Goal #8 Candidates demonstrate the ability to be reflective practitioners by identifying a problem, examining research, advocating solutions, implementing a plan,

and measuring and evaluating outcomes. Artifact Reflection: This artifact came out of the MAT 733 Research Based Teaching Strategies and Assessments class that I took part in. The artifact is an implementation narrative that I completed that dealt with positive reinforcement strategies. These strategies were developed to increase m student!s lack of motivation and effort during the first five minutes of resource time. These positive reinforcement strategies included" ver#al cues$ reinforcement of effort$ motivational techni%ues$ and provided recognition. The results I received from these reinforce techni%ues were outstanding. The students ended up getting on task at a faster rate then #efore the implementation #egan. !"#$ %st Core "roposition: Teachers are committed to students and their learning. B researching and looking for wa s to get m students engaged at a faster rate at the #eginning of resource class shows that I am committed to m students. &ven a couple minutes a da adds up to a lot of class time at the end of the ear.

Implementation 'arrative MAT 733 Research Based Teaching Strategies and Assessments Timoth Andrews (niversit of St. Mar

)urrentl I am in m fifth ear teaching at Ma%uoketa *alle +igh School in ,elhi$ Iowa. I am a secondar special education teacher that deals with primaril level one students in

m own resource classroom for si- out of the eight periods in our school da . There are currentl ten students on m roster that enter m resource classroom dail . These students were used to gain the information and evidence I needed for three week implementation period. Below ou will find the pro#lem .#aseline data/ that I focused on$ the goal that I had in place$ the research I studied and used$ and the final results that were collected. The pro#lem in m classroom that was presented during this term is student!s lack of motivation and effort during the first 0 minutes of resource time. Baseline data shows that it was taking the ten students that come into m Resource room an average of 3.12 minutes to get on task. This num#er is less then I thought it would #e #efore the #aseline data was collected. 3riginall I thought the average time would #etween 0456 minutes. T picall in m resource room it is a one4to4one working environment. 7hen I am working with one student there might two to three other!s in m classroom during this time time. This is where the pro#lem usuall arisen and the area that I wanted to enhance. Although this was not true for all of m student!s it got me thinking that if I can improve those having difficult focusing at the #eginning of the period it will #etter m classroom environment immensel . 8owering the average of 3.12 minutes of off4task #ehavior dail turns into a lot of educational minutes over the course of school ear. The goal and outcomes for this issue was to get these student!s engaged with their homework when the enter the resource room until it is time for them to work with the teacher. ,uring the three week implementation period the goal for me as the teacher is to implement ver#al cues$ reinforcement of effort$ incorporate motivational techni%ues$ and to provide recognition. An on4task ru#ric was used to tall whether or not the students are engaged academicall or off4task after the positive ver#al cue for proper #ehavior or positive

reinforcement9 recognition is utili:ed. The goal and outcomes for m student!s was to #enefit from these positive methods and to improve upon getting on task as the enter m classroom. B providing a positive working environment as the entered the room and for them to know that the will #e recogni:ed for engaging academicall on their own was ver helpful. ,uring m researching of positive reinforcement strategies and motivational methods there were plentiful amounts of information availa#le. 3ne of the professional ;ournals that I used in m research identified positive reinforcement as$ <The act of identif ing and encouraging a #ehavior$ with the hopes that the desired #ehavior will increase .Sigler and Aamidor$ pg.=>2/.? This theor follows the role that an #ehavior followed with a pleasant stimulus will likel #e repeated. 7hen talking a#out the @pleasant stimulus! the authors discuss how it can #e an thing @nice! while e-plaining that praise is ;ust one of the methods of positive reinforcement$ and that it is not the onl or even #est practice when working with students. The ;ournal then makes ties to what interests each student and to somehow connect this interest into the classroom .Sigler and Aamidor pgs.=>24=06/ 3verall I reall felt this ;ournal article got me engaged into m own practices of positive reinforcement and motivational practices. B knowing there were several wa s of positive reinforcement it helped me in developing a plan of techni%ues. Another ;ournal article that was related to the topic of positive reinforcement that caught m attention was one that studied the use of punishment rather than positive reinforcement. The stud showed that although the practice of punishment did make some schools safer$ it had little effect on encouraging positive #ehaviors. The article then gives us five different strategies for implementing positive reinforcement. The consist of the following" <5. )atch the students #eing Aood. =. Think Small. 3. +ave a Aroup Management Blan. >. Brevent Behavior Bro#lems. 0. (se Beer Influence Cavora#l . .Maag pg.5D>/ After reading this strategies is

#ecame %uite evident to me that there is a wide variet of options to use when dealing with positive reinforcement in m classroom. These also definitel helped me in regards to m implementation plan over the three week period. This research had me e-cited to see what can #ecome of it in m own situation at Ma%uoketa *alle as I was headed into the implementation period. After using these positive reinforcement strategies in m classroom over the three week implementation period the results I collected and anal :ed were trul great. At the end of the implementation period and finali:ing m results it showed me that using the positive reinforcement techni%ues lowered the time it took m students to get on task from 3.12 minutes to 5.D5 minutes. The main strateg that I focused on during this time was to catch the students #eing good or looking for ;ust one positive thing to tell each of m students ever period no matter what the task. I was trul ama:ed to see how m students responded when I was up#eat and stating the one or several good things I saw in a assignment that the did poorl on and were asked to redo. Although this is ;ust one e-ample during the couple weeks that I worked on this the main philosoph remained in tact no matter what the situation. The results were so well received that I am continuing these positive reinforcement strategies right now in m classroom. Another strateg that I seemed to focus on %uite a #it during this period was to prevent #ehavior pro#lems #efore the can occur. After thoroughl anal :ing the research that I read on positive reinforcement strategies I started thinking a#out wa s of preventing #ehavior pro#lems during the first couple minutes of class. 3ne of the simplest things I did to prevent some of these pro#lems were changing desks arrangements in a direction awa from distracting peers. Although this was ;ust another little maneuver I did to lower the on4task time at the #eginning of the period I trul feel this helped lower the time. B

eliminating almost two minutes of on4task time each da will accumulate into a lot of educational minutes at the end of the ear. I!m an-ious to see how the students grades are impacted if these strategies continue to work throughout the ear.

Bi#liograph

Maag, J. W. (2001). Rewarded by Punishment: Reflections on the Disuse of Positive Reinforcement in Schools. Exceptional Children, 67(2), 173. Retrieved October 4, 2012, from the EBSCO database. Sigler, E., & Aamidor, S. (2005). From Positive Reinforcement to Positive Behaviors: An Everyday Guide for the Practitioner. Early Childhood Education Journal, 32(4), 249-253. doi:10.1007/s10643-004-0753-9. Retrieved October 4, 2012, from the EBSCO database.