AboutDeborah Robinson Expertise I have a BA in Elementary Education (1-8) and Speech and an MEd. in Reading and Language Arts (K-12). I am a reading specialist. I also have a great deal of experience teaching children who are non-native English speakers. I am qualified to address teaching issues in all subjects K-8 and Reading and Launguage Arts at all levels. I am not qualified to advise people on higher levels of Math or Science. I`m also quite interested in using computers in the classroom as a teaching tool and have ideas and resources for integration of computer skills into each subject area.
Experience I'm a reading specialist (K-12), have taught elementary school, all subjects, for 30 years - have extensive ESL experience although I'm not officially certified. I taught computer (Macs) to K-8 for 6 years. I have taken graduate level courses on The Writing Process and completed a course on writing books for children and teens. I have taught combined grades k-2, 1-2 and 2-3. I've taught in the US and abroad - I have worked in Libya, Morocca, Chad, Japan, headed up a school in Indonesia and am now the director of the American International School of Niamey, Niger - Africa.
Education/Credentials MEd. - University of Vermont - Reading and Language Arts/Reading Specialist; K-12 Administrator - Plymouth State University, NH.
BA - Muskingum College - Elementary Ed / Speech
Question Hi, my name is Michelle and i am doing a research activity based on children on *Does a reward motivate children or reinforce children to do better?
So i was thinking to get a group of children gr-1 or gr.2 and give them a spelling list, and when they are done, to reward them at the end. than i will get another set of group and do the same spelling list but this time without a reward.
~Do you think this is a good idea, or what ideas do you think. Thanks
Answer Hello, Micheleq,
Boy - that's a tough one. Have you read 'Punished By Rewards' by Alphie Kohn? You might want to look at that book prior to doing this. I don't know that I agree completely with it, but it gives you a look at 'rewards' from another perspective.
Because you are going to work with a very small pool of candidates (I'm assuming), it's going to be very hard to get a true picture. In a given class of say 20 students, I would hazard a guess that at least 3 are self motivated and ready to roll and 3 are not going to care a twit about doing the work no matter what you do. The other 14 will fall into good day / bad day behaviors. Some of those will definitely work harder for the perceived reward. And some of the others will buy into it a time or two, but then stop caring.
I will guess the level of the reward will count. When I taught first grade, if I said they could draw a line on the chalkboard if they got 100 on their spelling, they would be RUNNING to succeed. By 3rd or 4th grade, they wouldn't do it for anything less than a new car! So, the younger the children, the better chance you have to see the trend for 6 or 7 year olds --- but if previous teachers / parents have used a LOT of rewards, you will find that you can't find anything affordable enough to entice them.
I'm overweight and I try hard not to use food as a reward. I often used behavior modification charts (coloring in circles or squares until you reach a certain number (50 or 100) and the 'prize' was to be able to color a little certificate while I read to the class, instead of having to follow along in the book - each child had a copy of what I was reading) with great success.
So, I think you might get to see a trend - but I wouldn't draw any conclusions unless you do this with a HUGE number of kids (different socio-economic backgrounds, too).
