Forget Candy! The Science-Backed Way to Get Kids Hooked on Learning (It's Synthesized Reinforcement)
We've all seen it: the teacher desperately handing out candy or stickers in a last-ditch effort to keep students engaged. And sometimes this works, but not always. What if there was a more effective, long-lasting way to motivate students? Enter synthesized reinforcement, a powerful strategy that truly motivates and reinforces your students!
What is Synthesized Reinforcement?
Synthesized reinforcement combines multiple forms of reinforcing items simultaneously. Unlike a simple sticker reward, or just one piece of candy for completing work synthesized reinforcement provides the student with various forms of reinforcement at the same time making the experience even better. I know that when I partake in preferred activities it is usually multiple things combined into one that makes it reinforcing. For instance, while I enjoy sitting outside in the summer eveings, I rarely just sit outside. I typically am outside either reading a book, listening to music, having a beverage, and sometimes doing so with friends and family. I enjoy the experience more when I combine those things like sitting outside, listening to music and having a beverage with my family as we all chat. There are a lot of reinforcing things happening there. Why should it be any different for our students?
What’s the Problem?
How many times have you found yourself saying “no, you picked goldfish cracker” to a student when they earn their reward of goldfish crackers and they try to take them to a bean bag chair to sit and eat them…I know I have! But then I learned about synthesized reinforcement and my attitude shifted! Of course my student would want to sit on a bean bag and eat their goldfish, I would too!! So often in the education world I see a lot of “control issues” the adults have over how and when students do things. Let’s just let them live a little! What do you think? Do you think that eating goldfish crackers on a bean bag would be more reinforcing to your student than sitting in their desk chair eating them?…I think we all know the answer to that one. YES!!
Let’s Synthesize It!
One way to create synthesized reinforcement is to just ask you learner what they want to do! They may be able to tell. you and then it’s easy peasy, let them have a snack while they watch a youtube video on the bean bag chair! However, we know that isn’t always the case, and our students may not always be able to tell us what they want to do. In this case, conduct a preference assessment if you don’t already have a good idea of what your students like, but you know them pretty well so you probably have a good idea. Then use my Synthesized Reinforcement Choice Board Template to help them tell you. Easily change the colors in the template, change the pictures, or even type in the words of the items. Print it. Laminate it. Your student can now circle with a dry erase marker, or point to the things they want to do! Done.
Tips for Effective Use
Now I know there are going to be exceptions to the rule, for instance we have to keep safety in mind, your student shouldn’t be eating a snack and jumping on the trampoline at the same time. Danger! Keep this in mind as you create your choice board so that we don’t have to tell them “no” when we gave them the choice in the first place. That’s no fun! Also, even if your student can verbally tell you the visual may be a great tool for yourself or your paraprofessionals to remind them, it’s okay to give them more than one thing.
You Can Do It!!
Synthesized reinforcement holds immense potential to transform classrooms into engaging environments where students are actively motivated to learn. By combining multiple forms of positive reinforcement, we can ditch the candy and replace it with a system that cultivates a genuine real life reinforcement system. So, behavior analysts and teachers let's be expert synthesizers! Start by downloading my template to create your choice board. Just watch how it transforms your students’ behavior!!
