Reiforcement/Praise
Reiforcement of a students work is something I have always tried to be consious of. Students are "proud" of theri accomplishements and us a s teachers shoyuld try to recognize when a student is felling that way.
Yes, there is such a thing as over-doing the reinforcement/praise technique, I have seen other teachers do it, I also try to stay consious of this as i have found myself doing that.
Jeannie,
I agree with you and I like to give praise when it is due.
Judy Mohammed
Students need praise it puts a smile on their face and changes the classroom mood.
Harold,
This is a great point. I hardly ever use "Excellent" in my teaching vocabulary. I ask myself, "Is the work really excellent?" I use other praiseworthy terms.
Judy Mohammed
We all appreciate praise in any form. Watch out for the use of "Excellent, and a few other tearms" though. Is the response really excellent, or could the question have been answered differently
Ronnie,
We all appreciate praise in any form. Be careful of the use of "Excellent," though. Is the response really excellent?
Judy Mohammed
I think that just by saying (Excellent answer) is just as rewarding as candy and you get to see the pride on their fases.Then ask if any one can add to the responce you will see more activity toward the objective to the qwestion.
Jessie,
Giving candy works ver well in elementary school and can be used from time to time in college classes, but I would advise against using it all the time.
Judy Mohammed
I have had an issue in the past where other instructors give out candy to anybody that answers a question. I believe that it is a great way to get feedback but they come to expect it.
Marcus,
We are constantly seeking ways to reach out to shy students and asking questions is a great way since it opens a dialogue with class interaction. I ask fairly easy questions at first so that they may feel confident enough to respond and I never put down any response.
Judy Mohammed
I find that finding out what a students interests are, relating the questions to that interest, tend to bring out a apprehensive student. There are always the quiet, shy type of student.
Kevin,
This is also a tool we can use to get our quiet students to speak, when they realize that we are not afraid of using positive reinforcers.
Judy Mohammed
Kevin,
You are so right. We all need reinforcemnt and praise, when thinking about it, so why not share with our students.
Judy Mohammed
positive reiforcement keeps the student cofident in the abilaties in answering questions in class
All students need reiforcement and praise during the trainning to keep them motivated and involved in there trainning.
Mike,
Humor is always good! As long as they realize that this is the wrong answer and you guide them to the correct one.
Judy Mohammed
Stuart ,
That is a good way to word your response. Sometimes though you may have to make it clear that the response is going in the wrong direction so as not to confuse anyone. After getting the correct response, you may say, "...this is the correct response because..." and identify why the other responses would be incorrect.
Judy Mohammed
My replies to most students when they have answered incorrectly is (That's right!)with an explanation of the correct answer. Of course it brings a little chuckle with the students, but by bringing in a little comedic value to their response be it right or wrong, I've found the students not so reluctant to answer.
Although I also find positive reinforcement to be almost essential with students trying a new career or first career choice,teaching a very technical field being open to students who may not be "technically minded" can be a challenge When the choices are --correct or incorrect reinforcement basically comes down to "really good attempt"
Dena,
Excellent skill! As the old saying goes, "You get more bees with honey..." Support and encouragement are two vital tools in the learning environment.
Judy Mohammed
