Ch 9 Behaviorism

What
Our behavior is affected by the stimuli we receive. The response we receive when we present the stimuli depends on how it is presented and the learner’s beliefs about the stimuli. Not all responses are intentional some are involuntary and the learner may not even know that they will respond that way until the stimuli is presented to them. This process of adding or subtracting stimuli in order receive certain behaviors is called behaviorism. Behaviorism can be useful when you are dealing with younger kids because they require more of an immediate reward. However, it can also be disadvantageous because the learners may become dependent on the instant gratification. If you plan on using behaviorism the best thing to do is ask your students what would be the most effective reinforcers so you will have the most efficient results. Once you have set up a system it is important that you remain consistent so your students’ results will be consistent.

So What
As a teacher we need to able to recognize when and where we need to use stimuli to achieve our desired out come. Likewise we need to recognize when we are over stimulating our students so we can decrease the stimuli. In this chapter we learn that by acknowledging a behavior at the wrong moment we might be causing more harm than good. For instance if Jonny keeps acting out in class and you ignore him for the first five minutes but eventually you ask him what he wants to get him to shut up. Then you are making things more difficult for yourself because you are setting up a higher baseline for them. However, if you address the problem right when it happens then you lower the baseline and help yourself to eliminate future problems. The hardest thing when implementing behaviorism is to be consistent. Often time’s teachers explain the consequences of a behavior but they forget to follow through once the behavior appears.

Now What
I am a huge goal setter I love to make goals and I love to achieve them even more. So in my classes I want to implement not only goals for the class to achieve but I also want them to set up individual goals for themselves. By doing this I believe the students will be more motivated to do the activities they are presented with because it implies to the personally. Setting up goal will also help me to design my lessons for each of my classes instead of having the same lesson repeated for all my classes.