Utah Special Education Paraeducator Handbook - Granite School ...

To be effective, praise should be:
I Immediate – Deliver the praise immediately following the desired behavior. The more
immediate the praise the more effective.
F Frequently –Use positive statements for every negative.
E Enthusiasm –Deliver the praise with enthusiasm and sincerity.
E Eye contact – Use eye contact when giving a praise statement.
D Describe the behavior – Be concrete and specific.
A Anticipation – Build excitement through your praise statements and use of
reinforcement.
V Variety –Use a variety of terms and methods.
Be sure to pay attention when you use praise. If the student’s appropriate behavior continues or
increases, the praise serves as a positive reinforcer. However if behavior stops or decreases, the student
was not reinforced. Talk with your teacher and discuss other ideas for reinforcing the student.
Extinction (planned ignoring)
Extinction occurs when we withhold reinforcement such as our attention following a student’s behavior.
Typically, this includes ignoring inappropriate behavior. For example, when a student talks out in class,
instead of responding to the student, withhold your attention by looking and moving away. To make
extinction more effective you can use the “praise around” strategy. That is, find a child who is raising his
hand quietly and praise him.
Caution: Because the student’s talk out behavior was reinforced in the past, it may increase when it is
first ignored. With this in mind, follow these guidelines:
Use extinction only if you can tolerate some disruption in the classroom. Continue to teach,
praise other students for appropriate behavior. Don’t respond to behavioral “noise”
(complaining, grumbling, etc.) from the student.
Peer as well as adult attention may reinforce a student. It is important to withhold attention
from all sources if extinction is going to work.
To be effective, extinction MUST be used consistently over time.
Pre-Teaching
As discussed in Standard 1, pre-teaching occurs when students are taught the desired behavior before
they need to use it. Specific instruction is very important. Tell the students exactly what they are to do
and practice, if possible.
For example, you are taking a group of students on a field trip to the ballet. Before going, you should:
tell and show the students how they should sit in the theater
have the students practice
remind the students before leaving on the field trip how they should behave, and
remember to praise the students for sitting appropriately at the ballet.
Utah Paraeducator Handbook Page 37