Rounding up the year, part one: On how bottlecaps made my life easier

I've been an inconsistent blogger and I'm sorry for that. I think I'll remain inconsistent, so just stay tuned and don't give up, because as inconsistent as I may be I'm here to stay ;).

It's that time of the year when schools are all about summing up and report writing, so I've decided to draw up one or two of my own. Those who've paid attention will remember this post: On Antennae and Token Economy . It was a short report on something I've found and decided to give it a try - token economy. In short:

Within the notion of token economy, tokens are items (buttons, bottlecaps, stickers...) used as positive reinforcement. They are of no value of their own, but they symbolize praise.

In the classroom, tokens are used to acknowledge a good action as simple as it may be - opening a book, apologizing, writing something down, being patient in a game, waiting for one's turn, etc...

Open the book - get a token...

Raise your hand - get a token...

So I gave it a try, and expected the fad to last for a week, maybe two... Three, if I'm lucky. But my student really grew fond of it - collecting tokens became a kind of a game. The class was curious and supportive about it as well. And a week passed, and then another one, and then another... I decided to make a table, recording the number of tokens collected each lesson and placed it on a visible spot in the classroom. And then it went on for a bit longer than two months - right up until the school finished. And it didn't get boring, nor did it lose its power. It focused us all on the good and helped us set our minds on learning.

I made a little diploma and added the numbers of all of the tokens collected in the two months - it came up to 700 so I wrote:

 This certificate is awarded 

in recognition of
700 good things done during English lessons
from April to June 2013.
Thank you for your cooperation and good will!

I signed it and presented it and confused my little troublemaker, but it really meant a lot to him. 700 good things - sounds pretty great, doesn't it? Especially when all one hears is Don't!!, oh no!, why did you?!, how could you?!, stop it! and the like.

It's just a simple little thing.

And it sounds silly.

But really -
It worked.

Bye for now,

Do 

On Antennae and Token Economy

My last post was basically a link to a documentary. If you haven't seen it yet and there's a possibility for you to have to deal with ADHD at some point of your life or work, it's time you do it. But that's not the tip I'd like to disseminate with this post. The film is a wonderful insight into what ADHD is. You won't learn many tips from it and chances are you won't be taking notes while you watch. But that one tip I've picked up is so simple anybody can do it and it has an incredible change potential.

The tip is called "token economy" and it comes up around the 45th minute of the documentary. "Token economy" has roots in what psychologists call conditioning and it's a form of immediate positive reinforcement of desirable behavior or in plain words: whenever a student does something well they get an object which has no value unto itself, but represents a currency through which a reward is attained. So, if you want a student who cannot keep quiet to learn how to raise their hand and wait for their turn, whenever they quietly raise their hand you give them a token, whenever they remain quiet with their hand up while you're speaking to another student they get a token, whenever they give a relevant answer after you call their name they get a token. The student receives a token for everything they do well, as small as it is, and they MUST receive a token immediately.

Think well before you use anything edible for a token.
There's a possibility they might disappear before being counted.

Tokens can be anything: marbles, stars, stamps, bottle caps, pencils, stones, sequins, buttons, pieces of cloth/string, paperclips, stickers, rubber bands, anything made of cardboard (stars, suns, flowers, birds, lions, faeries...)... I think you get the point. The aim is for the student to collect as many as possible in a given period of time - e.g. a lesson. I repeat - they MUST receive a token for EVERYTHING they do well, as small as it is, IMMEDIATELY. And a deal must be made: 

If the student collects X tokens, the teacher will ________ .

This is where you need to think about your student and figure out what is important to them. If nothing comes to mind do what I did - Ask them "Who should I tell when you're being good?". Chances are they know exactly who you should call, so follow through. You MUST FOLLOW THROUGH. 

But be flexible the first time you start doing this. I tried the recipe from the documentary and set an objective of 50 tokens in a 45-minute lesson. The student only collected 35, but behavior change was so dramatic, I followed through with the deal nonetheless. As I said, smiles all around ensued. 

The trick is in the fact that tokens focus us, teachers, students and parents on students' strengths and abilities and help us overcome the difficult bits and reduce difficulties into bits, wherever and whenever possible. And as I said, smiles all around ensue.

I'll confess having reservations about all of this at first, but I decided to give it a go because something had to be done. It did not magically change everything for the better, nor did it magically cure ADHD, but it gave a strong positive note to my lessons.

So be brave and persist.

Finally, keep your antennae on alert whatever you do, because you never know when and where you might come across a brilliant idea. 

When you get one, pass it on.

Love to all,

Do

P.S. 

For those interested in research on token economy, click on the titles to go visit:

Wikipedia - to start off.

R.P. Liberman: The token economy. American Journal of Psychiatry, 2000

G. LeBlanc: Enhancing intrinsic motivation through the use of a token economy. Essays in Education, 2004, 11.

K. Zlomke & L. Zlomke: Token economy plus self-monitoring to reduce disruptive classroom behaviors. The Behavior Analyst Today, 2003, 4, 177-182.

Astounding Details and Heartbreaking Difficulties

48 minutes and 56 seconds of pure food for thought in the shape of a BBC documentary. It's not about preaching or giving advice (although one or two at the end will maybe come in handy), it's a snapshot of what living with ADHD means.

  

Love to all,

Do