Treat Your Child Like a Customer
Part Four of Behavior Mastery is called the Unique Positive Reinforcer. A Unique Positive Reinforcer is something that we offer to the children, so that they can get what they want and we can control their disruptive behaviors. In a way, we are selling them on controlling their own behaviors so that they can do something they actually want to do. Realistically, kids who are disruptive in a class are doing it for two reasons: 1) to get attention 2) because they are bored. But how do you stop a kid from being bored and start being seen?
Treat your child like a customer! Yep. Ensure that their needs are met, so that the “client” can be satisfied and ready to collaborate with you. A Unique Positive Reinforcer could be a show so that the child can talk about their passions. It could be a leadership role within the class, so they can start to fulfill their visions. The key is that this aligns with the passions and needs of the child. Because if they don’t really want this, then they are not going to change their behaviors.
Unique Positive Reinforcement is based on the science that the brain will do what will benefit it, even if it doesn’t make sense. A child shows negative behavior because it works, so they keep doing it. It becomes a program and even does these things unconsciously. A child will stop at nothing to achieve their goal. This is actually a wonderful human trait that is destroyed in humans by other people and society.
Your child doing what they need to do to satisfy their needs is actually a POSITIVE THING. So this is something we want to reinforce, by teaching them to communicate their needs to us, we can work together so we create a win-win environment. These are children, but you will be amazed at how much they can actually help you in your classroom if you give them the chance!
Examples of Unique Positive Reinforcers
- A Show and Tell
- A Performance
- Helping other Students at Stations in Class
- Teacher's Assistant
- Run Circle Time for the Class