[nobe-l] Classroom management

Fri Jul 14 15:35:20 UTC 2017

Hello Tara,

The problem with reward-based management systems is a simple one. If 
students decide that they don't want the rewards that you are offering, then 
they won't engage with what you want them to do to gain the rewards. So, you 
are constantly trying to find something with which you can, effectively, 
bribe, your students. If you do happen to have some students in your class 
who don't want your offered rewards, or who don't understand the connection 
between expected behaviour and reward, then you have a problem.
Intrinsic rewards, such as the knowledge of what they have achieved, how 
quickly they've achieved, how many days of great behaviour they've 
accumulated, etc., and the teacher and peer acclamation and praise from 
authority figures in the school etc. are usually much more motivating in the 
long run.
It is my opinion that children need to learn that they do what they are 
supposed to do because that's what parents and teachers are expecting of 
them, and that their reward is the great things that come from being 
responsible for one's behaviour and becoming more mature and trustworthy and 
allowed to do more grown up things.
Reward systems too often result in teaching students that it is their 
decision as to what they will and won't do, based on whether they're being 
offered. Parents who are advised to use the reward charts so often find, 
especially with students in third-grade and above, that children will work 
for the reward that they want and then, having received it, they will revert 
back to the old behaviour which the reward chart was meant to extinguish. It 
is usually the same in classrooms.
The idea that students can be manipulated with rewards, and that unpleasant 
consequences can be dispensed with, is naive, and does not credit children 
with the ability to rise to the challenge of finding the intrinsic rewards 
that are available to them. Unfortunately, there are several strong myths 
that live on in modern education,, despite their blatant failure as 
behaviour management tools that work. Time out is one myth. the myth that 
individual, competitive reward structures are the best systems for managing 
classroom behaviour is another, despite the evidence of their long-term 
effectiveness
I would suggest that you might look at instituting a cooperative reward 
system. Under this structure, students are rewarded as a group for having 
achieved the goal. This reward structure results in much better behavioural 
and social development outcomes, since students are working together to 
achieve the reward and they exert strong peer pressure and support to help 
each other behave in ways that enable the group to win the reward together.

I'm sure you'll find plenty written about this topic online. Unfortunately, 
despite it's strength as a classroom reward structure, it is often not 
discussed in teacher training behaviour management classes.

I hope this topic might make for some interesting summer reading for some 
folks.
Warmly,
Heather

-----Original Message----- 
From: Tara Abella via NOBE-L
Sent: Friday, July 14, 2017 8:35 AM
To: National Organization of Blind Educators Mailing List
Cc: taranabella0 at gmail.com
Subject: Re: [nobe-l] Classroom management

Mikaela,

I will definitely look into that book. Thank you for the suggestion. What 
management system will you be using and what will you be teaching? I also 
was wondering why you recommended not to make the system rewards based. I 
was planning to have the students earn classroom passes for things like 
bringing a stuffed animal to class, stinky feet, lunch with the teacher, 
etc.

Thanks,

Tara

Sent from my iPhone

> On Jul 13, 2017, at 10:34 PM, Mikaela Stevens via NOBE-L 
> <nobe-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>
> Dear Tara:
>
>
>
> This is also my first year teaching, but I have a few ideas which might
> help you.
>
>
>
> As far as classroom management, you should read the book entitled Positive
> Discipline in the Classroom. It will give you great ideas to teach 
> children
> and allow them to participate.
>
>
>
> I like the money management project, if it is not rewards based. You could
> fold the money instead of labeling it.
>
>
>
> Please let me know if you have any further questions.
>
>
>
> Best regards,
>
> Mikaela
>
> On Thu, Jul 13, 2017 at 6:20 PM, Tara Abella via NOBE-L 
> <nobe-l at nfbnet.org>
> wrote:
>
>> Hello all,
>>
>> I was wondering what classroom management system has worked best for
>> everyone. My students will be in third grade and will be blind and 
>> visually
>> impaired. I thought about doing a classroom economy in order to work on
>> money management, but the idea of brailling and labeling so many pieces 
>> of
>> fake money is unrealistic, considering the amount of things I will have 
>> to
>> do to prepare for my first year teaching. I've also been exploring class
>> dojo, which seems fairly accessible and has the added bonus of being able
>> to be accessed by parents. Any suggestions for what other teachers have
>> used would be very helpful.
>>
>> Thank you,
>>
>> Tara
>>
>> Sent from my iPhone
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