Behaviorism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Behaviorism - Essay Example What do you think is happening in the poem, based only on reading it one time?† This will get students focused on beginning class, and will give them the opportunity to conduct an initial reading of the poem. They will have the opportunity to consider what they think the poem means based on their own prior knowledge, but without contextual information. Once context is provided later in the lesson, students will be able to compare their original thoughts on the poem with their more informed analysis. (5 minutes) 3. Presentation of New Information or Modeling: The teacher provides a brief introduction about the author, Gwendolyn Brooks including biographical information and background on the society in which the poet wrote. The teacher introduces this information by navigating through various parts of (and having students read aloud) the Norton Anthology of Poetry website as a whole class, using the projector screen (http://www.wwnorton.com/college/english/nap/we_real_cool_brooks .htm). The purpose of this introduction is to provide students with a context for the poem, and a basic awareness of the differences between today’s society and the time during which the poem was written. Providing information on the author exposes students to a famous author who is a minority, and knowing more about the poet gives students further context for analyzing the poem. The teacher then goes over the poem with the students, and has them share their original thoughts on the poem prior to discussing how their ideas have changed in groups. The teacher asks students to focus on what the pool players are doing in the poem, and what becomes of them during... Principles of behaviorism should be part of every elementary classroom (Monchinski, 2008). Although not all activities or ideas are behaviorist in nature, it will help to incorporate behaviorism in some parts of the lesson. The reason behind this is that students in grade school are not yet mature and they need guidance in order to learn proper behavior and skills. Activating prior knowledge, providing models for activities, and giving rewards are some ways to incorporate behaviorism in the given lesson. Incorporating behaviorism into the lesson plan serves the teacher in three ways. First, by activating prior knowledge, the teacher will have the chance to check students’ understanding of the previous lesson. Likewise, by doing such, the students will feel the need to review past lessons, thus reinforcing good study habits among students. They will be inclined to think that past lessons should not be taken for granted; thus taking down notes, reviewing them, and even memorizi ng will help them get a better grade. Moreover, activating prior knowledge will make students see the link between the previous and the current lesson (Monchinski, 2008). Using principles of behaviorism, the teacher also provides model for learning a new skill. In the given lesson, students will be taught directly how to work on the thesis statement and subsections of the speech. This effort could guide students to perform the task appropriately and produce the expected output. Also, telling students what to do or what is expected to happen prior to performing the activity could lead them to write the best speech. The key is to condition learners to act as expected.