Over on Smart Classroom Management, the site where he presents tips based on his book, Michael Linsin offers three reasons for not using behavior contracts. After a brief introduction that is generally pretty accurate, he argues that (a) “behavior contracts label students,” (b) “external rewards are short term,” and (c) “follow through is a bear.” He recommends employing a consistent behavior management plan for classrooms and adhering to it faithfully.
I certainly agree with the recommendation that teachers adopt and faithfully execute a carefully conceived and evidence-based classroom management plan, but I disagree with Mr. Linsin’s rejection of use of behavior contracts both because I think that contracts may be a component of a comprehensive management plan and because I think the objections he raises are specious.
Continue reading ‘Behavior contracts that work’
For those who are interested in preventing school violence, here’s a reminder of a resource that I expect will be generating more and more helpful products in the coming years: the Consortium To Prevent School Violence (CPSV).
The Consortium to Prevent School Violence (CPSV) seeks to promote the effective implementation of school violence prevention practices that are:
- Based in high-quality scientific research
- Proven to prevent and reduce school violence
Following the school shootings of Fall 2006, a group of 20 researchers and practitioners in the field of school violence prevention collaborated on the creation of a position statement on the school shootings. In the process, it became apparent that an alliance of researchers and practitioners in school violence prevention to further the common goal of reducing school violence would be highly valuable
Although some of the recommendations are pretty generic (i.e., do not offer specific directions or procedures for implementation), the project is moving in potentially valuable directions. There is a strong emphasis on research and empirical evidence.
Link to the CSPV site.
The recent discussions in the press and the US Congress about seclusion and restraint prompted me to draft these preliminary notes about alternatives that are available to school personnel. Generally, one does not need to resort to putting students in isolation or holding them to the ground.
Schools that employ evidence-based practices have a wealth of alternatives to physical seclusion or restraint. These methods range from plain, old good teaching to systematic analysis of the functions that misbehaviors serve. In the next few paragraphs, I present laconic descriptions of these.
Continue reading ‘Notes about reducing misbehavior’
Over at Teaching All Students, Patrick Black has a post about using an iPod Touch (an iPhone would work, too) as a data collection device. He’s simply (but sensibly) coordinated publicly available resources in a way that permits data entry, recording, and communication. Take a look by following this link.
Saul Axelrod, who has conducted lots of research about implementing and refining procedures for managing behavior in classrooms, presented a workshop on “Classroom Management Problems and Procedures for Solving Them” at the National Autism Conference in 2007. It’s available as free video.
This is good fundamental presentation. Download it. Watch it. Recommend it to others. Flash of the electrons to Regina at the PT site for reminding me of this. http://wpsu.org/ondemand/streams/Session_7108022.html
Over on Precision Teaching Rick Kubina has added another podcast to his published collection: It’s an interview with Hank Pennypacker (from 31 January 2009). Professor Pennypacker has been teaching about the appropriate analysis of behavior for many years, influencing many folks in positive ways. When you take the opportunity to jump over to Precision Teaching and look at the list of interviews, you may want to snag others, too.
