Classroom Management: Maintain Engagement by using Contingent and Specific Praise

You as the teacher candidate will focus on maintaining engagement by using contingent and specific praise while introducing the lesson. Praise should be contingent (i.e., occur immediately after the behavior takes place) and be specific (i.e., describe the behavior that the praise is intended to reinforce in the future).

The avatar students are beginning a lesson to design a television commercial that will familiarize new students with the school and its resources for the teacher candidates content area. In the lesson introduction, avatar students learn that they will be working in small groups with assigned roles, and certain avatar students may initially refuse to work with others, be resistant to learning in general, or offer inappropriate behavioral expectations in the discussion. Your objective will be to provide contingent and specific praise to maintain engagement and reinforce on-task behaviors.

 

Classroom Management: Gain Attention & Establish Expectations for Group Work

As the teacher candidate you will strive to gain the avatars’ attention by using a consistent learning signal from a designated location in the classroom. You will have the opportunity to work with the avatar students to establish group expectations for behavior during small group work.

The bell has just rung to signal that class has started, and the middle school avatar students are still engaged in conversation or personal activities. The teacher candidate’s objective is to teach a lesson. To support overall learning in the classroom, they will utilize specific classroom management strategies, such as establishing a consistent attention signal for transitions to learning activities, establishing norms for working together in small groups.