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 Rewarding students 
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I remember in elementary school we had all kinds of rewards for good behavior and good work. We had a surprise box, dashes on the board that spelled some type of party and everytime the class was good we would get a letter. We also had an index card on our desk and everytime we made a good grade we would get a stamp and and when we had 10 stamps we got to go into the surprise box. I actually think I might use some of these ideas for my class because it is a good reinforcement for the students. Do yall have anymore ideas? Or even do you think that these reinforcements are good teaching stradegies? Sorry running out of ideas for topics!!! :roll:


Mon Mar 31, 2003 4:57 pm
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Beth I think you're right, rewards are good. Rewarding students shows them that you approve of what they are doing, or what they have done. "OBVIOUSLY" :roll: I'm doing my internship at William Lenoir Middle School and my host teacher is very good about rewarding the students for their good behavior. She rewards them by letting them go into the "prizebox" and get one treat. She also allows the students to accumulate points for good behavior, and the points can accrue into a homework pass or an extra bathroom pass. The students(sixth graders) seem to like the system. She also can take points away for bad behavior, which is a deterent for misbehavior. my two cents :)

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Aaron Bridges


Mon Mar 31, 2003 5:56 pm
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forgive me but i have something negative to say about these rewards and the horrible effects that it has on our childrens learning process and our society.

i went to a seminar last semester about negative reinforcement and classroom mngt (maybe some of you where also their) and she talked about how detremental and riduculs rewards where. once you start to teach that knowledge is nothing compared to getting enough stickers to go to the "prize box!" then we start to find students getting older asking whats in it for me?- and parents and teachers who have to work harder at giving students these negative reinforcments, riduculus stratigies like giving money for grades, pizza party for the 8th grade if they win the reading drive. ((((((side note: maybe i would have learned how to spell if more value was placed on it other than -who won the spelling bee in class today to get the prize. - because frankly i didnt give a damn about that prize and therefore i didnt give a damn about spelling - maybe if i had known that i would grow up one day and actually need to spell right i might have paid more attention- and you wouldnt have to read this and think - man brian cant spell for nothing!)))))

so the STICKERS and the "PRIZEBOX!" and the PIZZA and the MONEY is what students are coming to school for not the OH MY GOD MOM AND DAD GUESS WHAT I LEARNED IN SCHOOL TODAY!!!!!


wheres the value of knowledge, that wonderful excitment of seeing the kid hit that "ive got it look" that alot of you talked about in the topic -"what i look forward to most when im a teacher"???

save the pizza parties and the stickers for things like = the class grade that raisies the most money for field day and other things that are not associated with the true value of knowing something. because in 8 years when im looking at that kid in my history class and they give me some bullshit question like "why do i need to know this?" i wont have to waste class time trying to make them feel impowered, that they can change things, and that knowledge is the only power you need to get what you want the more you have the better you will be - TRUE VALUE of knowledge. "can i get my sticker now?"

mamya!

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Brian Gonzales


Tue Apr 01, 2003 11:56 am
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I definitely see the power of both sides. I see where rewards can be trivial and not the best thing once they get older, but then I also see that the classes where there is no reward system are ususally the ones I have the most problems with. How can you have a discipline system and not have a reward system to counter it? Maybe a rewards system is not the best idea for grades, but what about behavior? Brian, what do you think would be a better way to reinforce good behavior? I personally don't agree with saying "you behave or here's the consequence." Wouldn't it be better to say "you behave because here's the rewards?" Maybe I'm totally out of my leaque, but I would love to hear other suggestions, especially from you, Brian.

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Julie Schmidt


Tue Apr 01, 2003 7:37 pm
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dear julie,

i understand your concern for class behavior, and a reward system to help acheive good behavior.

however, i never once said that a reward system for BEHAVIOR was a bad thing - just a reward system for KNOWLEDGE.

the "classroom mangament" title for the seminar is where this might have confused you. let me know.

but since youve got me thinking about behavior id offer this
a kid that cares about what he is doing in class is going to behave in that class. its what we learned along time ago in edu pysh. its hard not to have a reward system set up for the kids, especially if all the other teachers are doing it - but a reward for getting an A on a test is very differant than rewarding a student for good behavior.
however, if the kids learn to love and care about school - (and that is what all elem edu teachers should be working to find a solution to) then theyll behave.
imagine this: ever since you where little your parents would just give you a dollar for doing something good to another person with no explanation why you should care about people or society or beinging a good citizen -theyd just give you that dollar -and when your ten your doing things all the time to get those dollars, and as you go through your teenage yrs you keep doing them, you get thousands of dollars this way! but then its time for you to leave home and go out to the real world- and your not geting those dollars any more - where are you going to find the reward in doing good to others? where will the motivation come from? and whats the REAL value of all those dollars now? - its the same way with school and knowledge.

MAMAYA

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Brian Gonzales


Wed Apr 02, 2003 6:26 pm
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I agree with both of you guys. I went to a seminar tonight about classroom management, and while it sucked, I did learn a few things. People who were student teaching were giving all kinds of suggestions because they have a unique viewpoint from those of us who havn't actually been up in front of a class on a daily basis yet. I think that education needs to be a positive experience all over, and one girl said that when designing the rules for her class, she is going to have things like "You may use the bathroom if you use the hall pass" and "You may enjoy a book during free time" and other positive rules. These are quite different than the old "don't talk when the teacher is talking" and "don't speak out of turn" and all of those old school rules. I think that so many students pull away from school after the elementary years because it becomes such a negative place. I think that stickers and stamps and stuff can be fun for kids in elementary school but there still needs to be a genuine personal interest in school that I think comes from school being a positive atmosphere.


Wed Apr 02, 2003 10:43 pm
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I think that what Brian is saying is very powerful. I'm not sure which side to take because I think there are strong points for both sides. But, I wanted to post because this very point was a major focus for my Ed. Psych. class last spring. My professor was a bit of a radical- she didn't believe in grades and she was very much against certain types of rewards. She didn't teach us to believe what she believes in terms of teaching, so I have great respect for her as a teacher. She taught us to take what others said in the class, and use it to form our own set of beliefs on education. There was a book that we read for that class called Punished By Rewards: The Trouble with Gold Stars, Incentive Plans, A's, Praise, and other Bribes by Alfie Kohn, and it was really incredible. It made some really great points and I think that anyone who is forming their pedagogy as a teacher should read it, wheter they agree with one side or the other.

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Katie Zell


Mon Apr 07, 2003 8:43 am
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Rewarding good behavior helps children to understand when they are doing acceptable behavior and when they are not. Especially in the elementary grades students are learning socially as well as in knowledge. Students need to learn that the true reward for good behavior is a better society. How does his or her good behavior affect the classroom? I belive that through years of experience we will learn when using rewards is good and when it is bad. We need to think of developing behavior and knowledge with a lifetime value.

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Caryann Barton


Mon Apr 07, 2003 10:10 am
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I am doing my practicum now at Green Valley Elementary and my teacher has a neat idea. She has a huge tub of beads at her desk and she uses these to reward the students. For different assignments and actions, she tells the student how many beads he/she may have. Each student keeps a cup at their desk in which they collect their beads. In the back of the room there are baskets with different items inside with the amount of beads needed to cash in for the item. The students get really excited about getting their beads and finally receiving a cool gift. I think rewarding students for their positive actions is essential in having a regulated, effective classroom :D


Mon Apr 07, 2003 6:02 pm
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