Positive Reinforcement

I am currently in a Head Start placement, so I am working with 3, 4, and 5 year olds. One of the biggest things I have observed thus far is positive reinforcement to the students and how it is implemented. My cooperating teacher focuses heavily on the students using their words, especially when they get upset about something with a teacher, themselves, or another peer. Many of the students struggle with using their words, especially the ELL students. Many of them result in yelling out, kicking, and hitting.

The question I have asked myself is: When is it appropriate to implement positive reinforcement?

The article, PRESCHOOL TEACHERS’ USE OF PRAISE IN GENERAL, AT-RISK, AND SPECIAL EDUCATION CLASSROOMS, had some interesting points in regards to my question. The article specifically talks about the benefits of using positive reinforcement, for example it is not costly, it helps to establish a praise between teacher and student, and if implemented correctly, it can save students from getting expelled. I also saw in my research that positive reinforcement should be used every time a student completes a desired behavior.

With there being a language barrier between some students that have not learned English yet, communication with their peers and teachers is hard.  For the ELL students to understand positive reinforcement is also difficult. That being said a question I still have is how is it best to teach positive reinforcement to ELL students? My cooperating teacher has a system with a student who speaks little to no English. If he sits respectively at the carpet during whole group time, he is able to have a small action figure toy to fidget with while sitting. However, this student does not yet understand the correspondence of sitting respectively with being able to have the little toy. He wants to walk around and be disruptive, but also wants the toy at the same time. When he doesn’t get the toy he just gets upset and tries to hit and yell out. How would you personally work with an ELL student and teaching them positive reinforcement?

References:

Floress, M. T., Berlinghof, J. R., Rader, R. A., & Riedesel, E. K. (2017). Preschool Teachers’ Use of Praise in General, At-Risk, and Special Education Classrooms. Psychology in the Schools, 54(5), 519–531.

My Educational Gurus

Hi everyone! Welcome to my first blog post. This first post is going to explain my educational journey thus far at Millersville University.

Influencers:

My biggest influencer in my educational journey (and life) is my mom. My mom has been a teacher for over 25 years. I went through the same elementary school that she is still teaching at. Growing up, I would be in her classroom everyday before and after school. I would spend countless summer days in her classroom as well as she prepared for upcoming school years. As long as I can remember I have wanted to be a teacher, and I owe it to my mom for letting me dive into all of her classroom supplies during all the time I spent in her classroom. Another influence would be all of my elementary school teachers and all of my mom’s “teacher friends”. They are always sharing insightful advice, offering their classroom up for my to observe, and overall just always being supportive of me.

Pedagogy:

As for educational theorists, I relate to Lev Vygotsky. Vygotsky’s theory was the Zone of Proximal Development. This means what a child can do on their own, what a child can do with help/assistance, and what a child cannot do. I think this idea is important because it is imperative to know your students’ each individual abilities. It is also important to know their personal limits in both academics and with their emotions. Vygotsky also believed that nurture was more important with children than nature is. This is the same belief that I have in the nature vs. nurture argument. I agree with Vygotsky that it is more important to be a caring teacher and shaping children’s minds through proper care and schooling rather than just genetics.

Teaching the Why and the How of the Field:

I think that the professors here at Millersville University are teaching the why and the how of the field. Every single professor that I have had thus far at Millersville has brought a new idea to the table. There’s so much diversity among the professors at Millersville. Everyone has experienced different situations in their own time in the field, everyone has come from somewhere different, it is amazing to just hear and take in what every professor has to say.

Insights:

The people that share the most insight with me personally are education majors, professors, and my peers. Every semester I meet new future educators in my classes. Every peer comes from different places and everyone has different experiences with their own education as well as in the field. Bouncing ideas off of fellow future educators is so insightful.