Learning Theories Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Learning Theories - Essay Example Behaviorism is an important approach in educating younger students. Young learners may sometimes be unmanageable especially when they are left on their own (Casas, 2011). In teaching, behaviorists usually lay down the rules to the students at the beginning of the year. This helps to avoid misbehavior. Teachers also use positive and negative reinforcements to affect students’ behavior. As such, it is imperative for teachers to know their students’ behavior and plan out reinforcements to influence negative behaviors and make them positive. Rewards that are meaningful to the students should be in place to strengthen positive behaviors, and rules must be set at the very start to avoid negative behaviors. Classroom management is one aspect that a behaviorist teacher focuses on. Students have different personalities but when they come to school, they act in uniformity according to the policies and regulations set by the school and its teachers. Establishing classroom rules is thus the first step to a well-managed classroom. Teachers should make it a point to establish rules at the beginning of the year and have them posted. In particular, classroom rules may be memorized by students and recited as part of routines. Rules may be posted on the bulletin board to remind students of their responsibility. In terms of assignments, it is best to make contracts for parents or guardians to sign. There should be an assignment notebook where students will write all their assignments. The teacher signs the assignment page, whether it was completed or not, and students will ask their parents to countersign the page so as to monitor students’ effort in doing their assignments. ... Rules may be posted on the bulletin board to remind students of their responsibility. In terms of assignments, it is best to make contracts for parents or guardians to sign. There should be an assignment notebook where students will write all their assignments. The teacher signs the assignment page, whether it was completed or not, and students will ask their parents to countersign the page so as to monitor students’ effort in doing their assignments. Practicing routines is another beneficial aspect of the behaviorist classroom. Routines help to make students become organized individuals. Students who learn routines in school will learn to keep a routine at home and eventually, in their professional field. With routines, performance and processes will be perfected. As part of everyday routine, students should greet the teacher and their classmates, check attendance by counting off (each should be assigned a class number), recite classroom rules, and report current news. The re porting of current events should be done in turns, based on the class number. These routine activities are supposed to prepare students for the day ahead, and to condition them to behave the way they should in school. Setting the mood of students is a must in the behaviorist classroom. In every lesson, the teacher should always give students some idea on what to expect for the day. This gets the students in the mood for activities, games, etc. For example, if the teacher says, â€Å"Today, we will play a game.† The students will know how to behave or react, and they will respond accordingly to the situation. If some serious activities need to be accomplished, then the teacher could say, â€Å"Have you made a Diorama? Today, I will teach you how to