Classroom Management Webinar Series Session 4: Contingent Praise and Group Contingencies

Speaking: Donna Westbrooks-Martin

February 10, 2012

Rate This Video:

Pattan's Mission

Starts at 01:50

Classroom Management

Starts at 06:19

Contingent Specific Praise

Starts at 33:31

Implementing Praise

Starts at 45:07

Checking for Understanding

Starts at 1:03:38

Group Contingencies

Starts at 1:19:50

Creating a Classroom Contingency

Starts at 1:46:22

Session Evaluation

Starts at 1:56:35

0 Comments | Leave a Comment »

There are no comments currently available

You must be logged in to comment.

Please use the comments for discussion and to contribute your reviews, perspective and thoughts. Your colleagues and other visitors will appreciate it! If you need help, please contact us. Requests for help will not be answered in comments.

DONNA WESTBROOKS-MARTIN: Good evening. Thank you for joining us this evening. Welcome to the fourth session of the classroom management webinar series, Establishing a Continuum of Strategies to

Acknowledge Appropriate Behaviors. During this session, we will be talking about using specific contingent praise and group contingencies to acknowledge appropriate behaviors. I'm Donna

Westbrooks-Martin. I'm an education consultant in the PaTTAN Pittsburg office. So welcome. Before we get started, I want to make sure that you printed the materials that are posted on the website, on

the PaTTAN website. We'll be using them this evening for some of your participation in our activities. So why are we doing this webinar? Well, research supports the use of a continuum of strategies to

acknowledge appropriate behavior as an effective classroom management tool. Through the research, we know that the use of contingent praise, classwide group contingencies, behavior contracting, and

token economies has a significant impact on student behavior. Today, we will address contingent praise and group contingencies. At the webinar in January, we will address the use of behavior contracts

and token economies to acknowledge appropriate behaviors. So, as you may already know, the Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance Network's mission is to support the efforts and initiatives of

the Bureau of Special Education and to build the capacity of local educational agencies to serve students who receive special education services. And if you've attended any of our other presentations,

you would also know that the Pennsylvania Department of Education and the Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance Network want to be sure to remind everyone that when the IEP team is making

decisions about how and where the IEP will be implemented, the general education classroom is always the first option. The team should determine how the student's IEP could be implemented, including

supplementary aides and services, within the general education classroom. The general education setting includes extracurricular activities and programs for which all students have access. So today we

are going to be talking about contingent praise and group contingencies. As you already know, we had three of our classroom webinar series sessions. We had one in September, October, and November, all

addressing structure and predictability, post-teach review, monitor and reinforce expectations, and actively engage students in observable ways. Today, we'll be talking about contingent praise and

group contingencies, and our future webinar sessions will include token economy systems and behavior contracting in January. And in February, we will wrap things up with responding to inappropriate

behaviors. So throughout this presentation, there will be five multiple choices questions for you to answer. I've added a handout in your PowerPoint, or a page in your PowerPoint handout, to help you

with recording your codes, or the answers to these questions. One of the pages towards the end of this handout has a space for you to record your answers so that you have it readily available to you.

So let's go ahead and get started. The purpose of this session is to examine proactive approaches to acknowledging appropriate behaviors before inappropriate behaviors occur. This session will focus

on the key elements of statements of specific contingent praise and the use of group contingencies. Simonsen, Fairbanks, Myers, and Sugai have offered an article that has combined recent research that

addresses effective classroom management practices. And if you look at the bottom of this slide, you'll see the reference for this article. The literature search resulted in an identification of 20

general practices that meet the criteria for evidence-based practices. These practices were grouped into five empirically supported critical features of effective classroom management. And these are

the ones on which we based our webinar series. And they are maximizing structure. Number two, post-teach review, monitor and reinforce a small number of positively stated expectations. Number three,

active engagement. Number four, active -- excuse me, acknowledge appropriate behaviors. And five, establish a continuum of strategies to respond to inappropriate behavior. For the purposes of this

webinar series, we have broken acknowledging appropriate behavior into two parts. Part one is contingent praise and group contingencies, and part two is behavior contracting and token economies. And

again, for today we are focusing on contingent praise and group contingencies Again, this is the article that serves as the basis for the modules or the components presented in this webinar series. It

is a meta-analysis of evidence-based effective classroom management practices. At the bottom of the page here, you'll see our PaTTAN resources that are available to you on the PaTTAN website. So when

we talk about classroom management, we are talking about practices that are preventive ones that focus on effective instruction, and then those around intervention. Today's topic, contingent praise

and group contingencies, are in the realm of prevention. These are preventative practices that we'll be talking about today. Effective classroom management is no less than 80% prevention and no more

than 20% intervention. So the examples on this chart are not exclusive -- or exhaustive, excuse me. However, each will be covered across the classroom management sessions offered via these webinars.

So today we will be working with prevention as we discuss how we can use a continuum of strategies to acknowledge appropriate behavior. We'll begin today's webinar with a discussion on the behavior

basics. We will briefly cover the basic principles of behavior, the ABCs of behavior, and the functions of behavior. Now this discussion is not meant to cover all of the information covered in a

college course around behavior 101. It's just meant to give you the basics before we talk about the prevention strategies. So let's look at how behavior functions. We often describe behavior in terms

of the antecedent, the actual, observable, measurable behavior, and the consequence. We do this using a behavior pathway, and that's what you see on the screen right now: your antecedent, your

behavior, and your consequence. That's where we get our ABCs of behavior. The behavior pathway is what we use to develop a hypothesis for the function of the behavior. It helps us to determine what

happens before and after the behavior occurs. So the easiest way to begin or to do this work with the behavior pathway is to begin with the behavior. And of course, that's the B. So what is behavior?

Behavior is anything that anyone says or does. It can be seen or heard, and it's measurable. Behavior is how we react to our environment. So behavior must pass the dead man's test, and that is if a

dead man can do it, then it is not a behavior. For example, oftentimes teachers will note a behavior as non-compliant. So when asked what the problem behavior is, oftentimes we'll hear someone say,

for example, Jeffrey is non-compliant. So you have to ask yourself, can a dead man be non-compliant? And if the answer is yes, then it is not a behavior. So of course a dead man can be non- compliant,

right? Not going to respond or comply with your demands. And so then non-compliance is not a behavior. However, if the teacher responds, well, you know, Jeffery plays with his iPod when I give him an

assignment, then he or she is then describing observable, measurable behavior that a dead man cannot do, which is to play with his iPod instead of doing his work. So remember, if a dead man can do it,

it is not a behavior. Please keep in mind that when we talk about behaviors, we know that behaviors are often learned and continue because they serve a purpose for a function. We engage in behaviors

because we have learned that a desired outcome occurs. So let's take a look at some behaviors. All right, so here's a list. Of course it's not exhaustive, but just for the purposes of giving you a

little bit of practice this afternoon or this evening on identifying what is a behavior and what is not a behavior. So your job is to think about each of these items on our list and determine whether

it is a behavior or not. If it is a behavior, go ahead and circle it on your handout. And if it is not, then leave it alone. Remember, behaviors are observable and measurable. All right, I'm going to

give you two minutes to take a look at your handout and circle the observable, measurable behaviors. Go ahead. Okay, it's been about a minute or so. So I want to go ahead and see how well you did with

this. So why don't you -- I'm going to click on here and let's see if you have the same answers that I have. Okay, let's do a quick check on these behaviors. So how well did you do? Remember the dead

man's test, that if a dead man can do it, it's not a behavior. So let's take a look at screaming. Screaming is definitely a behavior. It's something you can see, it's something you can hear, it's

something you can measure and observe. Yes, it is a behavior. Can a dead man scream? No, so we know it's a behavior. Leaves the classroom, definitely a behavior. You can see it, observe it, measure

it. A dead man cannot leave the classroom. Disruptive, hm, let's think about disruptive. Is disruptive a behavior? No, it's not. But when you ask the question, can a dead man be disruptive, no he

can't. But disruptive is more a term that describes a behavior or a character trait rather than an actual behavior, measurable behavior. Bangs head on desk, yes, it's a behavior. Hits peers, another

behavior. You can see both of these things, measure them, and a dead man cannot do them. Disrespectful, another term that is often used, but it really does refer to you're kind of describing a

particular behavior. Disrespectful is not a behavior that you can see or measure, okay? Walks around the classroom, yes, we can definitely see this and measure it. Throws items, curses at teachers,

flaps arms, all behaviors that you can see and measure. Off task and lazy, again, are two terms that are often used to describe behavior, but they're not actually behaviors in and of themselves. They

really do just describe the character trait or the personality of the person, not necessarily the behavior. Okay? All right, so I hope you got those all right. I'm guessing that you did. Okay. All

right, so here's the behavior pathway again, and let's talk about A. A is the antecedent. The antecedent is what happens before the behavior occurs. It is a stimulus or a trigger for the behavior. So

let's consider this. It's what happens before the behavior occurs, so you need to pay close attention to the activity that's presented, the adults in the room and their actions, the peers in the room

and what they are doing, the location, the environment in which the behavior is occurring, or the demand or request that came before the behavior. An antecedent is exactly that, it's what happens

before the behavior. So nothing really is not an option. If you ask the question, what happened before this behavior occurred, you can't say nothing. Because something happened to trigger that

behavior in a student. So another thing I want you to keep in mind as you think about the antecedent and behavior in particular, the challenging behavior occurs in a context. The context in which the

behavior occurs helps us to understand the child. Antecedents are the events or the circumstances preceding and contributing to the occurrence of that behavior. So antecedents are the triggers for

those behaviors. Okay, so we know what the behavior is. It's what you can see, it's what you can hear, it's what you can measure, observe. The antecedent comes before the behavior or triggers the

behavior. So now let's talk about the next component. The next component is C, the consequence. And so the consequence is any event that follows a behavior. Behavior is affected by its consequences.

So for example -- well, let's take a look. If you take a look at our list, we see that some potential consequences for behavior may be that it's what an adult does after a behavior occurs or what

other students do after a behavior occurs. It's kind of like what -- so when we look at what an adult does after behavior, they could give a verbal reprimand. They could keep the student in for

recess. They could send a child to timeout. And then you look at what other students do, and sometimes students laugh at the student or the behavior, the person who was engaging in the behavior, or

they choose to ignore the behavior. No matter what it is, the behavior is affected by these consequences. So for example, if a student named Emily raises her hand and Emily's teacher calls on her to

share for show and tell, what is the behavior? What is the consequence? And how does the consequence affect that behavior? Well, if Emily raises her hand and the teacher calls on her to share, then

Emily is more likely to raise her hand again when she wants to share. Also keep in mind that behavior is strengthened or maintained by reinforcement. So for example, if a student, Adam, correctly

completes his assignments, he is allowed extra time on the computer. So again ask the question, what is the behavior? What is the consequence? How does the consequence affect the behavior? Well, if

Adam correctly completes his assignments and as a result is given extra time on the computer, provided that Adam likes the computer time, Adam is more likely to continue to complete his assignment.

And lastly, I'd like you to consider that behavior is weakened by withholding consequences, and usually social ones that have maintained the behavior in the past. So for example, if a student, Riley,

constantly fidgets and taps pencils to get the teacher's attention, instead of scolding her the teacher gives positive attention to another student sitting quietly. Then what's the answer to these

questions? What is the behavior? What is the consequence? And how does the consequence affect the behavior? So if Riley taps her pencil to get the teacher's attention and the teacher ignores her and

gives attention to another student who was sitting quietly, Riley is more likely to sit quietly in order to get the teacher's attention. So consequences can truly be reinforcing or punishing. If the

consequence is reinforcing, then the targeted behavior is likely to maintain or increase the future rate of the behavior it follows. Conversely, if the consequence is punishment, the result is a

decrease in the future rate of the behavior it follows. So again, keep in mind what is reinforcing to one student is not always reinforcing to another student, and the same goes for punishment. You

have to do some work to find out what is reinforcing for a student. So we really need to be mindful of consequences and thinking of what is truly reinforcing to our students. This comes down to

observing and being active, moving around the classroom and seeing what is happening continuously. Again, paying attention to the ABCs and what are the consequences that follow those behaviors. So

let's do a quick review here, go into a little more depth here. So a consequence is -- or a reinforcement, excuse me. Reinforcement is a consequence that results in increasing or maintaining the

future rate of the behavior it follows. So reinforcement is a consequence that strengthens the behavior that it follows. So here's some examples, so something tangible. It could be food or drinks or

toys, or the consequence or reinforcement could be social. It could be praise or a facial expression or close proximity to a student. A reinforcement can also be a preferred activity such as computer

time or free time or listening to music. Or reinforcement can be a token of some sort, tickets or points that can be cashed in for other types of reinforcement. And reinforcement can also be escape,

and that means being excused from unpleasant activities. So a consequence that strengthens the behavior, or increases or maintains the future rate of the behavior it follows, is reinforcement. All

right, so let's do a quick check for understanding. You go ahead and fill in the blank. A blank that results in blank or blank the future rate of the behavior it follows. Okay, so the consequence that

is -- a consequence is a behavior that -- a consequence that reinforces, excuses, is a consequence that results in increasing or maintaining the future rate of the behavior it follows. [inaudible].

All right, so let's move on and talk about punishment. So now punishment is a consequence that results in decreasing the future rate of the behavior it follows. So again, the punishment is taking away

or the punishment is that -- is any kind of consequence that results in decreasing the future rate of the behavior. So it can be something that is withheld or it's anything that affects the behavior

that decreases the likelihood that that behavior is going to follow. Okay? So again, let's take a quick quiz here. And you fill in the blanks again. Punishment is a blank that results in blank the

future rate of behavior it follows. And so again, it's the consequence that results in decreasing the future rate of the behavior it follows. So the question at this point is, to reinforce or to

punishment? To punish, excuse me. That is the question. What do you think? Well, before you consider the answer to this, I'd like you to consider some information. What we know is that students tend

to adapt to punishment. We know that punishment often works only while the punisher is present. We know that punishment is associated with increases in aggression, tardiness, vandalism, truancy, and

dropouts. And we know that inconsistency, variability, and delay between behavior and punishment decrease the effectiveness of punishment. So again I ask, to reinforce or to punish? That is the

question. What do you think? What do you think you should do? Well, hopefully you've concluded that it is better to reinforce than it is to punish. It is more effective to teach and strengthen

acceptable behavior than it is to simply punish unacceptable behavior. So let's take a look at the function of behavior. All right, so behavior has two major functions. It is either to get something

or to get away from something, or to avoid something. So what can a child obtain? They can obtain a preferred task or activity, the attention of an adult or a peer, or a specific item or object. On

the other hand, what can a child avoid? They can avoid exactly the same things, okay? One behavior can have multiple functions. So for example, John can hit -- excuse me, can hit at home in order to

get out of cleaning his room, and other times he can hit in order to get adult attention. Likewise, several behaviors can have the same function. So for example, John can use multiple behaviors, such

as hitting, screaming, and running away in order to get out of cleaning his room. So what you really need to remember around the function of behavior is that functions of behavior are the whys behind

what our students do, why students engage in behaviors. So let's take a look at this example. Whenever Gretchen is given written tests, she either scribbles her name on the test and pushes it aside,

or she crumples the test into a ball and throws it away. Her teacher tells her that she will receive a zero on the test, that she is failing the class, and that she should have at least made an

effort. The teacher also required that Gretchen spend the rest of the class time sitting quietly at her desk and not disturbing others. So does the teacher's actions reinforce or punish Gretchen, and

how do you know? What might be the function of this behavior? So first, the first question, does the teacher's actions reinforce or punish Gretchen? Well, the teacher's actions are reinforcing

Gretchen, and how do we know that? It's because she continues to not complete the written tests and is given the opportunity to continue to not complete the tests by requiring her to sit quietly at

her desk and not disturb another student. So what might the function of this behavior be? Well, the function of this behavior may be to avoid completing the test. And how do we know that? Well, the

teacher told her that she's failing and, furthermore, she will receive a zero. So what motivation does she have to try? She's already failing, so why try at this point? So by not completing the

written test, Gretchen avoids having to engage in an undesirable task of taking the test and possibly reveal that she is struggling in a class. So that would be the function of Gretchen's behavior. So

why do we need to determine the function of behavior? Well, we need to understand behavior from the student perspective. When confronted with a challenging behavior, ask yourself two questions. What

is the student gaining or trying to get from engaging in this behavior? And what is the most important thing that the child is gaining or avoiding by using this behavior? The answers to these

questions will tell you the function of the behavior. So why is it important to understand the function of behavior? Well, because when we arbitrarily select strategies or preventative strategies or

interventions for addressing behavior without basing them on the function of the student behavior, we often choose strategies that make the student problem behavior worse or more resistant to change.

So, for example, a timeout for a student who is acting out to avoid math problems, or giving a talking to to a student who is engaging in a problem behavior to get attention. In fact, if we -- if the

student is trying to avoid the math problems and we give them a timeout, then we are in fact reinforcing the behavior. They are getting what they want. And if we give the child a talking to when the

function of the child's behavior is to get adult attention, then we're reinforcing that behavior by giving them the attention that they are seeking. Okay? So what does knowing the function enable us

to do? It allows us to come up with some short- term solutions, how to modify or eliminate the antecedents to the behavior or the trigger to the behavior, what happens before, or to eliminate or

minimize the consequences that are maintaining the behavior of concern. So we're taking a look at those consequences or what directly follows the behavior of concern. And then we're also taking a look

at long-term solutions. We want to [inaudible] so that the problem behavior is less effective and less efficient. So when we talk about a child's behavior from a function perspective, it's important

for us to remember that there are some basic assumptions about behavior. Number one, behavior or misbehavior does not occur in a vacuum. There is a reason or purpose for its occurrence. Number two,

behaviors occur in response to an identifiable event or stimuli that occur before the behavior itself. So again, we're referring to the antecedent, what happens right before the behavior or what

triggers that behavior. Number three, behaviors are governed by the event that occurs after the behavior. So we're talking about the fact that behaviors are weakened or strengthened by the

consequences that follow that behavior. So it's important to identify the patterns and chains of events that consistently occur when a child demonstrates a challenging behavior. Number four, behavior

is a form of communication. Instead of reacting to misbehavior, it is important for educators to try to find out what a behavior is communicating. Is the displayed action saying I'm tired, I'm bored,

I'm upset by what happened earlier today, or I'm afraid I'll fail and look dumb in front of my peers? Think about what that behavior is communicating. Number five, all behaviors serve a function and

have a purpose. So it benefits [inaudible] from displaying certain behaviors, then individuals would stop doing them. So knowing the function of behavior is critical in trying to make sure that we

establish a continuum of strategies for addressing behavior. Okay, so we're kind of finished with our behavior basics. Let's talk a little bit about contingent, specific praise. Now before we do that,

remember it was important to understand the function of behavior from the student's perspective. That's through the eyes of the student. As we are talking, we're going to take the information from the

function of behavior and think about how we can use that information for preventative purposes. Okay, so we're going to shift our focus to how we react and what we do. And I'm asking you to choose to

acknowledge appropriate behavior as a reinforcement. So why are we focusing on praise as a strategy for acknowledging appropriate behavior? Well, for three reasons. The first is that there's an

evidence -- there's evidence to document the positive effects of teacher praise on lower rates of disruptive behavior among students with emotional and behavioral disorders. A second reason is that

teachers can create a positive classroom climate by systematically using teacher praise as a way to increase desired behaviors. And thirdly, because teacher praise is a simple, naturalistic, and cost-

efficient way to increase desired behavior. So these are three -- just three of the reasons that we would encourage you to use contingent, specific praise. So what is praise? Well, throughout our

society, one of the most common forms of positive reinforcement is praise. Positive reinforcement is a behavioral technique in which desired behaviors are increased through the use of rewards, also

known as positive reinforcements. So teachers who make effective use of praise improve classroom atmosphere and reduce behavior disruption so that all students benefit from a positive educational

experience. So when a teacher provides a student with specific contingent praise, students explicitly learn what they are doing well and therefore demonstrate the appropriate -- demonstration of the

appropriate behavior is increased. So again, praise is any verbal or non-verbal action by the teacher that indicates approval of or satisfaction with student behavior. So, for example, when you say

things like, that's good working, or I appreciate your time on task, or you must feel proud of yourself for your effort, those are examples of praise, contingent praise. So what makes praise so

effective? Well, praise is effective because it's a social reinforcer. Remember, the presence of reinforcers maintain or increase a target behavior. And social reinforcers are particularly powerful

for students. So more specifically, if you use contingent, specific praise, it's a positive statement, typically provided by the teacher, when a desired behavior occurs to inform students specifically

what they did well. So contingent refers to the relationship between the completion of a specific behavior and access to a specific reinforcer. So it kind of satisfies the if and only if statement. So

if and only if Jeffrey completes his assignment, he will be given verbal praise by his teacher. Specific relates to being precise and detailed and avoiding vagueness when providing that positive

statement. Now if you look at this slide, in your right-hand corner there's a pretty little blue star, black star with a pretty blue background I should say. I put these on the slides to kind of give

you a heads up as to what slides you need to pay particular attention to in order to do really well on some of our questions that we will be asking throughout the presentation. So when you see the

blue star, pay close attention. Hint, hint, you may see that information again. Okay, so let's stop and think. I'm going to give you a couple of minutes, maybe two minutes to think about something. I

want you to think about -- and if you're with a partner, you're working with someone today, then you can always stop and share with the person sitting next to you. But I want you to think of a

situation where you received praise for something that you'd done. When was the last time you received the praise? What was the situation? What were the circumstances? How did you feel when you

received the praise? And what effect did the praise have on you? Think about that. How did it make you feel? Probably positive, probably a good feeling. And I would argue that everybody remembers some

kind of praise that they've received, no matter how long ago it was that you received it. And so you probably were more likely to engage in that behavior for which you were praised. Again, most likely

to engage in that behavior again as a result of praise. So the point of this is that praise has a lasting effect. If it has a lasting effect on us as adults, then of course it's going to have a

lasting effect on children. So I want you to think about the last time you received praise and keep that in the back of your mind as we go through the next couple of slides. Well, when Bill Jensen was

here at the PaTTAN office for a live presentation a little bit ago, he reported that 64% of teachers reported that the best student motivator is teacher praise. And this information came from a

national survey of 395 elementary general education and special education teachers conducted by Rawlings and Denton in 2008. So we know that 60% of teachers report that the best student motivator is

teacher praise. So why don't we use it? Mainly because many of the students who are in need of the reinforcement the most do not demonstrate behaviors for which teachers feel they can genuinely

deliver some praise for. So you're going to have to stretch. You're going to have to really work at it to find some behavior with your students that you can provide some positive praise for. It

doesn't take a lot of training. It doesn't take complex materials or forms of data collection or anything like that. It's probably the least cumbersome of all of the interventions, but it has the

strongest intervention -- the strongest, excuse me, evidence base. And so, again, I'm going to ask you to stretch a little bit and give a little effort in this area. It can be hard, I know. I know it

can be difficult, but we're going to try. So what does the research tell us about praise? Well, delivering contingent praise for academic behavior increases a participant's correct responses, work

productivity and accuracy, language and math performance on classwork, and academic performance. And of course, this research can be found in the article by Simonson that we referenced at the

beginning of this presentation. So you can see that praise is an effective form of acknowledging behaviors. And then it also has an impact on academic behavior as well. So if you take a look in your

right-lower corner, you'll see that there's a star. You might want to pay close attention to this slide. What else does the research tell us about praise? Well, we know that if teachers effectively

use praise, teaching time can be significantly increased because teach -- because students are on task, they're attentive, they're compliant, they're positive, and they are cooperative. It is truly a

win-win situation to use praise. This is what our research shows us. So providing contingent, specific praise statements allows students to think about what they do well. Specifically, students learn

to evaluate their own behavior, identify appropriate behavior, and make decisions to engage in the appropriate behavior that was previously and explicitly reinforced by the specific contingent praise.

So how do we do this? Well, we've got a set of rules for how you implement praise. And what you do is we use the IFEEDV rules. So this is a great way to remember how to use specific contingent praise

throughout your instructional day. If you use this acronym, you can surely provide positive praise to your students relatively easily. So let's go through them very quickly. The I stands for

immediate. The more immediate the praise is delivered, the more effective it will be. It doesn't do you any good to pause and wait five minutes to provide some feedback for students. The feedback or

the praise has to come immediately following the behavior of the targeted behavior. Praise needs to be frequent, so frequently reinforcing the student's appropriate behaviors are shaped much more

quickly with frequent praise than with less frequent praise. Think about 24/6. So a teacher should deliver about 24 praise statements across six hours of school time, okay? That's how frequent it

should be. E stands for enthusiasm. A positive verbalization associated with what a student is doing has to be perceived as sincere to be effective. So when you provide praise, you really want to have

a smile on your face. You want it to be engaging. You want to connect with that student. You want them to know that what you were saying to them is sincere, that you are praising them and reinforcing

them for the appropriate or the target behavior that you were seeking. The second E refers to eye contact. So you have to look the student in the eye when delivering praise. Proximity is important as

well. So you need to be close enough to make that eye contact. You can't have eye contact if you're across the room and away from the student. You really do have to be up and moving about so that you

can get to that student. Make eye contact. Get close and make eye contact and provide that praise to the student immediately following the behavior. And then, of course, you have to describe the

behavior. That's our D. And it is necessary to specifically describe the behavior that is being praised. Otherwise students won't know why they are being praised. And last but not least, we have

variety. We have to remember to use a variety of positive statements to acknowledge a student's use of appropriate behavior. So your statements need to be short, succinct, and genuine or sincere in

order for them to be effective. Okay? So there's just one basic requirement for the effective use of IFEEDV rules, or specific contingent praise, and that is avoiding stagnant teaching. You really

need to be up and moving quite a bit. So let's talk about that. So in order for praise to be effective, the teacher must be able to leave the desk and move around the classroom so that he or she is in

a position to praise appropriate behavior and academic efforts as they naturally occur. So in order for praise to be effective, it must be given at the time that the behavior naturally occurs. This

requires the teacher to be up and out of his or her seat, moving about the classroom, and placing him or herself in a position to give praise immediately following that target behavior. So teaching

really is an aerobic activity. At the end of your school day, you should be tired. If you position yourself so that you can make eye contact and give praise in a variety of places in the classroom

during a variety of activities to all students, your legs, your tired legs and your feet will be well worked. So the question is asked, should you give 24 positive praise statements per student or per

class? Well, both. You can minimally give 24 praise statements to a whole classroom, but if you have a particular student who needs additional praise, then you can give that particular student an

additional 24 praises as well. So it can be either depending on their need. So what is moving? Moving is simply walking around the classroom, okay? It's that you are everywhere. It's frequent moving.

It's planned and it's purposeful, but at the same time it's unpredictable. Students don't know where you're going to be at any given time, so you're moving about frequently. And you're making frequent

visits to known problem areas or during known problem activities or with known problem behaviors that students may exhibit. And it gives you many more opportunities to have positive interactions with

these students if you're moving around and about. So I want to make sure that we make it clear that when we talk about a problem, we're not referring to students. We're referring to problem behaviors

that a student may exhibit, but students truly are not a problem. So according to Pfeiffer of 1986, if students spend time on the side -- excuse me, if teachers spend time on the side or in the back

of the room, then this teacher would be moving around quite a bit. It would kind of look like a triangle. So you'd be at the front of the classroom or at the back of the classroom. But what we're

recommending is that you take a pattern of movement that looks more like what you have on your screen, and that is that you move about, again, frequently and unpredictably throughout the classroom. So

you're taking a look at the fact that this is showing that a teacher is actively supervising all areas of the classroom: in the front of the classroom, the back of the classroom, in between rows,

doubling back, around, kind of moving throughout the classroom quite frequently. And so what do you think about this? Do you think this is something that's easy to do, hard to do? I want you to think

for just a moment and determine whether or not you should make some changes to your classroom based on this whole idea of moving. Is your classroom set up in such a way that allows you to frequently

move about the classroom to various areas, to walk by various students, or to make your way around during particular activities? Think about that. It may be that you may need to make some changes as a

result of this idea of moving. Okay? We know that moving is effective, so we want to make sure you establish frequent movement in the classroom throughout the day. Again, teaching is not stagnant. So

what is moving? Moving is walking around student desks while they are working. It is not sitting at your desk while students complete independent work. Moving is walking around the room while

presenting a lesson. It's not staying near the SMART Board or the back of the room when you're not using it. Okay? So moving, again, is an aerobic event, an aerobic activity that happens throughout

your school day as you are providing instruction. You are constantly moving about the classroom, being in close proximity to students so that you can provide eye contact and be in problem areas or

around students who are exhibiting some problem behaviors, or so that you can move about as you do some activities that may be a little more problematic than others, like some group work or something

of that nature. Okay? So that's one piece of it. The other component I like to talk about is scanning, and scanning is looking around an entire room to monitor your students. So you're watching and

listening to all of the activities, basically being aware of what's going on throughout the classroom. You're focusing on all of the behavior, both appropriate and inappropriate, and all of the

behaviors occurring in your problem areas. It gives you many more opportunities to have positive interactions with students if you can scan and get to students when they need to have your attention.

So what is scanning? Scanning is looking at all areas of a classroom, having frequent visual checks across the room, and keeping your head up. That's not -- your head's not down, you're not grading

papers. What scanning is not, it is not looking at just the back of the room or just the front of the room or any one area. It's scanning across all areas of the classroom. Scanning is not looking at

only those students who are looking at you. It's looking at all students in your classroom environment. And it is not grading papers. Again, your head is up, you are constantly looking around the

classroom, scanning and making sure you know what is going on at all times. So you can't really provide contingent, specific praise with students unless you're actually interacting with them. You

can't really scan or move about the classroom unless you're interacting with students. Interacting with students is the basis for building relationships. It parallels that of the parent- child and

teacher-student relationships. So the quality of teacher-student relationships present -- predict, excuse me, social emotional adjustments. So young children and early adolescents and high risk youth

really depend on this relationship building. So it's an important component when providing praise. If you have an established relationship with someone, that praise that you receive from that person,

that teacher, is much more effective. So interacting is using your attention to change the behavior. So if you have positive interactions, you're acknowledging students for following the rules. All

staff is giving and taking and providing some attention to students. And it's most effective when identifying behaviors while being praised. So some of the neutral interactions that we talk about are

just greeting students or just saying hi or having a brief chat or briefly talking about something. Positive interactions are more specific to each and every child. So instead of just saying hi to a

whole class, you're saying hi to each child as they're walking in. Instead of just saying, good morning, how are you? You may stop and say, good morning, Dennis. How was your birthday party last

night? So you're really making an effort to establish a relationship and interact with your students, and using that attention that you have or that you're providing to students to change behavior.

Okay? So let's talk a little bit more about interacting. So positive interactions require expressions, some physical interactions, and some vocal ones. So let's take a look. Positive interaction with

most students happens during -- happens during lessons, excuse me. So it varies by the individual or by the group. And sometimes you have mixed interactions, some that are during academic instruction

and some that are during social interactions. So if you look, some of our expressions that are positive are smiling or winking or nodding at a student. Shaking hands or patting a student on the back

or giving a high five promotes positive interactions with students as well as having non-specific and behavior-specific praise. So whether it's telling a whole class or a student great job, or whether

it's saying, great job, I love how you came into the classroom and sat down and began your work immediately. Either way, those are both positive interactions to have with students. Okay, so let's talk

about how you give praise. It's pretty simple. The first thing you do is you state the student's name. Secondly, you give a praise statement or approval of some particular behavior. And then you

describe the behavior. So when you say you're describing a specific behavior, you're asking the question, can you see it? Okay, remember again, behaviors are something that you can observe, you can

see, you can measure. So can you see it? So let's get -- here's some examples of giving praise. Okay, and if you look down the columns, we've separated them out, so we take a look to see that you're

saying the student's name, which is the first step. Then you give the praise statement, which is the second step. And then the third step is giving specific -- describing that specific behavior. So

again, hey Erin, excellent, you finished all of your work. That would be specific contingent praise. Alex, wonderful, you kept your hands and feet to yourself. Or Mariah, great job, you stayed in your

seat the whole period. So you're saying the student's name, giving the praise, and then describing that specific behavior. So when do you acknowledge a student? Well, the answer to that is as much as

possible. Anytime that student is meeting the behavioral expectations, then you can acknowledge that appropriate behavior with praise. Minimally you want to do it with a 4:1 ratio, so for every one

negatively stated or neutrally stated statement for a student, you want to have at least four positively stated praise statement. So you want to make sure that you provide it at a high frequency so

that you can make sure that you see that behavior repeat. Great job solving the problem by talking. Okay? That's going to get some changes. And then again you'll have some small changes, so you'll see

[inaudible]. Okay? So that's when you acknowledge. As much as possible. You can never give too much praise. So what you want to be doing is to catch your students being good. You want to focus on

positive, not negative behavior. And you want to provide positive, not negative attention. So effective praise focuses on a child's effort rather than on what is actually being accomplished. When

educators give genuine praise that is specific, spontaneous, well-deserved, then it encourages continuous learning. So what we don't want you to do is to think that you are praising a child's

accomplishments. More so we'd like you to praise that child's effort. So you'll see in some of our examples that you're going to start praising that -- you'll see explicitly that we praise the effort

and not necessarily the outcome. Okay? So now that you've had a little taste of praise, let's give you some practice here. In your handout, you were given a contingent specific praise handout, and

there are several examples of specific contingent praise on them. On one side, you have observable, appropriate behaviors, and then the praise that is provided. What I'd like you to do is take a few

minutes and turn our observed appropriate behavior into contingent, specific praise. That is, take a look at the observed appropriate behavior and give contingent specific praise. Tell that student

exactly what it is that they're doing, specifically what behavior that it is that is being praised. Okay? And make sure that the praise is only provided if the behavior is -- the appropriate behavior

is observed, okay? So go ahead and take two to three minutes to complete this activity and we'll be right back. Okay, we're back. Let's see how you did. All right, so let's take a few of those. Maybe

I'll do maybe three of them and you can check your understanding of providing contingent, specific praise. So let's take one, this one around a student arrives to class with all required materials.

The praise that's given is good job. How could you change the phrase to make it more effective? So the praise, remember, was good job. So here's how you could make the praise more effective. You want

to make sure it's contingent and it's specific. So you'd say something like, good morning, Sidney. You have arrived in my class with your pencil, notebook, and math book. I love it when you are

prepared. Great job. Good job. Okay? See the difference? The difference between just saying to a child, good job, and saying, good job for coming to my classroom with your pencil, so you're coming

prepared. I love it when you're prepared. Great job. That is so much more effective than the neutral statement of just good job. Okay? Let's do another one. The observed appropriate behavior is a

student uses the restroom and properly returns to the class activity. So the teacher gives the teacher -- gives the student a high five upon their return to the class, okay? So how can you change the

praise to make it more effective? And again, this is one of those physical praises that we talked about. How can you make this praise a little more effective? Remember that the teacher gave the

student a high five when they returned. So instead of just giving the high five, you can turn it into contingent, specific praise by saying, Jeffrey, thanks for returning to class and getting right

back to your work. And then you give him a high five. Now Jeffrey -- you've said Jeffrey's name, you've told him specifically what he's done, he's returned to class and has gotten back to his work,

and then you give that high five, which is now contingent on the fact that he's engaged in that appropriate behavior. So it's specific. You're telling Jeffrey specifically what he did. He knows it's

contingent upon engaging in the appropriate behavior. And you've addressed him by name. It's great, perfect one. That was easy. How about that? All right, here's the next one, last one. Here's our

observed appropriate behavior. A student performs well on a spelling test. Teacher says, you did it! How can you change this praise to make it more effective? All right, so remember the teacher said,

you did it! So now we're saying instead, Emily, you did it. You worked hard, practiced your spelling words, and got an 85 on your spelling test. Great effort. Okay? So now you're taking -- instead of

you just did it, you're telling Emily, you did it, you worked really hard. So again, you're praising that effort. And you practiced your spelling words and got an 85 on your spelling test. And again,

the 85 on the spelling test is not nearly as important as the effort that student has put forth, excuse me, to practice the spelling words and to improve their score. Okay? So again, this is a much

more effective form of praise than you did it. Okay? So again, I want to emphasize that we're praising the effort and not the outcome. This exact contingent, specific praise could be utilized even if

the student had achieved an 80%. If it is an improvement and that student has worked hard, you can provide that same exact praise. Okay? So finally, while praise is an effective method of

acknowledging appropriate behavior independently, it is most effective when used in conjunction with tangible individual and group contingency acknowledgement strategies such as token economies or

group rewards, et cetera. And praise coupled with any other acknowledgement system of appropriate behavior increases the desired academic and social behavior. So when you use praise in conjunction

with other strategies that we know impact the engagement in appropriate behavior, we know that the effectiveness of it increases even more. Okay, so one thing I want you to think about is a question

that was asked, and that is how do you self-monitor so you don't use praise too much or too often to the point that it's not effective? Well, the answer to that question is praise, as frequent as it

is, still needs to be contingent and specific. It's those neutrally stated statements, good job, high five, nice job, good going that kind of tend to lose their impact or their effectiveness. If you

state that student's name and you specifically tell them what they're done well and that you praise them because of the appropriate behavior that they've engaged in, then the effectiveness of praise

maintains itself. So what you want to do in terms of self-monitoring is not necessarily monitoring how frequently you provide praise, unless of course you're monitoring so that you are doing it more

frequently or with increased frequency. But you really want to be monitoring yourself to make sure that you are providing as much specific, contingent praise as you are neutral statements. Okay? All

right, so here' something I'd like you to do. And I'm not expecting you to do this today, but in your handouts you have a sheet called make a commitment. And it looks like this. What I'm going to ask

you to do is to make a commitment to using praise in the classroom, okay? I don't want you to overwhelm yourself or committing to too much. I want you to just to commit to increasing your use of

contingent, specific praise during a short period of time on a consistent basis. So for example, you may choose to stand at your door each and every morning as students enter the room and praise them

for appropriately entering the classroom. That is walking into the classroom, appropriately greeting the teacher and peers, putting away belongings, and quietly sitting in their seats and getting

ready to begin the day. You might just pick that small portion of your day and decide, I'd like to commit to increasing my use of praise during this small amount of time. Now some of you may be, you

know, a little more excited about this and you might want to go throughout the school day, and that's fine. You know, we really do want to increase it to the point where you have 24 positively stated

praise statements in a six-hour school day. That's our goal. But we want you to start with small chunks, okay? So what this is basically doing is asking you to track or to tally or to keep count of

how many times in a designated period of time that you use positive statements to praise a student, and then how many times you use negative statements when communicating with a student. So you can

choose to do this with your group as a whole, or you can pick one student in your classroom that you think you'd like to try this out with, okay? So you're starting with keeping count and tallying a

designated period of time. Then you're going to count the tallies and total them at the bottom of each one of the columns. And then you're going to create a praise ratio at the bottom of the chart. So

remember, again, your target is a 4:1 ratio. Lastly, we'd like you to engage in a conversation with a colleague in your building to share your experiences with using praise. Okay? And at the bottom of

the page, there are some questions to help you guide your discussion, okay? So efforts to effectively use praise should be targeted to the whole classroom. The goal is to become comfortable with using

consistent praise to acknowledge appropriate behavior as an effective classroom management strategy, okay? And just as a reminder, you can count and tally your praise in a variety of ways. A variety

of ways, excuse me. You can use tally marks in your handout. You can move pennies from one pocket to another. You can use a clicker counter or any other easy, non-intrusive way of counting your use of

positive statements. So that's what we'd like you to do, commit to this. Okay? All right, so let's start with our first question of the day. Now remember, you're going to have to have this answer

recorded for your code at the end of the webinar to get your Act 48 instructional hours. All right, so our first question is, a positive statement provided to students when a desired behavior occurs

to inform them specifically of what they did well is? A, feedback. B, contingent, specific praise. C, affirmation. Or D, appreciation. Okay, think about it and respond. Very good. And our answer is --

you see 92% responded B: contingent, specific praise. All right, very good. And our answer is B: contingent, specific praise. Very good, very good. All right, let's do our question number two.

Delivering contingent praise for academic behavior increases students? A, correct responses and academic performance. B, work productivity and accuracy. C, language and math performance on classwork.

Or D, all of the above. Okay, think about it and respond. Okay, let's check and see. And the correct response is all of the above. If you remember back to the research that I cited at the beginning of

our presentation, we know that research shows us that specific, contingent praise increases all of these pieces. All of them are correct response. In academic performance, work productivity, and

accuracy, and language and math performance on classwork. Remember, this is a win-win situation using praise to acknowledge appropriate behavior. So here we are, 90% got that correct. So good, good

job. You got 90% of you voting for or responding as D, all of the above. Very good. All right. So we've covered praise, and so let's go ahead and talk about group contingencies. This is our second

evidence-based or research-based strategy for acknowledging appropriate behavior. Okay? So let's go ahead and move on. So what is a group contingency? It's a planned intervention where the consequence

for group members depends on the behavior of other group members. It can be used to reinforce behavior. So why do we use them? Well, research has shown that disruptive behavior in the classroom is

predictive of less academic engagement time, lower grades, and poor performance on standardized tests. When well-established disruptive behavioral patterns exist during early school years, it

dramatically increases the risk for later antisocial behavior. Effective teaching practices, however, include having students ready, on task, and engaged through learning. Group contingencies provide

a valuable tool to set the stage for these requisites for improved academic achievement. If students are not ready to learn, not on task, and not actively engaged, as we have discussed previously,

then there is no way they will profit, excuse me, from even the most expertly designed instruction acknowledging -- instruction, excuse me, acknowledging that part of the effective instruction is to

have interesting and engaging lessons and activities. So group contingencies have been very powerful in influencing classroom behavior. Okay? So this is from our -- one of our research articles that

we've cited at the beginning of our presentation. So we know that group contingencies are, in fact, an effective way of changing student behavior. So group reinforcement contingencies are employed

when a common expectation is set for a group of learners, when a common positive outcome is earned by engaging in the expected behavior, and when we engage in one of the three types of group

contingencies. And we'll talk about the three different kinds in just a little bit. All right, so there we go. So why do we use group contingencies? Well, furthermore, group contingencies increase

positive behavior, student attention, increased achievement, increased appropriate classroom behavior, increased peer social acceptance, student preparedness for class, and assignment completion. And

on the other hand, group contingencies decrease transition time, inappropriate behavior, talkouts, out of seat behavior, and negative verbal interactions. So the use of group contingencies is

extremely effective in increasing the targeted behaviors that you want and decreasing some of those behaviors that can be disruptive to the instructional process. So we use group contingencies when a

larger group of students exhibit the same problem behavior, when the focus is on teaching the entire group, or when it is hard to identify the student engaging in problem behavior, for example

something like stealing, and when rewarding an individual student is -- and when rewarding an individual student is viewed as unfair. So you really want to institute some group contingencies, okay? We

also want to use it with a large number of students -- and I think I went over some of these already. You want to use it with a large group of students who are engaging in the same behavior, okay? But

more importantly, one of the things that I didn't review before is when one or only a few students are responsible for the inappropriate behavior and it would be offensive to the rest of the group to

give that one or few students special privileges. That's when you would use a group contingency, okay? All right, so what kinds of group contingencies are there? There are three types. Okay, these

three types of group contingencies have group consequence sharing. They are dependent, independent, and interdependent. This can be a little confusing, so let's take a look at them one at a time.

Okay. So in a dependent group contingency, the behavior of one or a few determines the consequences for all. We refer to this as like the hero procedure, okay? So one student or a small group exhibits

a behavior and so the whole class receives the benefit and the reward. Okay? It requires a specific individual within the group to meet the group's behavioral criteria to earn credit. So let's take a

look at our example. Who must exhibit the behavior in our -- let's see if I can move this. My apologies. So let's take a look at our example. When -- my apologies. When Sarah submits four homework

is the outcome dependent upon? Whether or not Sarah submits four homework assignments. Okay? Let me give you another example. If Zoe turns in all of her homework on Monday through Thursday with 95%

assignments, the whole class gets to have a party on Friday. So in this dependent group contingency, who is the sub-group? It's Sarah. What is the outcome? A party on Friday for the whole class. What

accuracy, the entire class will earn an extra 30 minutes of recess on Friday. Here's another example. The math -- math game time is given to the class if a student whose name is drawn from a hat has

completed at least 90% of the classwork. So one student completes the work, everybody benefits. And our last example, snacks for the whole class if two students whose names are in the mystery envelope

complete their homework. So you have two names in a mystery envelope, you pull those names out, and if those two students have completed their homework, then snacks for the entire group. Okay? So as

you can imagine, there's one caution with this. Singling out one student is the caution. You want to make sure that when you pull that student's name out of the hat or out of the bag that that is a

student who is engaging in the work, because -- in the target behavior. Because what we don't want to happen is to have that student be the fall for the entire class. Okay? But if you use this

effectively, it is incredibly powerful. Okay? So again, a dependent group contingency is the behavior of one student or small group of students determines the consequence or the reward for everyone.

And if you notice, there's a star on the corner. You might want to pay close attention to this information. All right, let's go on to our second type of group contingency, and that's an independent

group contingency. In an independent group contingency, the behavior of an individual determines the consequences for that individual. Okay? So everyone has the opportunity to earn the reward and it

requires an individual to reach the group behavior criteria to earn credit. Only those individuals who reach the criteria earn the reward. So it's basically the to each his own kind of scenario. So in

our example, let's take a look. When any student submits four homework assignments, he or she gets to participate in the party on Friday. Okay? So who is the individual who must exhibit this behavior?

Any student. So let's talk about our friend Sarah again. So Sarah exhibits the behavior, then who receives that consequence? Sarah does. She gets to participate in the party on Friday. All right, so

let me give you another example. Anyone who walks quietly in the hallway during assigned breaks earns extra free time at Friday recess. Another example of an independent group contingency would be

free time at the end of class for any student that earns 80% or better on the math test. And one more. Student can earn checkmarks by raising their hands to participate in class. Those students who

have four checkmarks before lunch may choose their seats in the cafeteria. Okay? So that is the independent group contingency. That's when the behavior of an individual determines the consequences for

that individual. It's available to everyone in the class. It just requires that the individual reaches the group behavior criteria to earn the reward. Again, there's your star in the corner. Pay close

attention. All right, and our last or our third group contingency type is the interdependent group contingency. And that's when the behavior of all determines the consequences for all. So in the

independent -- interdependent group contingency, excuse me, it requires every student in the group to meet the group's behavioral criteria to earn credit. So that means all group members must meet the

criteria. Okay? So you either achieve a target average or you collectively reach a target criteria. Everyone meets the criteria before anyone receives the reward. It's the all for one principal, okay?

It has that added peer influence and group cohesiveness to it. So all group members must meet the criteria for all members to receive the reward. So in our example, when all members of the group

submit four homework assignments, all members earn a party on Friday. Okay, so who must exhibit that behavior? All of the members of the group. Who receives the consequence? All of the members of the

group. The outcome is dependent on what if all members of the group submit four homework assignments? What's the outcome? All members of the group are at a party on Friday. Okay? So let me give you

another example. All students must get 85% or higher on the history test to earn a homework-free weekend. So everyone has to earn at least 85% for everyone to get a homework- free weekend. When Mrs.

Good complements a class for appropriate hallway behavior, they receive a link. When their chain reaches the floor, they all get a pizza party. So that means when Mrs. Good complements everyone in the

class, the class as a whole for appropriate hallway behavior, then they receive a link in their chain. And when that link -- or when that chain reaches the floor, touches the floor from the ceiling to

the floor, then they all get a pizza party. Okay? Don't forget, there's a star in the corner. So let me give you a few more examples, okay? Mr. Swanson's class has a specific set of rules for

appropriate classroom behavior posted on the door. When students follow these rules, they are each awarded three tokens, which can be used towards buying individual rewards or privileges such as five

extra minutes of computer time. What type of group contingency is this? Think about it and respond. And it is an independent group contingency. Let's try another. So it's independent. Let me go back

and tell you why it's independent. It's independent because the behavior of an individual or a group of individuals, excuse me, determines the consequences for that individual. So let me go back. I'm

sorry. So each individual student who follows the rules gets their three tokens, which can be used to gain five extra minutes of computer time, okay? So let's take a look at the next example. Mrs.

Griffin has divided her classroom reading group into the red birds, blue birds, and yellow birds. Oh, I remember those. She told the class that if the yellow birds finished their book and the assigned

questions by Friday, the entire class will get 15 minutes of extra recess time, excuse me. What type of group contingency is this? Stop and think, and now respond. And this is a dependent group

contingency. And the reason that it is a dependent group contingency is that if the smaller group of the yellow birds finishes their book and the assigned questions, then the entire class gets 15

minutes of extra recess time, excuse me. So a small group or the yellow birds have to exhibit the behavior of finishing their book and the assigned questions by Friday, and if they meet that criteria,

then the entire class receives the extra recess time. Excuse me. And that's what makes it dependent. All right, and last but not least, each student in Mr. Brown's class is responsible for earning

good behavior tokens. If each student has earned at least 50 tokens by the end of the school year, the entire class will get a pizza party. What type of contingency is this? Stop and think. And

respond. And this one is an interdependent group contingency, and that's because the -- let me go back here. That is because every student in Mr. Brown's class has to earn 50 tokens by the end of the

year. If every student earns 50 tokens, then every student is able to participate in the pizza party. Okay. So how do you set up a group contingency? Well, we're going to use -- I'd like you to think

about using a table like this one to develop and monitor the implementation of a group contingency, okay? This table is great if you post it in a kid-friendly format so that the kids understand

exactly what the target behavior is and what the work completion necessary is in order to gain the reward. So it includes rows one through four, and there's no need to include how you will know if

it's effective. You really just want to talk about that target behavior and what needs to be completed, the criteria. Okay? So the first thing you're going to do is choose one behavior to change. And

then the second thing you'll do is to measure the present level of that behavior. So you're going to establish some baseline measurements. Step three would then be to select a powerful reinforcer, and

that means you're going to have to survey your students to find out what is important to them. What is truly reinforcing for them? Step number four is you're going to select the type of group

contingency to use. And you know your classroom the best, so take a look at the three types of group contingencies and choose the one that best meets the needs of all your students in the classroom.

Then during step four, you're going to make sure that everyone in the class is capable of performing the behavior. When you select a behavior, you don't want to pick a behavior that everyone in the

class can't be successful with, okay? So you want to pick a behavior that you know everyone has some success with at some point, that they are capable of performing that behavior. Step six means -- is

that you want to set criteria for reinforcement at the level of reasonable improvement. So reasonable improvement means if you have a behavior that you're seeing at 30% of the time, reasonable

improvement may be a jump in 10%, 5 or 10 or even 15%. But what you don't want to do is if you have a current baseline measurement of 30%, you don't want to bump it up to 100% for students because

that means that it's too large of a leap for students to be successful. So you want to do them in small increments, smaller increments, and gradually increase the criteria. Step seven is to praise the

group for the appropriate performance throughout the time the contingency is in effect, and pair phrase with the reinforcement when it is delivered. So again, go back to that IFEEDV. You want it to be

immediate. You want it to be frequent. You want to be enthusiastic, okay? You want to go through all of those, IFEEDV. And then last but not least, you want to monitor performance throughout the group

contingency and compare it with your baseline and ongoing progress. Okay? So if you take a look at the table on the screen, you're basically saying, you know, what's our target behavior? How do we

earn this? Okay? So how do you earn something? All students complete assignments one to three with 75% accuracy by lunch. What do we earn? Well, if you do this, then the whole class gets an extra 15

minutes of recess. When do we earn it? Three times a week during morning work session. What's your backup plan if it's not earned? Well, the backup is if you don't do it three times per week during

morning work session, then you get to complete the assignments during period -- you get to complete assignments four and five after lunch. So if you don't get through assignments one through three,

you do assignments four through five after lunch. And how will you know that it's effective? When the class earned rewards four out of five times, right? So then we know the assignment completion

increased from 50% of students completing assignments to 90% of students completing the assignment. And that's how you know that it's effective. It's pretty simplistic, but you need to follow each one

of these components to make sure that you're setting up the group contingency effectively. Now one thing I want to talk about for a little bit is just adding some mystery to your rewards. Mystery is

powerful, including randomization in the group contingency by varying the behavior and the criteria to earn a reward is incredibly powerful, okay? So in doing this, by adding some mystery to the

rewards, the teacher and the students don't necessarily know and so the mystery of what will be selected as the behavior and the criteria for earning remains unknown. So it's kind of like -- that's

where the mystery comes into play. So let me give you some examples of some mysteries so you add mystery to your reward system. You can set up a mystery motivator, and you could do something like the

envelope, please. So the criteria is written on a slip of paper and sealed inside an envelope and displayed in a prominent place in your classroom. The hype is the critical component in making the

mystery motivator work. So you're going to walk past the envelope, oh, if everyone completes assignments one through three, what will we get? I wonder, as you point to the mystery motivator. You can

also try something like the grab bag or -- and call it it's in the bag. And that's when you have pre-selected rewards, which can be like small toys or candy or a slip with paper -- a slip of paper

indicating a privilege or maybe even a free homework pass. And what happens is that what the student selects is unpredictable or a mystery. So a selected student pulls a mystery reinforcer from the

bag and the hype created is by asking frequently, what's in the bag? What will you get if you meet the target behavior? And another one that you can use is the reinforcer spinner. And that is the same

as the other random reward system, but the rewards are displayed on a spinner. So if a student earns the privilege, then they can spin to select the reward for the group contingency. So you select the

student who meets the criteria of the behavior, and then they spin the wheel and it stops on a popcorn party, so therefore the whole groups get the popcorn party. It's kind of like just adding that

mystery to the group contingency to make it even more powerful. So what are some of the advantages of the group contingency? Well, the whole group is motivated to comply with the rules. The group

encourages appropriate behavior from other group members. The group may stop reinforcing the undesirable behavior of disruptive students, and it's convenient and easy to apply. So it allows management

of the behavior of a large number of students through one set of data and one reinforcer. So can you use group contingencies in kindergarten? Absolutely. You just have to be very careful about the

criteria that you select, the behavior that you select, the criteria that you select for success, and the reinforcer. You need to make sure that it is age-appropriate for the group that you're working

with. The same with your upper or intermediate students in the elementary school, or even at middle school or high school. A group contingency can be effective across age groups as long as you are

thoughtful and purposeful in selecting the target behavior, the criteria for meeting success, and the reinforcer. So there are some disadvantages associated with using group contingencies, and that

may be that you have excessive pressure placed on one or several students, that there's a possibility of sabotage by unmotivated students, meaning an unmotivated student doesn't meet criteria knowing

that it means no one gets it, gets the reward. Or that you have unfavorable social interactions. And then there's ethical considerations to consider. So you want to take care to help avoid covert

verbal statements or threats to students who fail to reach the standard. You want to avoid specifying a student by name. You want to make sure that students have prerequisite skills to reach the

standard. And you want to avoid competition between groups. You want to promote fairness or reinforcing group members because the action [inaudible]. Okay? So you just want to take some of those

precautions and consider some of those disadvantages when you're selecting the group contingency for your group of students. And with that being said, we want to exercise, you know, these cautions

again. Just want to bring them to your attention again that when using contingencies, one must be sure that the student can perform that required behavior. And if they cannot, then teach the target

behavior and provide opportunities for guided practice. This will ensure that you can catch the child being good and offer positive reinforcements. This will also ensure that other students will not

use the student as a scapegoat because they perceive him or her as ruining the reward system for the rest of the kids in the group. So if students deliberately sabotage the reward system, then you put

them on their own reward system instead of allowing them to impact the reward system for other students. And in extreme cases, it may be necessary to remove a particular student and develop an

individual plan for the student. So when we talk about classroom group contingencies, there's one in particular that is supported by research that we know is effective, and that is the good behavior

game. And in the interest of time, I'm not going to spend time showing you the good behavior time -- good behavior game, but I encourage you to go onto the Intervention Central website, click on the

link provided for you in your handout, and take a look at the good behavior game. There is also a video on YouTube of the good behavior game that you might want to also take a look at and review and

see if it is an effective -- if it's a good contingency that you might want to use in your classroom as well. Okay? So now I'm going to give you a little bit of practice. I want you to take a few

minutes to take a look at the group contingency action plan. And I want you just to think for about three minutes to begin the steps of actually planning to create a classroom contingency in your

classroom. So think back to your students and your classroom, and walk through the steps that we reviewed for establishing a classroom contingency. And I want you to start an action plan, so jot down

some notes with each one of the steps and see if we can get you started with the classroom contingency. And we'll come back in about two minutes. Okay, hopefully you're on your way to action planning

or developing a group contingency for use in your classroom. All right, we're going to move along a little bit. We only have a few minutes left in our presentation, so I want to make sure we get

through the remainding -- the remaining, excuse me, questions, and provide you with some additional information. All right, so we're on question number three. And this question is for your Act 48

instructional hours, so you have answered question one and two. You should have two letters for your code already. And here is question number three. In a blank group contingency, the behavior of one

student determines the consequences for all students. Is it A, independent? B, dependent? C, interdependent? Or D, antecedent? Stop and think and respond. Okay, let's see. And the answer is dependent.

Okay. Question number four. Oh, I'm sorry. So our results are that 73% of our response -- our participants responded D, dependent. Correct. And if you remember, the dependent -- the group contingency

is the one that we talk about, which is the hero procedure. So one student wins the reward for all students in the group. Okay, question number four. In a blank group contingency, the behavior of an

individual student determines the consequences for that individual student. Stop and think, and respond. All right, and our answer is independent. Great job, guys. 94% of you responded independent.

Very good, very good. And again, if you remember the independent one is to each his or her own, and that is that the behavior of an individual determines the consequences for that individual. All

right, and we are onto our very last question of the evening. In a blank group contingency, the behavior of each student determines the consequences for each student. Is it independent, dependent,

interdependent, or antecedent? And you can respond. I feel like I should do the jeopardy song. Do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do,

do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do. Okay, and our answer is C, interdependent. Very good, 96% of you responded interdependent. Very good, excellent job. Okay. Well, I have to tell you we are at the

end of our session together this evening. Congratulations. You've finished the session four in the classroom management webinar series. Now you have two strategies to take back to your classrooms,

both being effective and evidence-based strategies. You can now develop and use statements of specific, contingent praise to positively acknowledge appropriate student behavior, and you can develop

and implement a variety of group contingency strategies to acknowledge appropriate student behavior. Remember to pay attention to the behaviors you want to see, acknowledge appropriate behaviors with

specific, contingent praise, and develop and implement group contingencies as an effective classroom management strategy. So applause to you. Let's see if I can put applause to you. Very good, very

good. You've been great. It's been a pleasure spending time with you this evening. But before you go, I want to remember -- I want you to remember that we have the fifth session in the webinar series

coming up soon. Our next session is part two of establishing a continuum of strategies to acknowledge appropriate behavior. And in this session, you will learn about developing and implementing a

token economy and behavior contracts. This webinar will take place on January 10th, 2012, from 4pm to 6pm. I hope you will make a point to register to attend. And as always, this session and all of

the other sessions in the webinar series are video recorded and available for your viewing on the PaTTAN website. So you would go to the PaTTAN website, go to Educational Initiatives, and click on

Behavior. Behavior is right there on your left-hand side. Once you're in the Behavior, you'll go over to your right-hand side and you'll click on Classroom Management Webinar Series. And on that page,

it describes the series. You'll click on the link in the paragraph that states Classroom Management Webinar Series. You can also access the webinars by clicking on the Videos tab and searching under

the Behavior tab on the left-hand side. Now when you click there, you will see that we have three -- let me go back to this one. You'll see that we have three videos listed there for the first three

sessions. And shortly after this session, we'll have number four listed there for you. And again, on the bottom it will tell you which of the webinar sessions in the series that you will be clicking

on. And it gives you a brief description of the webinar series so you know that you are clicking on the correct one. All right, so what we'd like you to do at this point is to complete the training

evaluation and assessment of learning outcomes. And how you'll do that is to click on the link to the electronic evaluation, and the link is listed right there for you. We'd like you to take some time

to go ahead and fill that out. Your honest feedback is appreciated. We use the feedback to improve what we do for you out there in the field. And when you are finished with this webinar, you'll record

your verification code. The answers for your five questions on your form, and then you will email the verification code to code@pattanpgh.net by the close of business on Friday, December 16th. Please

don't forget to include your name, your employer, your PPID in that email. And in the subject line of the email, please indicate whether it is Act 48 or instructional hours that you are seeking. You

will receive an email confirming notification that your email was received, then you'll allow 30 days for us to process your hours. Please note that code@pattanpgh.net is the email address. You'll

have to go into your email and send an email to code@pattanpgh.net. You will get an automatic response back after you send that email giving you the link to our evaluation, our section evaluation. And

again, we would really appreciate it if you would take the time to fill that evaluation out and give it back to us with feedback. All righty, well that concludes our session for the evening. Should

you have any questions regarding this session, please feel free to contact me at the email address on your screen. All questions regarding the classroom management webinar series should be sent to

Dennis Cullen at the above address. You'll love Dennis. He's a great guy. If you have any questions about the series, please give him a quick email. And between the two of us, I'm sure we'd be able to

answer any of your questions or meet your needs. Again, thank you so much for your participation and have a great evening.