Playtime is the best reward

[Allegra Pihlaja]

At Prairie Creek, I have noticed a lot of verbal reinforcement. For example, when two students, Milla and Lotem, were working together on reading an article during work time this week, Nancy praised them for being focused and helping each other out. When other students were not focusing during work time, Nancy talked to them about what they were doing and explained why they should be following her instructions. I have not noticed many other punishments, such as “red cards” or “blue slips” or whatever we used when I was in school, or any reinforcers such as candy. It is all about verbal reinforcement and punishment at Prairie Creek.

Another reinforcement that Nancy commonly uses is recess. Since I observe the activities before recess every week, this is something that I frequently witness. When the students are productive in their Wild Wednesday activities, they get to start recess early or on time. When the students are slow to clean up and listen to Nancy’s directions (which happens frequently), Nancy takes time to chat with them about it, and then they are late to recess. She is not necessarily “scolding” them, but she gathers everyone and talks to them about why they were not as productive that day. She comments and asks for input on what went wrong and why this happened, and she proposes ways for this to improve next time. This conversation always feels very productive and she lets the students actively participate in it, as opposed to her just scolding them. At a school like Prairie Creek, playtime and outside time are the big reinforcers and rewards for the students.

One thing I noticed in class was hand signals. One of the students, Dayton, often likes to lie down when they are doing classroom activities. Nancy noticed this during their social skills time and immediately made eye contact with him, and then put two fingers up and made a motion with them. Dayton immediately knew what this meant and sat up, just as a dog like Dash would do if signaled. I do not know or understand all of their hand signals since they have many, but it is clear that the class has a system and that everyone understands what to do if their behavior is signaled.

At Prairie Creek, I have noticed a lot of cognitive approaches to learning. When the class finishes an activity, Nancy often asks them to reflect on it, either in the large group or in their nature notebooks. This allows them to think about what happened and connect it to other experiences, activities, or feelings they may have. By doing this, Nancy is also encouraging discussions between the students and allowing them to formulate thoughts about what they are learning. I have also noticed that during other parts of the day, Nancy will refer back to things they discussed earlier, encouraging the students to make connections in their learning. On Wednesday, one of the questions on the students’ worksheet was about what other foods may produce colorful dyes (they had dyed string/fabric with veggies during the previous week). This encouraged the students to consider what happened with the dyes and what other possibilities there may be. Dayton called me over because he was struggling to think of some examples of foods, but I didn’t want to just give him an answer, so I named a few broad food groups and from there, he was able to think of an answer. He made connections between their previous activity and what it taught him broadly about food colors, and I was there to push him in the right direction based on his prior knowledge.

I am a cognitivist at heart. While it can be harder to see or measure at times, I believe that learning truly happens within. It’s hard for me to think about anything other than cognitivism when I am at Prairie Creek! The lack of traditional punishments (color changes, etc.) is really refreshing, especially when I compare it to my own educational experiences. While I think that behaviorism can be good when it teaches kids to behave certain ways, and it certainly is effective,  I really like cognitivism. There are ways to see that students are learning, such as when they participate in discussions or make comments in class that indicate why they have been able to make connections and analyze what they are learning.

Something that captured the essence of Prairie Creek was when we were outside working on braiding and dyeing, there were a lot of birds swarming and flying above us. The class wasn’t totally sure what birds they were, but we were all entranced. Unlike another setting where this may have been viewed as a distraction, Nancy encouraged everyone to stop what they were doing and come look at the birds. Then, a few minutes later, a school employee came outside and told us to watch the birds! Everyone in the school encouraged this exploration of the natural world.

It was also neat for me to hear from Nancy in our conversations that she used to have a teacher’s assistant. She was joking with me about putting me to work, but it got me thinking about just how much work teachers do. They don’t get any help; it’s just them and the students against the world.

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