As a result of prowling around the Internet for a while, I’ve been assembling resources about applications of behavioral principles to problems relevant to the content of this blog. Of course, one of the foremost areas of application is improving the lives of individuals with autism. Indeed, applied behavior analysis (ABA) is sometimes misunderstood as a synonym for the discrete trial training procedures associated most closely with the work Ivar Lovaas and his colleagues. Although they shouldn’t be considered synonymous, there is a great deal of communality.
But, that’s a topic for another post. This post is just an opportunity to list a few of the blogs that one can follow and learn about the application of behavior analysis to autism.
Continue reading ‘Some resources’
Sphere: Related Content
Over on Another Brick in the Wall, Donna posted an entry about the term “classroom control.” It got me thinking about the concepts of control, management, and teaching. Here’s her lead
Teachers use the term “classroom control” for classroom management techniques. I have also used those terms. Lately I have been thinking about how much control makes sense and if the goal is to keep children simply controlled or to change their behavior in a more lasting way. Change is a process that takes place inside the child before you see it in the behavior.
Continue reading ‘Reflections on control’
Sphere: Related Content
Over on Math Stories, Mr. K. has some comments about classroom discipline that are worth reading. Try this for example:
What the “good” teachers do
So, at this school at least, discipline is a huge part of being able to teach at all, much less well. Many of the teachers are successful. They have well run organized classrooms, their students are engaged and learning, and succeeding at it. In talking with one of them, we came to the realization that there are a lot of different styles, but they all have at least one thing in common:
The classroom is a culturally isolated from the rest of the school.
Teachers stand at the doors, and do a brain check on each kid as they come into the classroom. Every kid is given some sort of reminder that that door is a threshold, that when they cross it, the rules change, the expectations change, and their behavior better change. Those classrooms are little individual fortresses, and the successful teachers bring in the kids, but have set up barriers to keep the bad behavior out.
This reminds me of a study that I use sometimes in class. Allday and Pakurar (2007) examined the effects of having teachers greet students at the door. They found pretty clear increases in students’ attention to task during the class periods when the teachers complimented students as they entered the classroom.
Read Mr. K.’s full entry. Flash of the electrons to Liz Ditz for her post for alerting me to this. You can download a PDF the full version of the study by Allday and Pakurar for free.
Sphere: Related Content
In October of 2007 over on D-Ed Reckoning, Ken deRosa had a series of posts that were based on an interview with a semi-anonymous teacher about her methods of managing classrooms of students who have substantial problems, including some who have been identified as having disabilities. This teacher resorted to a token economy to get things going.
For example, one year I was assigned to a new school and an extremely difficult group of fifth and sixth graders, all with both learning and behavior problems, and most seriously delayed academically. Some had intimidating discipline records; at least one was probably clinically psychotic. They were oppositional, violent (towards each other), screamed and yelled and threw things, or were passive-aggressive, and generally did nothing of what you assigned them to do. I was desperate — every day I went home feeling like I was escaping a war zone — and so I set up a classroom economy, a variant of what the behaviorists call “token reinforcement.” I printed up bills for $1,$5,$10 etc., as in “real” money, set up bank accounts, wage and price schedules, the works. Everything students might want to do cost something, whether it was visiting the restroom between recesses, computer time or using art materials. In turn, they could earn money in a variety of ways.
I encourage folks to read the entries, including the comments. The full suite of content is very informative. The posts are entitled How to Effectively Manage a Classroom, How to Effectively Manage a Classroom II, How to Effectively Manage a Classroom III, and (no surprise) How to Effectively Manage a Classroom IV.
Sphere: Related Content
Over on Snail-Snail, snail_snail has a couple of posts that illustrate fundamentals for behavior management. The recommendations, in the form of a list one should ask oneself, provide the basic background that should be in place before one attempts to employ more formal behavior modification procedures.
Under the titles “Onaway Elementary/Day N,” snail_snail raises questions such as “Are the teacher’s directions usually clear?” and “Is the teacher consistent? Are the rules in force for all students? every day?” Most of the items on the list of questions should serve as reminders about basic teaching practices.
Continue reading ‘Baseline practices’
Sphere: Related Content
Some time ago, blogger Doug Belshaw had a post providing guidance about managing behavior that I just discovered. In the post Mr. Belshaw gives tips about classroom management that are worth repeating. Although there are 10 items in his list, I’ll just illustrate them using a couple here:
Continue reading ‘Mr. Belshaw’s tips’
Sphere: Related Content
Latest Comments
RSS