Operant Conditioning in Elementary Classroom Management

Discipline is important in maintaining a positive classroom environment and influencing a child’s development. During my field experience at S.H. Elementary, I have observed Mrs. Branson using various techniques to reinforce positive behavior in her 3rd grade classroom. Mrs. Branson’s teachers 3rd grade in a charter school located in the south suburbs of Minneapolis. Her class consist of 23 diverse student learners from various racial, ethical, cultural, and economic backgrounds. Each student acquires individual wants and needs, and exhibits a range of behaviors. Mrs. Branson practices operant conditioning techniques to acquire the good behavior she wants and needs from her students. Operant conditioning can be attributed with behaviorist Edward Thorndike and his Law of Effect, which states that behaviors associated with good consequences are more likely to occur again in the future, while behaviors associate with bad consequences are less likely to occur (EdPsych Modules, p. 161). Behaviorist B.F. Skinner expanded on these ideas to form a three phase model of operant conditioning known as The ABC’s

Branson also uses various verbal prompts to increase student performance and correct behavioral responses. These prompts are also displayed on posters in the classroom identify and remind students of appropriate classroom behavior. When the students are changing actives or leave the room, Mrs. Branson holds up one finger and says “one” aloud to the class. “One” represents the the acronym SLANT, which is a strategy that enhances learning and student performance by creating a behavior incorporating the conscious use of positive body language (Professional Learning Board). SLANT prompts students to sit up, listen, ask and answer questions, nod your head, track the speaker. When Mrs. Branson says “two” students stand up and push in their chair and get ready for “three” which is the transition to the next activity and students systematically line up in a single