Around Town Round Up: Tips for Incorporating Reinforcement

Reinforcement is an evidence-based practice that we have seen utilized in many of the classrooms we coach. There is no single way to implement reinforcement but there are some helpful tips that can ensure success. Today's Around Town Round Up will share those tips and some examples we have seen in our districts.

Tip 1: Incorporate visuals supports.
Visual supports help students understand when they have earned reinforcement. They are a concrete reminder of the reinforcement versus other systems that are accessed solely by adults (i.e. Classroom Dojo, behavior data collection, etc).

Punch card for iReady time
Lindsay Fox
Kemp Elementary, Dayton

Portable dime token card to earn preferred activity
Ruby Copley
JFK Elementary, Kettering

Star Behavior Schedule to earn morning and afternoon break time
Mary Nolan
Valley Forge Elementary, Huber Heights

Classwide stamp reinforcement system
Shanon Vance
Valley Forge Elementary, Huber Heights

Tip 2: Clearly define expectations.
Often we will see students who have a limited understanding that their behavior or work completion impacts whether or not they earn their reinforcement. They do not see the clear connection between what they do and what they earn. Use a reinforcement system that clearly communicates what the student needs to do to earn the reinforcement.

In the examples below, the tokens are used to clearly define how much work has to be done before earning the chosen reinforcer. Each token represents a task or part of a task (depending on the student's needs). These reinforcement visual supports are often referred to as a visual contract.

Kelli Tritschler
Mound Elementary, Miamisburg

Annette Black
Springfield High School, Springfield

Rachel Engle
Horace Mann Elementary, Springfield

Jackie Vollmer
Driscoll Elementary, Centerville

Tim Sullivan
Springfield High School, Springfield

This visual contract is part of a structured work system binder. The numbered tokens correspond with pockets within the binder. The student matches each token to the pocket, completes the work, and then earn the chosen reinforcer once all of the work is done.

Laurie Maravetz
Schaefer Middle School, Springfield

Older students may benefit from a task list which details each of the steps required the complete a task. As the finish each step, they check off that step on the list and continue working toward the rewarding activity at the bottom.

Kara Cripe
Smith Elementary, Oakwood

3. Have a clear goal in mind.
For some students who have a variety of interfering behaviors throughout the day, it can be beneficial to focus on a single goal that they will work towards such as a replacement behavior. The goal expectation should be clearly defined and as well as what they will earn.

Tim Sullivan
Springfield High School, Springfield

Laurie Maravetz
Schaefer Middle School, Springfield

Thurgood Marshall High School, Dayton

Ann-Marie Small
Driscoll Elementary, Centerville

4. Incorporate special interests.
To get buy-in from students consider their special interests and how those can be incorporated into their reinforcement system.

Pi Token Reinforcement System
Annette Baker
Miami East Elementary, Miami East

Special Interest Character Token System
Allison Clements
Schnell Elementary, West Carrollton

Rocket Ship Token System
Heather Balkcom
Springcreek Primary, Piqua

For more tips and examples of incorporating reinforcement in the classroom don't miss our previous posts:

ReinforcementSystems

MoreReinforcement Systems

Reinforcementfor Task Completion

Executive Functioning Forum: Metacognition

Metacognition is the combination of various executive functioning skills in order to think about one’s own thinking. It helps students check in on one’s own actions during, or shortly after finishing, a task or activity to assure appropriate goal attainment. For instance, metacognition helps a student realize when they have read and understood a text or if they need to reread something again for better comprehension. This seems pretty straightforward but it is actually the combination of being able to hold information in their working memory, control impulses and block out distractions, along with applying phonics and reading skills.

Today’s Executive Functioning Forum will provide some practical strategies for promoting metacognition with students when looking at behavior, social skills, and academics.

Behavior

Build metacognition with your students by helping them make decisions using visual supports such as contingency maps. Throughout the day, students can monitor their own behavior using self-monitoring tools which helps them think about their decisions and behaviors. For some students, debriefing about behavior can be a meaningful way for them to think about a situation that occurred. But be careful with debriefing because it can lead to re-escalating behaviors, anxiety, or defensiveness with some students especially when implemented too soon after an incident. 

Behavior Contingency Map
Taylor Ruef
Stevenson Elementary, Mad River

Choice Road
Katie Sullivan
Valley Forge Elementary, Huber Heights

PAX/Spleem Self-Monitoring
Jen Everett
Springcreek Primary, Piqua

Behavior Reflection Sheet
Korie Jacobs
Mad River Middle School, Mad River

Think It Over Behavior Reflection

Transition Priming
Leslie Mann
Demmitt Elementary, Vandalia

Think Sheet Behavior Reflection
Leslie Mann
Demmitt Elementary, Vandalia

Think Sheet Behavior Reflection
Springcreek Primary

 

Social Skills

When it comes to social skills, students need to learn not only to think about their own thinking (metacognition) but also the thinking of others (social thinking). Social thinking requires direct instruction of specific skills. Once these skills have been directly taught and practiced, incorporate visual tools to help prime and prompt students to remember the strategies that have been taught. Incorporate ways for the student to self-monitor their progress with applying their new social skills to help with generalization and reflection on their own skills. 

Expected/Unexpected Lesson Visuals
Annette Baker
Miami East Elementary, Miami East

 

Thought Bubble Priming Tool
Nancy Cera
Brookville Elementary, Brookville

Expected/Unexpected Visual Supports
Nancy Cera
Brookville Elementary, Brookville

Metacognition Prompts
Leslie Mann
Smith Middle School, Vandalia

Pokemon Social Skill Self-Monitoring

Academics

Metacognition can be incorporated at the beginning, middle, and end of academic lessons. At the start of a lesson, activate prior knowledge, set a purpose for the lesson, and encourage students to make predictions. Embed monitoring questions throughout lessons such as “How did you solve that problem?” or “What can you do to help remember this information?” to help students think about their thinking during the lesson. Directly teach error monitoring skills (i.e. checklists, proofreading, rubrics) and give students the opportunity to practice checking their own work. 

K-W-L Chart

SWAG sentence checklist
Kristen Gregory
Northmoor Elementary, Northmont

For more information on tips and strategies for teaching executive functioning skills visit our previous Executive Functioning Forum Posts:

Planning and Organization

Attention and Impulse Control

Memory

Emotional Regulation

Flexible Thinking

Problem Solving

Initiation

Resources for Assessing and Teaching Executive Functioning Skills
Time Management

Super Star Schedules: Top 3 Tips for Creating Written Schedule for Older Students

As students get older it is important that their visual supports grow with them. A common misconception is that visual supports always means a support with little picture icons. That is not the case! Visual supports can be any support that makes auditory information visual.

An important visual support is a Visual Schedule. For our older students, there are several changes you can make to the visual schedule to help it grow with them so it is more age-appropriate. Today's Super Star Schedules will highlight Top 3 Tips for Creating Written Schedule for Older Students.

1. Begin to Fade Picture Icons
When a student has relied on picture icon schedules in the past, you may be hesitant to remove them altogether. Begin to fade the pictures by making them smaller while you increase the size of the text. Be sure if you are going to fade pictures, that your student not only can read the schedule words but can also comprehend what the word means. This is an essential skill for written schedules!

Amy Beanblossom
Arcanum Elementary, Arcanum

Peggy Ristau
Brookville Intermediate, Brookville

2. Provide a Way to Interact with the Schedule
Older students may not need a location-based schedule, but they may still benefit from interacting with the schedule so that they can see the passing of time and completion of events as the day goes on. The examples below use checklists, points, or velcro place marker to help students see where they are at in their day.

Heather Floyd
Northmoor Elementary, Northmont

Annette Baker
Miami East Elementary, Miami East

Catherine Anderson
Rushmore Elementary, Huber Heights

3. Continue to Provide an Individual Schedule for Quick Reference
Many of our middle school and high school classrooms have a daily agenda posted on the board. Although this is an excellent support, we find that many of our students still need an individual schedule that they can keep in a binder or on their desk for quick reference when they are in another location in the building or if they become anxious at any time.

Lisa Bauer
Northmont Middle School, Northmont

Allysson Rudnicki
Tipp High School, Tipp City

For more great examples of written schedules in the classroom check out our previous post:

Written Schedules

Regulation Rendezvous: Purposeful Walk

Many of our students struggle to remain well-regulated while seated in the classroom. They need opportunities built into their day for movement and exercise. One of our favorite strategies to recommend is a Purposeful Walk because it provides the student with calming vestibular and proprioceptive input through a structured task with a definite ending point.  Check out some of the great Purposeful Walk ideas we have seen in our districts in today’s Regulation Rendezvous.

Purposeful walks are already naturally built in throughout the day when students transition between different locations in the school building. Incorporate additional sensory input during these times through using a weighted backpack, weighted cart to push, or carrying a weighted transition item like a stuffed animal filled with plastic pellets.

Weighted Transition Buddy
Annette Baker and Bridgette Powers
Miami East Elementary, Miami East

Transition with Weighted Backpack and Cart
Emily Ottmar
Stevenson Elemetary, Mad River

Other naturally-occurring opportunities for purposeful walks can be embedded as jobs throughout the day. Students can collect recycling, gather milks in the cafeteria during breakfast and lunch, bring out recess equipment, collect textbooks or dictionaries in class, collect and return library books, or collect PE equipment.

Pusher for Library Books
Jennifer McGowan
Smith Middle School, Vandalia

Recess Equipment Rolling Tubs
Greenmont Elementary, Kettering

Tub of Library Books on Carpet Square
Terri Wheeler
Milton Union Elementary, Milton Union

Collecting Milks

Additional purposeful walks can be scheduled for a particular student who needs additional opportunities to move. These walks could include a treasure hunt walk, guided map walk, walking laps in the gym or on the playground, or making deliveries. 

Delivery Envelope
Rylie Jarrett
Stevenson Elementary, Mad River

Delivering Reams of Paper
Bradford Elementary

Be creative and have fun coming up with a theme for a student’s purposeful walk or incorporate their special interests! Keeping students motivated and engaged will allow the purposeful walks to be an effective calming support strategy for your students