Mimi Castanias

I was born on April 14 th, 1866 in Massachusetts My family immigrated from Ireland during Potato Famine, like most Irish, my family was persecuted for our background. I am one of five children; although, two died as children. By the age of five, I became ill with trachoma and lost my eye sight. My mother died when I was a young girl, causing my father to give me and my siblings up. Me and my younger brother were sent to a poor house, mainly made up of “mentally ill” Irish women. I attended Perkins School for The Blind. I had many behavior issues because I was ridiculed for being illiterate and of Irish decent. After graduating I became Helen Keller’s life long tutor. Retrieved, 25 February 2014 from: BACKGROUND

Behavior is described as what a person does in certain situations. Not all behaviors are automatic/intentional so you must be willing to work with the student. According to your book we would not have behavior without, antecedents (influences that proceed) and consequences (influences that follow). Educators often try to handle behaviors by punishing the student(s) sometimes by not allowing free time, or group work. When you don’t handle the undesired behavior or you don’t try hard enough to end it, you are reinforcing the behavior. CHAPTER 7: PAGE 250

There are two types of reinforcement. Positive reinforcement creates a new stimulus for the student (giving students candy). Negative Reinforcement is when a behavior gets rid of a stimulus (putting a seat belt on, gets rid of the irritating beeping). When trying to get rid of a behavior you must use reinforcement methods constantly or the behavior will come back. One of the best ways to rid a behavior is by using Effective Instruction Delivery (EDI). EDI creates better student behaviors by using clear, concise and specific instruction and opposed to being vague and hard to understand. Applied Behavior Analysis is using behavior principals to change the undesired behavior Many psychologist believe the best way to fix a behavior is by praising the students for good behavior and ignoring the bad; although it won’t fix everything because simply ignoring the behavior will only make it continue. CHAPTER 7 CONTINUED: PAGES

The Guidelines in your textbook say: Be clear and systematic in giving praise, and that the praise is tied only to the good behavior Attribute students success to ability so that they know they can repeat the success again and continue to grow Reinforce praise to a student, don’t just do it once or the student will fall behind again. Be aware of student accomplishments. Help students be aware of what behaviors are good and which are bad. Make learning and activities pleasant and as fun as possible APPLICATION TO GUIDELINES