Assignment #4: Complete the 4 part assignment format as you read, reflect, and respond to Chapter 4 – Reinforcing Effort and Providing Recognition.
ALL PARTICIPANTS PLEASE READ THE NOTE BELOW!!!
Although your course packet asks you to post to blog for parts A, B, C, and D…we are asking that you only post part C and D. We’re trying to make the blog easier to read and more user- friendly. Thanks!
A. Self Assessment of Current Beliefs and Practices: This component asks you to reflect on how and why you currently use the instructional strategies of Reinforcing Effort and Providing Recognition in your classroom. The intent of this is to activate your prior knowledge of your strategy use so that you can make comparisons as you read the chapter. Below are the questions to help you complete your self-assessment.
• This chapter discusses the potential influence of reinforcing students' effort and providing recognition for their accomplishments. Think back to your own personal experiences and try to identify situations in which your learning was positively influenced when someone reinforced your effort or recognized your accomplishments in some significant way. You might also remember situations that would have been improved if someone had reinforced your effort or had given you recognition.
• Now try to remember examples of situations that you positively influenced because you did reinforce students' effort or provide recognition.
• How do you currently reinforce students’ effort in your classroom and what is your purpose?
• What makes reinforcing effective or ineffective?
• Although verbal recognition seems to be most effective, providing concrete tokens (e.g., stickers, candy, toys) can also be effective. What advice would you give to a new teacher about using tokens as rewards?
B. Read & Reflect “Research & Theory”:This portion of the assignment asks you to read chapter 4 and reflect briefly on your thinking after reading the “Research and Theory” section for both reinforcing effort and providing recognition. You may want to consider reflecting on the bulleted comment below.
C. Practice: Choose one of the specific “classroom practice” strategies or techniques shared in this chapter to teach to your students (If you are not currently teaching, you may share how you would use this strategy in your classroom). You may want to consider reflecting on the bulleted comment below. Please post a brief reflection of how this went to the posting labeled Week Four: Reinforcing Effort and Providing Recognition. Click on the “comment” link below.
• This chapter recommends the use of rubrics to help students see the relationship between their effort and their achievement. Try to identify a specific long-term, challenging assignment that might be enhanced by using these rubrics.
D. Final Strategy Reflection: Use the following sequence of questions/promps to reflect on what you’ve learned about both the strategies presented in the chapter and what you’ve learned about yourself as both a teacher and a learner. Please post your brief reflection to the posting labeled Week Four: Reinforcing Effort and Providing Recognition by clicking on the “comment” link below.
How has the information you read in this chapter on summarizing affected your thinking about teaching and learning? What have you learned about yourself as a teacher and learner? You may use some of the following questions to assist you in writing a brief strategy reflection:
• How might I change how I reinforce students’ effort in my classroom?
• What is something you now understand better about reinforcing effort or providing recognition?
• How might you change how you provide recognition in your classroom?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
13 comments:
C. I always try to give student effort grades on big projects and speeches, because some kids have great effort, even if they aren't able to achieve as high. I really, really like the effort rubric for kids to score their own effort on assignments. I could see using that during Writer's Workshop. Third graders are pretty honest when it comes to scoring themselves on things and I could see them being especially honest about writing (because some days it's just hard to give good effort. But, even if they aren't writing, they can have effort into looking for a topic, etc.). They would be especially honest if I told them it wouldn't change anything I was giving them (grade-wise) and it was for their own self reflection.
We have a large research project at the end of the year - an animal report - and although I score them on their effort, I would like to use a rubric like this for them to score themselves on each component of the report. They do currently score themselves on effort, but without a lot of explanation about what effort is - another reason for a rubric!
Earlier this year we tried a little slip of paper that they attached to their assignments that had them score their effort (and neatness, etc...). But I think for it to be effective, we would need to practice with an effort rubric so they have a concrete reason (a back up) for why their effort was good (or not!)
D. I think the idea of explicitly teaching effort is something we should encourage all teachers to do. Sharing examples from real life (athletes, The Little Engine That Could, personal stories...) might really help the students understand the idea of perseverance. We all say, "Did you put in your best effort?" and usually, they'll say "yes!" Maybe, with instruction on effort, they'll start to realize when they didn't put in their best effort...and when they did (and be proud of that!) Especially those kids who everything comes easy to - they always get good grades, they always get to be in the "extra" groups, etc... and they don't have to work very hard at any of it.
Although the tangible "recognition" is also motivating for kids, it was refreshing to read the research on verbal praise. Don't we all see that in our classrooms? Those smiles that are a mile wide when we praise them are just as motivating to us! I know I could do more of it though - I'm sure we all could.
As a school, we use the PBS (Positive Behavior Support) system and kids receive "Eagle Eyes" when they are "caught" being safe, respectful or responsible. Those traits are taught at the beginning of the year and reviewed throughout the year. The kids feel so proud to earn one - and then they repeat the positive behavior the next time they're in that situation - and pretty soon, it becomes habit and they're not waiting for an Eagle Eye. And in the end...very few of them win a tangible reward for it, but they have better citizenship, behavior, etc... As teachers, we are asked to check on the Eagle Eye whether they were being safe, respectful and responsible and to explain to the kids why they earned it.
Kelly Carlson - Chapter 4
C. Practice-
Again, this chapter gave me several ideas for ways to reinforce effort and provide recognition. (What a great book! I am finding it very applicable to my own teaching!) The first is the ‘effort rubric’. I use the 4 point grading (achievement) rubric for assignments in my class and it would be really easy to incorporate an effort rubric. I would introduce it and scaffold just like I do with the achievement rubric…have students grade themselves, create rubrics as a class, create them in small groups, verbally assess one another, etc. This is a quick tool that can have a big impact.
The second tool that I intend to use in my classroom is figure 4.5 on page 56. The ‘guidelines for effective praise’ provides an easy way to check that my own praise is doing what it is intended to: motivate students. I think that I’ll copy it and post it near my desk as a reminder!
D. Final Strategy Reflection-
The lesson that ‘the harder students try, the more successful they will be’ seems like it should be the foundation of our educational system at all levels. But when I read chapter four I started to ask myself if that message is clear in my own classroom. I would like to think that it is obvious, but it could certainly be made more evident.
I have to admit that I was really suprised to read about the 1980 study that found "that junior high school teachers praised only 11 percent of students' correct responses." (page 55) When I reflect on this I wonder what the percentage is in my own classroom. I think it is much higher than that, but it would be really interesting to have a count of some sort. At the very least it is good to be aware of.
One of the things that I have decided to focus on at the start of the next school year is spending more time getting to know my students. (This is especially important next year as our team size increases to 130 kids. That doesn’t even include the two other classes each term with students grades 10-12. By the time school starts I could have 170 students on my first semester roster. Yikes!) Incorporating an activity at the start of the year where students share examples of situations from their own lives when effort has paid off could accomplish my goal of getting to know more about them while also starting the conversation about how effort will come into play in their academics.
On Team Cascade we write & mail home postcards at our weekly team meetings. I have mailing address labels pre-printed for all of our students and ‘Cascade Kudos’ printed on ½ sheets of bright colored card stock. We try to recognize any achievements that students make…not only the “big” things, but also progress that is being made toward smaller goals. Each team staff member (4 teachers, 1 administrator, 1 dean of students, 1 counselor) writes a quick note and signs the postcard. We affix a mailing address label and put it in the mail right away. Oftentimes we see students put those postcards in the front of their binders and show them off to their friends. It is something really simple that students are very proud of.
I agree with you both...students need to understand the importance of hard work and determination and how it will allow them to excel in their achievement. Thanks so much for sharing your thinking and and how you can use Marzano in your classroom work. It's so interesting for me to see the value of these researched based strategies being used on opposite spectrum of our teaching continuum (elementary/HS).
Lindsay, Mary & Jackie,
MHS also has a school-wide behavior response program that is being gradually rolled out to students (ours is called EBS...effective behavior systems). The group of staff that has been developing the roll out started with the staff last year & implemented a strategy that my team intends to use next year with our students.
In the EBS system at our school there are five behaviors that are promoted - each one corresponds to one letter is P.O.W.E.R. (Ex: E for empathy)
Among staff last year the EBS team made one of those behaviors the focus for the month. At the end of the month, staff members would turn in a short recognition form describing a time that they saw a colleague display that behavior. (You could fill out several if you wanted...most often these were done at staff meetings.) After the forms were collected the EBS team would randomly draw out 3 & award a small prize to BOTH the person who wrote the form and the person being recognized. After the drawings all forms were posted in the staff room. This motivated staff members to display the positive behavior AND encouraged staff to recognize each other.
Since the P.O.W.E.R behaviors are being rolled out to students next year Team Cascade has already agreed to use this same model with our students. We are hoping that it will reinforce the POWER behaviors, and encourage students to applaud small successes.
C) Practice
Towards the end of the year as we get into expository writing, my 3rd grade students begin a project that essentially includes researching an endangered or extinct species of their choice, writing an expository piece about the animal, and then creating a presentation board that assists them in their speech. For each of these three components, clear objectives are outlined and discussed with students. Given this, this year I would like to use a version of the Effort and Achievement Rubric explained on page 52. I could see students using this to monitor their effort incrementally, and then overall once they have completed the project.
D) Final Strategy Reflection
At the beginning of the year, we spend time discussing what it means to truly put forth ones best effort. We talk about what it means to produce good quality work, and then we look at examples from past students. The students enjoy participating in this because number one, it gives them something to work up to (the students get really excited at looking at student samples, knowing they are capable of the same), and number two, it creates this validation or sense that yes, effort is important and they should believe in putting forth their best effort. This year, I plan on reading one of the books mentioned in the text to my 3rd graders, The Little Engine That Could, which is a nicely told story about the value of effort.
I found the section devoted to providing recognition and praise to be particularly interesting. Specifically, students should be praised for meeting specific performance standards as opposed to praising or rewarding students simply for participation. This point was so important to me because of that correlation between intrinsic motivation and praise. What I would like to change about how I provide praise in my classroom is trying the “pause, prompt and praise” strategy explained in the book. To me it essentially entails holding a discussion with the student to identify the problem, providing a suggestion, and then praising the student for improved performance. Again, the emphasis is on giving praise for meeting specific criteria, as opposed to praising the participation itself (which should be expected). I think the student becomes aware of this also because they know that they are not simply expected to “do” an assignment without regard to processes or performance, but rather, they are expected to focus on their attitude, performance, and other behaviors relevant to the assignment.
When I was reading through the comments on this section I started thinking about how late work policies impact the effort put forth by students. A few years ago I had a VERY bright student who came to me the day before a project was due to ask for an extra day to work on his project. He turned in an amazing product! I was so glad that I had given him the extension otherwise he may have turned in an incomplete or rushed version (or no product at all). I wonder how many times “life” gets in the way for students and they rush through so that they can turn in something. I’m thinking that it may be helpful to have a space on the effort rubric for students to justify the ‘grade’ they give themselves. Maybe patterns would emerge that would lead to problem solving discussions…
Kelly - the EBS system sounds great, I think it's interesting that you chose to start with the staff before transferring it to the students. I'm thinking that it probably help with any moral problems there may have been in the building??? And I think your grade justification is a GREAT idea! Wouldn't it be great if all students should have that opportunity!!!
Sarah - I completely agree with the importance of intrinsic vs. extrinsic motivation, and I think the way you would use the pause, prompt, praise strategy would be great. Kids need to have ownership over their learning and understand how to succeed and what the expectation of success is.
Kelly, Good point about the late work - I like the idea of having them "justify" the effort grade they're giving themselves. Life definitely gets in the way for adults, and I'm sure there are many students who rush to finish something due to that!
Sarah, my third graders do a similar project at the end of the year. The only difference is their animal doesn't have to be endangered. Fun project!
The EBS system Kelly talked about and PBS system I talked about are the same - different districts call them different things. We were the last school in our district to start it because our principal felt we had "great kids" (which we did) but it has been a great addition. It's required teachers to make sure we give verbal compliments, which we know go a long way!
C:As a new teacher with a CTE license, so much of this is very new to me since I do not have an educational background in teaching. The terms are particularly helpful, and daunting at times. But the best part is being able to say “hey I do that, but I didn’t know it was called that, and I didn’t know I could do even more with it!”
So reading about Rubrics and having the Effort and Achievement example in figure 4.2 is awesome! I absolutely plan to use this and the chart in my classroom to help students score themselves. I also think that it would be a great tool for them to score each other and even me as a teacher.
I can see setting this up at the beginning of the year and tailoring it to each section of my curriculum throughout the term.
D: Reading all that information about reinforcement absolutely helped me see that I need to be much more intentional with how I am using reinforcement with students and staff. It helped a lot to see how I can do much more with relating reinforcement to the completion of something, i.e assignment, good behavior, taking on leadership, etc. Since I also am the director of the child care center on the high school campus I see many applications for the 4-6 staff that work there. I am also very excited to share this information with my preschool teacher so she can apply it to her classroom too.
I have used concrete symbols and personal recognition for the most part in the past, so I will definitely be working on adding the Pause, Prompt, and Praise to my teaching. In particular helping students to learn that there is great value in taking a break when things are getting difficult. This translates well into a positive life skill!
C.
Reinforcing Effort-Even before I read the comment on using the rubrics I thought that would be a great idea. I was trying to think of a specific task I could use it for, but I think an effort rubric could be used for handwriting practice, independent reading work and even tests. I was imagining posting a very simple rubric on the board for my first graders and then after the task has been completed ask the students to share where they were on the rubric and why. I think this would motivate them to try their hardest so that they could share it with the class and receive positive feedback from their classmates.
Reinforcing recognition- This is a concept that I personally struggle with as a teacher. I really appreciated the "Guidelines for Effective Praise" that were listed in the chapter. Sometimes it just takes stepping back and realizing what you are saying and if that is truly helping motivate the students or not. I will definately use those guidelines to examine the praise I use. I also really liked the idea of "Pause, Prompt, and Praise". I sometimes get caught up in just praising for effort (because sometimes that is a huge accomplishment) but I think it is important to push my students not only to try their hardest, but to do it right as well. I will definately be trying this strategy.
D. I want to start my year out right by teaching students about effort. That thought had never crossed my mind. Sharing examples of how effort leads to sucess is a great idea. I definately understand that recognition and praise can come in many forms and depending on the situation all can be effective, but you have to make sure you take the task into consideration when using a reward or praise. Also completing the task successfully is as important as just completing it. I will definately reevaluate the praise I use and make sure it is effective and that I am actually motivating my students in the correct way.
Thanks,
Kimberly Lewis
Reinforcing Effort and Providing Recognition
Practice:
In the past years, I have struggled with getting my students to turn in work. It has been very frustrating and draining on me as a teacher, and I’ve never been able to figure out why I am so concerned if they aren’t. This chapter on effort really hit hard for me. I realized that I don’t do a very good job in teaching my students about effort. I would really like to start off the year reading to my 6th graders “The Little Engine That Could”. I think they would think it was funny, and maybe a little bit childish at first, but it might give them the extra push they need to realize that if they put in the effort 6th grade will be a breeze. I think that using an effort and achievement chart at the beginning of the year to help them see their potential, and the relationship between effort and achievement will also help them on future assignments. If ever the students start to slip, I can pull out the chart again, and hopefully see improvements.
I am always confused about “rewards” as I have heard so many differing opinions about them. I occasionally give out rewards for correct answers when we are correcting assignments, and this usually motivates my students to get their work done correctly. I also like for these rewards to be random, that way the students always have to come prepared.
Reflection:
I really enjoyed reading the part about effort. I think that students need to be aware that effort really does play into achievement. I realized as I was reading that I need to do a better job of reinforcing effort, and reminding students that if they try they can achieve. Again, I am still unsure about rewards and how to best use them in the classroom, but I think that having a random system helps motivate students and keep them on their toes.
Kelly- I think that what you said about providing an extension for students who have “life” get in the way is really great. All too often teachers forget that students have lives too, and sometimes they need a break. It really made me think about my homework policies for next year!
Kim- I hadn’t thought of using the effort rubric for tests, but I think that is a great idea! All last year I would harp on my students for rushing through tests when they could use the book for help! I think having them fill out an effort rubric, or even just at the top of their test giving themselves an effort grade would help slow them down and think about how their effort may effect their grade.
Thanks for sharing Bonnie, Kim, and Katie Jo! Bonnie, I’m glad that you’ve had the much needed reinforcement (especially being newer!!!!). It’s great that you are in the position to share these strategies with others who are directly working with students. Kim, I liked your ideas of using the effort rubric with your first graders…I think you will find success. Kim and Katie, I also struggle with the praise at times, especially the idea of internal vs. external. I like the ideas of students being motivated from within, and not getting caught on needing the external praise/rewards ….but there are always those students who need the external…and as Katie said, I do think kids need to be recognized for their effort!
Post a Comment