The idea of forming a habit, so often, refers to negative things in your life. Among the many interesting examples from The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg, the habit-forming of exercise was intriguing to me (2012). The cycle of cue, routine, reward as a way of creating a habit made me think differently about how I’ve approached habit forming in my own life. Especially in the time of Covid-19, it is a constant challenge to match the activity levels that I’m used to having in exercise and work. Much of my activity level relied on access to a neighborhood gym and walking around my classroom all day. Covid-19 has drastically shifted the habits I had formed before social distancing and stay-at-home orders. Creating new positive habit-forming routines is difficult, but being intentional with the cycle of cue, routine, and reward, it will help me adapt to my new normal.
Performing a behavior analysis from a scene out of Harry Potter was an engaging way of critically looking at behaviorism. Dolores Umbridge's teaching presented an opportunity to see behaviorist concepts in action. In the scene, she focuses on the wrong way to handle classroom management. Through her example and the use of behaviorism, it is possible to see clear red flags as to why her techniques are not working. In an attempt to control her class, she perfectly illustrates the many pitfalls of using continuous positive punishment (Cherry, 2019). It’s not uncommon to see less extreme versions of this, attempting to be used to shape student behavior. When looking at my classroom management, it is crucial to be intentional about the types of operant conditioning used. Consistently striving for a more variable ratio or interval schedule for positive reinforcement is proven to be more productive. The use of positive punishment to shape student behavior is reactionary. At times, a way of trying to change a behavior that might be dangerous or harmful quickly. Preemptively accounting for possible problem areas of classroom management through more efficient operant conditioning concepts can go a long way for both your students and you as a teacher. Revisiting operant conditioning concepts of reinforcements and schedules is interesting when thinking about classroom management techniques (Cherry, 2019). When first introduced to these ideas in undergrad, I lacked the classroom experience to make real connections to these concepts. Now when thinking about a positive reinforcement with a variable interval schedule in my classroom, I think about my kindergarten classes. As a K-8 Computer Science teacher, I must adapt to my changing grade levels quickly and frequently. Giving my middle schoolers positive reinforcement with a variable ratio is effective. However, with kindergarteners, I’ve found my tendencies for reinforcement to be different. Finding a way to incorporate positive reinforcement in a variable interval or ratio schedule would improve the classroom environment for all of my students. Overall, unit 2 gave me the opportunity to revisit concepts that I hadn't interacted with in quite some time. Behaviorism, more specifically operant conditioning concepts, have very interesting applications to classroom management and everyday life. References Cherry, K. (2019, September 5). What is operant conditioning and how does it work?. Verywell Mind. https://www.verywellmind.com/operant-conditioning-a2-2794863 Duhigg, C. (2012). The power of habit: Why we do what we do in life and business. New York: Random House.
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AuthorMy name is Ryan MacLeod and I live in Seattle, WA. I am currently a K-8 Lab Coordinator. I have a passion for educational technology integration and curriculum design, especially when it comes to the social sciences. Archives
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