3.4.4 Privileges, Rewards, and Punishment

A privilege is something that students get just because they are part of your class. No one has to do anything to get a privilege, but they have to perform to certain standard expectations in order to maintain the privilege. There is an assumption that privileges last until something happens to cause you to remove one or more of them.

Rewards are something special that you give students for some particularly outstanding performance. In our discussion on reinforcement strategies, we talked about tokens, which are a form of reward. Praise is another reward we've talked about. Most of the time, rewards are not taken away after they've been given. But, you as the teacher, decide on who gets a reward and who doesn't. Rewards reinforce positive behaviors.

Punishment is something that you impose on students that is particularly distasteful to them. The purpose of using punishment is to emphasize your desire for students NOT to behave in a certain way. Generally, rewards and privileges are more useful to control student behavior, but in some instances, when a particular behavior could cause serious harm, when it has been repeated too many times, or when a student fails to respond to a reward or privilege, punishment might be your only recourse. A less obvious form of punishment is when a privilege is removed or when a reward is not given. The most powerful punishments you have available to you as a teacher involve taking away privileges.

Privileges

Let's take an inventory of privileges. I hope that from this list you will learn some things that you wouldn't have intuitively thought about. One I have mentioned before is seating choice. If you assign kids to seats, anytime you move them you are likely to move them to a place they like better. So moving kids is only a weapon if you have allowed them to choose where they get to sit. Allowing kids to choose where they want to sit doesn't mean you have to have a chaotic classroom, though. The first day the kids come in say, 'When you come into class tomorrow, sit where you want to sit for the rest of the semester. I will be making a seating chart so I can get to know you.' They get to choose their seating assignment, but it is also stable and you get all the benefits of having assigned seats. From your point of view, it is as easy to learn their names out of alphabetical order as it is in alphabetical order. There is virtually no downside to letting kids choose their own seats.

Another privilege is consultation on rules. It is very tempting for you to start out saying 'These are the rules and you need to know them.' There are two big wins in terms of consulting with students on the rules. First of all, any time people have had a role in setting the rules, they are more likely to abide by them. The second big win is that kids almost always make more stringent rules than you would come up with. When you get kids talking theoretically about rules, they get carried away. Think of how much you win in terms of reasonableness if you say to the kids, 'I really don't think I have to throw you out of the class after I have warned you twice about talking. I think we can handle it ourselves a little longer than that.' Instead of you being the big bad wolf, you are on the kids side - protecting them from themselves.

To involve students in establishing classroom rules, don't just start out by saying 'Okay, what rules do we need in here?' That is likely to produce chaos. Instead, you can say things like, 'I need to have your attention when I am talking so when people are competing with me, it doesn't work. How do you suggest we deal with this problem?' It is not negotiable that you need an orderly class, but how you get it is negotiable. Consultation on rules doesn't mean a free-for-all. Negotiation of requirements is a variation of this privilege. One of the mistakes teachers make is not appearing to be in tune with the real world. Teachers do not win if they look like they are unaware of the real world. For example, a teacher who schedules a big test for the last class of class or for homecoming day should expect that students will not devote their full attention to either studying for or taking the test. A better approach is to let students participate in determining the date of an exam that falls around a big event.

I like to use alternatives as part of my privilege system. One of the alternatives I recommend (and for some reason is not very popular), is that anyone who gets a B average can choose what homework they do. The whole point of doing homework is to make sure students learn the material. If you have demonstrated your achievement, then why do you have to do homework? However, if your grade falls below a B, then you might not be learning the materials so you have to do homework again. Since most students feel that not doing homework is a privilege, they will do their homework even more strenuously to maintain their average and keep the choice. Of course, some assignments can be required for all students, but skill and drill assignments are appropriate for giving some students the choice of workingon. Judicious use of alternatives will contribute to students thinking you are reasonable.

If you will notice, most of the privileges we've discussed involve negotiating with students. In a democratic society that's the way things operate. If rules (seating arrangements, due dates, talking, etc.) are absolute, inflexible, and imposed upon those who are expected to obey them, then most students will rebel. For example, it is tempting for some teachers to say, 'There will be no talking in this classroom.' Now you've set students up to break the rule because there is no chance they can obey it at all times. A better idea is to say 'if you can talk when I don't need your attention and then when I need your attention you stop talking, we're cool. If you cannot stop talking on your own when I need your attention, then we will have to prohibit all talking.' You negotiate with people for behavior on demand. The objective is for students to believe that the teacher and the kids are on the same side. Your job is to get them to learn as easily and pleasantly as possible. Talking, walking, and borrowing privileges are important. By involving students in setting up the parameters for acceptable behavior in terms of talking, walking, and borrowing you create a positive, energetic, and democratic atmosphere in your classroom.

Rewards

You choose your own tokens and create your own rewards. A token system can be physical tokens (candy) or psychological tokens (stamps of giraffes versus elephants). You want to think of the widest range of token rewards available. Token rewards are everywhere, and they are effective. It is a token reward when you go to a school and you see a parking place marked for the Teacher of the Month. Hopefully, as you go through your teacher training, you'll be thinking about a rich catalog of token rewards appropriate for the age and interests of the students you'll be working with.

Personal attention is a very powerful reward. A lot of misbehavior in classrooms comes from students wanting to get your attention. Because of the demand for personal attention, you will have to make sure that you give it on your terms - not those of your students. It becomes a reward when you give it on your terms; you're being manipulated when the students set the terms.

Punishment

Try not to have behavior punishments that impact on academic performance. This is a mistake that many teachers make. The fact that a paper is late is a behavioral problem, not a learning problem. To foul up the prediction about how much someone has learned by taking points off because of their behavior isn't productive.

	What is the difference between privilege and reward?	Answer Here
	Mrs. Elliot lets her students bring in a book from the outside of the classroom for their daily reading. They rotate around the room and read the book that the student of the day has selected and brought in only if the student has behaved. Why is this privilege different from if Mrs. Elliot told the children that they could only do this on a given day if all of her requirements for that week were met successfully?	Answer Here