"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?
4 comments:
The first thing that came to mind was a situation I had with a student just last year. This particular student was really struggling in my math class and was very upset when he did not receive a good grade on his most recent math test, a 65%. I could tell that he was getting frustrated and ready to give up. I pulled that student aside and told him I could see he wasn't happy with his score. However, I showed him his previous score that he received on the test before this last test, which was almost 20 % lower. I told him how proud I was of his most recent score and that he did a lot of things correctly on the test. We went through every problem together and he realized how close he actually was to getting a C. That student started to come in after school for extra help on a regular basis after that test. I think he realized that I believed he could be successful the rest of the school year and wasn't afraid of asking for help. That student went from flunking the first quarter to passing the next three. he still comes to my room on Tuesday and Fridays to get help.
A situation that didn't work, and one I would do over if I could, was one where I used a negative response. A student this year did not complete one homework assignment an entire week. On Friday the student told me he had a bad week and next week would be better. Monday morning, I asked him to get out his work. He said that it wasn't done and that it was at home. I was very upset and went on to ask him if he remembered what he told me on Friday. He said he had and then I asked him if he meant it or if he was lying to me. That student started t cry and completely shut down the rest of the class period. He got nothing done. If I could go back and relive that day over, I would have simply asked the student to hand it in tomorrow and be done with it. I escalated the situation and made it worse. I imagine that student didn't just shut down in my class, but was probably shut down for the day after the way I treated him. I guess we have to live and learn. If I only had read the Whale Done book a month ago...
I can remember a situation that occurred with a student with special needs that I had in the 4th grade. This particular student had EBD issues. It was the thrid week of school and this student started yelling obscene words out loud. I was in the middle of a lesson and had a class full of 24 other students. I had to redirect the class to focus on book work while I had to respond to the behavior of this particular student. I had to find out what triggered the behavior of this particular student and redirect her anger towards a positive activity that she liked. This actually worked and I could continue on with the lesson that I was teaching the class. This happened several times throughout the school year and when redirected, it actually worked. The long-term result was positive.
On the other hand, a time when I was partner teaching in a 7th grade science class and a tennis ball fight erupted while we were out in the hall greeting students during passing time. The other teacher entered the room first and then I came in about 5 seconds later and saw balls flying in the air being thrown at other students. Kids were actually hiding under the lab tables. I looked at the other teacher (it was her class) and saw that she was laughing at what had taken place. I wasn't sure what to say or do because I was an assistant teacher in the room and didn't want to "step on her toes", so therefor I had no response. THIS WAS NOT A GOOD THING!!! Students thought that what they did was okay. I sat back and listened to the teacher telling the students to clean the room and then they had to sit and write a letter about what they did wrong. I can't tell you how many parents called that next day to complain about their child being hit with a tennis ball. The kids thought it was funny and that it was an acceptable event that occurred during the year. If it would've happened again, I would have responded differently. I would have redirected the students and then gone through the ABC'S of performance.
The most obvious example of a positive response I can think of is when students who are really nervous about doing a speech receive positive feedback about everything they did well. Even though they may have weaknesses to work on, hearing the positives seems to lift their level of confidence for the next speech.
My recent use of a redirect method didn't work so well, however. One of my students came to me with a complaint that another student had been mouthing profanities at her during her speech performance. The girl being accused was also in trouble for many other issues around school, so I automatically sided with the accuser. When the girl being accused approached me with her defense, I just redirected the focus of the conversation to other problems and failed to really listen to her. Though I still feel she did not behave appropriately in class, I needed to be more accepting of her comments rather than making assumptions.
The first situation that came to mind was when I was passing out Spelling Pretests to my reading students and one of them did poorly and did not pass. I told her I would like to talk with her after class that I knew that she could do better than what she did. She came to talk to me after class and I told her that I believed in her and knew she could do much better by Friday which was the Final Test and that grade would be entered into my gradebook. I practiced her words each day and even played games with her words. She took the test on Friday and received an A. She was so proud of herself as I was of her. I told her I wanted to talk to her after class. I high-fived her when she came in and told her I knew she could do it. I think the most important part of why that situation worked out was that she knew I believed in her and knew she could do it. I was in her corner cheering her on with a smile!
Another situation that I remember was when I was a new teacher and this student didn't do well on his Spelling Pretest. I told him to keep studying for Friday. That was it. I didn't say anymore. Needless to say, he failed the test again on Friday. Nothing changed and I didn't hold him accountable or even tell him that I believed in him. :0( I guess that is how we grow each year as teachers and becoming positive ones. We learn from our mistakes. Needless to say, I don't do that anymore!!!!
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