Simple Positive Reinforcment Strategies For The Science And STEM Lab
Science and STEM lab teachers are in a unique situation. Many see their students only once a week for about 30-60 minutes. This means classroom management needs to be on point. We need to create a positive atmosphere that models the expected behavior in that short time.
Here are some favorite strategies that won't interfere with the flow of the activity.
1. Use Award Tickets
This is our favorite method. It is simple and quick and can be done quietly. In my class, we call the Good Lab Practices Tickets. (GLP for short.) When I see a student performing well, participating, showing good lab skills, etc, I will quietly slip them a ticket. Typically others will notice and start to get on track as well. If those students keep it up, I will slip them a ticket too. When a whole group is doing fantastic, I give them all a ticket. Sometimes I will give the whole class tickets for a great day.
What do they get for these tickets? My students place them in a bin. I draw out so many names at the end of each marking period. The bigger the school, the more names I draw. You get a prize from the prize bin if your name is drawn. I keep an eye out for deals for prizes. You could also ask for donations.
The more tickets you get, the greater the chance your name will be drawn. In reality, they are very happy to just get the ticket because they know I recognized their hard work. I will have students say they never have gotten a prize. Yes, they are usually the ones that do not show the best lab practices. I use that time to ask the student what would help them to get a ticket.
There are lots of ways you can use tickets. Another way is to give everyone a ticket at the beginning of class. They can put the ticket in the bin if they still have it at the end of class. This method allows the teacher to ensure they did not forget a student quietly working but you missed giving them a ticket because of other distractions.
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2. Have a Class Marble Jar.
This is super easy and doesn't even need to be a jar. Each class can have its own marble jar, or you can have one for the whole school. If they fill the jar, they can have a special experiment day. GLOW PARTIES are always fun. It is up to you if you want to take marbles out of the jar for poor behavior. I tend to avoid this and award the good stuff. They don't get a marble when they do not follow the rules.
If you teach on a cart, you could make a picture of a jar and use marble clipart. Just stick the marbles on the jar until it is full.
3. Collect Tokens, Stickers, or Stamps
This is very similar to the reward tickets. It is simple and easy. If your students have science folders, it will work perfectly. When students are seen performing good lab behavior, give them a token. If you worry the students will lose the token, just put a stamp or sticker on their folder. Once they reach 10 tokens/stamps, they get a choice of a prize.
Here are some ideas for prizes: Sit in the teacher's chair, get a piece of candy, have lunch with the teacher, sit with their friend for a class, get a prize from the prize bucket, or be the assistant for a science demo. There are so many ideas.
We like all of these because they do not affect the flow of the classroom. The teacher can recognize the behavior and keep moving along with the activity.
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