Behavior modification
Discussion
Behavior modification refers to the alteration of the patterns of behaviour through the use of various learning techniques through operant conditioning. According to Chance (2014), punishment and combination of reinforcement are used to correct unwanted behaviour by replacing it with the desired one. The key to making behaviour modification effective is consistency, and this is what I should do to my students so that I plant good behaviour in them.
As a teacher, I should always instil good behavior to my students so that they can grow up as responsible people. I should make sure that any strategy I take is useful to my students (Chance, 2014). The best behavior modification strategy for my 4th grade student who is very fidgety and talkative during class when I’m teaching is negative reinforcement. This strategy involves taking away some unpleasant from a child so as to reinforce a desirable behaviour (Chance, 2014). In my case, the unpleasant thing is the fact that the child is annoying.
In my case, I will separate the student from the others and make him always sit at the front so that I can watch him closely. Separating the student from others means that he won’t find people to play with. Again, when the student is seated away from the others, he will regret his behavior, and thus he will be quite so that I can take him back to his initial sitting position. It will therefore be obvious that once I enter the class to teach, the student will stop his annoying behavior so that I don’t take him to the front. This is an excellent example of negative reinforcement strategy of behaviour (Chance, 2014). Lastly, forcing the student to sit closer to me will create a wave of fear of being slapped or punished by me; hence he will stop his bad behavior. Such a strategy will also encourage the other students to be attentive in class.