Fast Llama's!
Here we are for part 2 of our Making School Fun series. Today, Doug shares his enthusiasm for reward systems. In the video link, he discusses extrinsic versus intrinsic reward systems. Lots of talk out there about how terrible extrinsic rewards are for kids... However, Doug disagrees and instead of focuses on the fun class can be... and the idea of "are you willing to change your behavior in order to earn the reward?"
Here's Doug...
The Psychology of Incentive Systems
I’m not a psychologist of any kind. However, I have visited many in my lifetime and read a bunch of books, so I feel that makes me somewhat qualified…..
In a nutshell, here’s the psychology of reward systems:
• If you just give a kid something in too easy a fashion, the reward does not have much value.
• If the student has to do something athletic, skillful, or difficult in some fashion in order to win the prize, then the prize takes on a new meaning. (Picture the county fair and your pride when you finally knocked down all of the milk bottles after spending $100 and realizing that they were actually screwed to the table.)
• If the reward or prize comes via a bit of a “chance” for a possible big win, (picture Las Vegas), then the reward takes on a special meaning. Can you have an actual casino in your classroom? No. (However, there are some states where practically everything is now legal, so you never know….)
• Sometimes the difference between a boring incentive and an exciting one is the context. For example, many schools have a school store where students can use their tokens or points in order to buy trinkets, which generally are found on the floor after a few minute’s use. How to make this more exciting—Have an auction. Buying that trinket is way more exciting when I had to win it in a bidding contest against my hated class rival.
• Do rewards and incentives really work? I don’t know. But I do know that when used skillfully, they make your classroom fun. Kids appreciate any effort you put forward to make your classroom exciting and fun. Do you want to be really crazy and over the top when it comes to rewards and incentives?
If so, then take 27 minutes or so and watch this video: https://youtu.be/0WGs9NuJISI
If you feel it is a little long, you can increase the playback speed to 1.5 to 2.0 and shave off a few minutes... you can still understand what he is saying... (a grad school trick!)
Learning is hard, but it doesn't have to boring... it can be fun!
