Module 3

Classroom Management

      Reading this week's resources I started having second thoughts about rewarding in class.  As a teacher I have used numerous times rewarding in the class and I continue to so.  By reading chapter 7 of Behavioral Views of Learning about operant conditioning, I learned that Skinner through experiments shows what behaviors will lead to positive consequences and what behaviors to negative ones  (pg. 260).  I think Skinner's theory is proven in my classroom with my students because I see results every time I reward my students.  My second thoughts on rewarding started after I read the article Punished Rewards.  In some points I agree with Alpie Kohn, especially when she claims that by using rewards we control or we manipulate students' behavior.  I think that mainly this statement describes the reality in the classroom.  Many teachers use a lot of rewards to make students study more or and get good grades so teachers get the whole credit.  After I considered the rewarding issues through I have decided that teachers want to get results, that is their job!  And students need to learn, that is their job.  By verbally rewarding a student who has hardships in life and achieved a good grade by her/his own efforts, i do not think we manipulate behavior but we encourage so the student will be motivated.  

      With the same way we use rewards we can use punishment.  According to the Article Punished by Rewards, students are expected to learn and we should create a welcoming and comfortable environment fro students to do so.  Punishment then is another form of manipulation.  But all teachers know very well how many problems may arise in a classroom with many students.  All of our students come from different backgrounds and with different behavioral principles from their home.  Some students may behave in a more democratic way, some others listen to the teacher, and some others do not want to follow rules at all.  Some times then discipline is necessary.  I think that students are expected to follow the rules of the class and behave in order to learn the material.  

      The teacher I interviewed this week has the same opinion with me.  When I asked her if she likes to set up the rules on her own or to make the rules with her classmates she answered the first.  I am the same way and I believe that students need to be in a classroom environment where they understand that rules apply for the better.  What I learned from the teacher during this interview is that she combined her classroom rules with rewards.  She does not call them rules but she is using another term that relates to success.  She does that because she wants her students to feel that achieve by following the rules.  Again I do not perceive this as manipulation but as caring about your students.