), “basic classroom management is just plain good sense. Yet, it can be as personal as your private lifestyle” (p.79). One of the biggest challenge teachers face day in and day out is dealing with behavior of children and young pupils in classroom. Therefore, the classroom practice of individual teachers would be the key aspect of improving the behavior of pupils in schools (Hart, 2010). One of the significant attribute of promise to teaching, especially in classroom behavior management, is teacher’s sense of efficacy. According to Woolfolk-Hoy (2000), development of self-efficacy is essential for producing effective, committed and ardent teachers, Moreover, teachers who are trained to be more effective in meeting both academic and non-academic student needs create a positive and successful classroom environment for all students (Alvares, 2007). The importance of self-efficacy in behavior management has been highlighted by Martin, linfoot, and stephenson (1999) who proposed that teacher’ responses to misbehavior may be mediated by their beliefs about their ability to deal with behavior, as well as their beliefs about the causes of student misbehavior.
As a teacher managing problem behavior in your classroom can be one of the most challenging tasks. Behavior problems can range from disruption of lessons to acts of violence against fellow students and teachers. Children’s emotional setbacks and life challenges can also contribute to behavior issues at school. A study done by the Justice Center and the Public Policy Research Institute found that six out of ten students suffered from an “emotional disturbance” and were expelled or suspended between seventh and twelfth grade (Firke, 2011). This same study showed that discipline varied greatly between schools. This report also revealed the urgent need for a more thoughtful technique in school discipline policies. In many cases teachers have exhausted their classroom management strategies without success. Behavior Modification is aimed at improving school and classroom behavior, and can give teachers additional tools to help them to deal proactively and effectively with behaviors that are disruptive to students and teachers in the classroom. When children are disruptive in the classroom it can cause a lot of problems for their classmates and their teacher. Yet, in the long run, it's the disruptive child themselves who is most impacted, on both a social and educational level (Epstein, Atkins, Cullinan, Kutash, & Weaver, 2008). Behavior modification techniques should be used in school, to change the negative behaviors, and increase the positive behaviors seen in these children.
Although our research project continues—it is far from finished—there were several considerations which brought us to the decision to write this book. First, in none of our publications had we spelled out the theoretical framework within which we have operated. It is consequently, with the relationships of our findings to each other, as well as to broader psychological issues, have not been discussed in a manner satisfactory to us. Second, is about we had a fair amount of unpublished data which we felt could only be evaluated within the context of all we have done. Third, is about we became increasingly aware that our work had important implications for psychological practices and procedures in the public schools. This awareness was due not only to our interpretation of our formal findings, or to the fact that we spent a great deal of time in the school setting, but also to the response of various school personnel who felt that our studies could be of great relevance in the development of testing procedures which would be more meaningful than those currently employed in our schools. The final factor entering into the decision to write this book was our inability, for reasons beyond our control, to remain together as a research team. We have worked intimately together for several years, all of us participating in the over-all
My goal as an educator is to continually learn, reflect and change my practices in order to ensure all students learn at high levels. As I stated earlier, my initial educational philosophy was behavioral. I was somewhat surprised to find that I still scored the highest in this category on my self-assessment. However, after further reflection and reading B.F. Skinner, I believe that behavioral aspects still have an important role in education today. As an educator I have a moral responsibility to help students learn how to function as members of a classroom community. Skinner believes that the environment of a classroom and school should be as “conducive as possible to students’ learning”. Positive Behavior Interventions & Supports is a model I truly believe in and have used with success with children. Through PBIS, expected behaviors...
The reward system is a beneficial behavioral modification teaching method, which promotes more positive behaviors in the classroom (Charles & Barr, 2014). Many teachers generally use the reward method of praise within their classrooms for a variety of reasons. The first advantage of using praise within the classroom is because it encourages students do repeat positive behaviors in the classroom. Many children are simply looking for attention and enjoy it, which makes it a great technique to use in the classroom (Charles & Barr, 2014). Another advantage for this reward type is that due to the encouragement, the students are able to perform at a better rate; students excel academically. A final advantage to using praise is that it is easily implemented into the classroom and requires little to no preparation. This makes the reward method a great addition for teachers as well as students because students get instant feedback without