A New Old Approach

It is amazing what happens when you bribe children. Ok, I know that sounds terrible, but today, I needed a new game plan for my first graders - and I went back to the ol' positive and negative reinforcement techniques. Getting absolutely steam rolled last week (see last week's blog picture) by their energy, I knew that should I ever want to harness them long enough to get a sentence of instruction in, I would need some kind of leverage.  So I purchased a bag of Starburst fruit chews and decided to lay down the law with the trusty ol' "name on the board for misbehavior" threat. I couldn't believe how fast it worked. My strategy worked so well that zero names went on the board - and for the entire hour, I had probably a 95% increase in total attention span length. Sure, kids still went on the occasional energy binge - falling off chairs, climbing on the table, paper airplanes, selective hearing and general unrest - but for the most part, they listened, they participated and they walked out of the classroom today with a treat for good behavior. Fascinating that this technique still works so well!

My only mistake was that I left the scissors within reach. No, nobody was stabbed or attacked, but for whatever reason, when these kids see scissors, something inside of them nudges them to use them - constantly. They were to draw a picture in the first part of my lesson. Randomly, the kid next to me grabs a pair of scissors and cuts out his drawing. I continued teaching, commenting how he didn't need to cut his picture out... Next thing I know, half of the first graders are using scissors!  Paper scraps were everywhere. Ah, their inattentive tendencies managed to escape through their hands!  Needless to say, I will be hiding all scissors next time. Oh, I know, they will just find something else to distract themselves, but hopefully whatever it is will leave less of an aftermath for me to pick up.

I wonder what life would be like if we adults still behaved this way? The more I think about it, perhaps we still do. Instead of our name on the board, we get a ticket, jail time, "the look" from our spouses and instead of Starbursts we receive a bonus or a raise or some ice cream for dessert. And instead of scissors, well - we grab a keyboard or a cell phone, leaving brain cells all over the place.  How's that saying go? "The more things change, the more they stay the same."  Pretty much sums it up, doesn't it?

So, if that's all true, and we're just older versions of our young squirrelly selves - why don't you stop what you're doing, pick up a piece of paper, and draw and color yourself a picture - trust me, it'll make your day!