Reinforcing+Effort+&+Providing+Recognition

Reinforcing Effort and Providing Recognition
**Tom Smith and Diana Bixby Delaware Valley High School**

//Great changes may not happen right away, but with effort, even the difficult may become easy. //



-Bill Blackman

**__Strategy Overview __**  Research shows that there are two instructional strategies that teachers should use when considering students' attitudes and beliefs. By using these strategies, students' achievement can increase by 29% (Marzano, 2001). 
 * 1) **Reinforcing Effort**
 * Teaching students relationship between effort and achievement
 * Sharing personal examples of effort
 * Reading stories like "The Little Engine that Could" or stories about someone who never gave up
 * Showing students how to keep track of their Effort and Achievement
 * Considering a students' effort when grading (effort and achievement rubric)
 * 1) **<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Providing Recognition **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Rewards do not necessarily have a negative effect on intrinsic motivation
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Reward is most effective when it is contingent on the attainment of some standard of performance
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Abstract symbolic recognition is more effective than tangible rewards.

<span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 160%;">__**<span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 140%;">Research Supporting Strategy **__

<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">__**<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">Reinforcing Effort **__ Research by Covington (1983) and Harter (1980) has shown that people generally attribute success to one of the following:
 * 1) Abilily
 * 2) Effort
 * 3) Other people
 * 4) Luck

Ultimately, the research shows that belief in effort is the most effective tool.

2. Students can learn to change their beliefts to an emphasis on effort. Overwalle & De Metsenaere, 1990)
 * 1) Not all students realize the importance of believeing in effort.
 * Teachers need to make sure that they continue to emphasize how important effort is to success.
 * If students are taught about relationship between effort and achievement, their achievement will increase (Van

<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">**__Providing Recognition__** Research indicates that rewards and praise in general decrease intrinsic motivation and does not enhance motivation (see Kohn, 1993; Brophy, 1981; Lepper, 1983; Morine-Dershimer, 1982). Through the books review of research the following generalization can be extracted: 1. Rewards do not necessarily have a negative effect on intrinsic motivation. 2. Reward is most effective when it is contigent on the attainment of some standard of performance. 3. Abstract symbolic recognition is more effective than tangible rewards.
 * Rewards can have either undermining or enhancing effects depending on the circumstances.
 * Rewards that acknowledge successful attainment of specific performance goals enhance intrinic motivation.
 * Rewards, particularly praise, when given for accomplishing specific performance goals, can be a powerful morivator for students.

<span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 160%;">**__<span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 140%;">Classroom Examples __** <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">
 * __Reinforcing Effort__**

Teachers should distinguish and exemplify the connection between effort and achievement. A reasonable and respectful policy will help students demonstrate their effort for completing a task. Teachers should ask students to document what they did before they abandoned the work assigned: what approaches they tried, for example, who they asked for help. Such a policy sends the message that perseverance and resourcefulness are important, so students should not give up at the first sign of trouble (see Daneilson, 2002).

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">The first example is a slip that a teacher gives her students to show them that improved effort affects performance.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">The second example is a student self assessment form. By filling out this form, students learn to reflect on their day. Students learn that their success is determied by the effort they put into their day.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">The third example is an effort and achievement rubric that students fill out. Their grades are based on this.

These classroom examples are all ways to teach students that their effort plays an important role in their class achievement. When students begin to see this, their motivation to become successful will improve.

__**Providing Recognition**__

Rewards in the form of acknowledgements (certificates, thank-you notes, compliments) or celebrations with no monetary value (games, fun, activities, privileges) are and effictive alternative to concrete rewards, especially when used unpredictably for tasd reinforcemnt (Jensen, 2005).

This is an example of recognizing a student meeting a performance goal. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">

Another example of recognizing students is to praise them for specific accomplishments. There are many ways to praise a child as seen in the poster below.



<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">A third way to recognize students is to use praise notes. These notes can be posted up on the bulletin board. The teacher gives them out to a student for reaching a specific behavior or academic goal. Students each have their own pocket for praise notes. This strategy can be used school wide. <span style="color: #ff0000; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 160%; text-align: left;">

__**Classroom Non Examples**__

<span style="color: #ff0000; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #008080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 140%;">__**Reinforcing Effort**__

One NON EXAMPLE of this strategy would be to consistantly give a student a task that is too difficult for him/her with little guidance. If the student keeps trying and does not experience success, he/she may give up.


 * __Providing Recognition__**

<span style="color: #008080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">One NON EXAMPLE of this strategy would be a teacher praising a student for completing homework. However, the teacher did not check to see if the student completed the work successfuly.


 * <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 140%;">__ Technology Connections __ **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Highlighting students in class newspaper or teacher website
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Emailing students and parents when a student achieves a goal
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Using Rubistar to create effort and achievement rubrics
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Student produced newscast of special achievements or events
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Creating self reflection sheets for students on computer
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Students creating graph after collecting data on their effort and achievement.



Works Cited

Marzano, R., Pickering, D. & Pollock, J. (2001). //Classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development//

Jensen, E. (2005). //Teaching with the brain in mind.// Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development

Danielson, D. (2002). //Enhancing student achievement a framework for school improvement.// Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development