Date: Monday, August 7, 2000 4:50pm Electronic Mail
From: IN:SClistserv@lists.acs.ohio-state.edu Msg#: 20440

Re: A teacher training/clicker chart share File: PENCE_CH

The performer is Pence, who is a new addition to the Morningside staff. Pence began working with us this summer as a fluency coach in two of our classrooms. He is energetic, enthusiastic, and sincerely likes kids. All great traits for staff in our programs!
Pence's history is in working one-on-one with kids with autism. This is, as you can imagine, quite different from working with a larger group of middle school math students! So, one of the first teaching goals that I identified for Pence was for him to scan the room and deliver praise across the room to groups of students.
I identified this as a goal for him and we began working today. The first two points are rates of scanning or praising that I counted while I was delivering verbal praise to Pence for such. As you can tell by the data, his rates were well below what we would want for our staff. So, I noticed that it was taking me quite a long time to deliver the praise statement to Pence for his scanning and praising. This, along with the classroom's busy environment, seemed to make it difficult for me to provide him feedback quickly and for him to attend to the feedback.
I scanned across the room and noticed that one of the other teachers had a clicker around her neck, so I asked to borrow it. I quickly told Pence that when I clicked it meant that he was doing exactly what I wanted him to do - scanning the room and saying praise statements to kids out loud.
I began clicking and his rate jumped up immediately. His rate of scanning and praising (counted together, sorry, but I didn't have the time to click, count, and chart all at the same time) jumped up to a mean of about 8 scans and/or praise statements per minute. I also noticed that he was able to maintain that rate quite well across five additional minutes. He did all of this while helping students chart, finding the appropriate materials for kids to practice, and giving final verification timings once students had met their goals.
After the timings block was over, I met with Pence briefly to share the data. He was thrilled! I explained my rationale for moving to the clicker and asked him what he thought. He reported that he liked the clicker for two main reasons:
1. When I was delivering verbal praise he said he found it distracting because of his tendency to turn his head towards the speaker (me). This meant that he was not looking where he needed to be looking (the kids)!
2. He said that the clicker allowed him to do at least two things at once (e.g., give a final timing, while "noticing" the click).
I noticed that I could provide feedback at a very high rate with the clicker, that it cut through the high activity/noise level of the classroom easily, and that it did not disturb the kids at all.
I'll be using the clicker more frequently, and I would love to hear from others who have applied the use of the clicker to staff training situations.

From Richard:
Great use of the clicker Michael! It is quite interesting how quickly Pence jumped up when the clicker was added.
It leaves me wondering though, whether the verbal praise was being delivered contingently throughout (by Pence). That may be a study for another day, OR it might be a nice step to give Pence a clicker and see if he is able to shape successively better approximations.
Great chart! I like this use of the timings chart, and this particular attachment came through and opened easily on my computer. For some reason there is a second file with the same name attached. That file would not open, but of course, I didn't need it.
Thanks for sharing this chart! This is absolutely the best way to work with a new teacher in a hectic environment.
Hope Pence continues to build up his praise frequency! (OR is he at aim?)

From Sue:
Great chart and post. Pence's feedback is very important. I remember, not quite before you were born, when Kent was working with me in the same manner, but no clicker. I had a difficult time scanning at a high enough frequency so he came in the classroom and attempted to prompt me, but the
problem was exactly as Pence's: I'd look at him, there he'd be, you know, grinning, saying 'Scan' then I'd lose it with the class.

Clicker is a great idea. It's so efficient in that situation. Good work.

From Stuart:
Great post! It's very nice to hear of others using the clicker and getting rapid results. The one advantage you didn't mention that I've found most helpful when delivering feedback with the clicker is that it is precise in its application. You can tag the targeted behavior as it happens, an act somewhat more difficult when using verbals. The young men in our self-contained classroom with whom we worked did not mind the intrusion of the clicker either though we named the one being clicked as a matter of necessity.

Is the 8/minute scan and praise rate a typical rate for your staff?

From Steve King (UK) www.crosskeysbooks.com:
As I use and only use a clicker as a conditioned reinforcer I thought I like to make a few comments. As a side issue I have started to have a clicker training quiz each week at the classes I run. I count correct/incorrect responses and some of the questions I use are as follows:

(Q) What makes the clicker such a good secondary reinforcer?
(R) The clicker is quick, unique, unusual, small, easy to carry, and inexpensive.

(Q) Why is it important to be quiet during free shaping?
(R) To allow your dog to concentrate on the click and the Information that it conveys.

(Q) Exactly when should you click?
(R) You should click WHILE the behaviour is being performed.

The study notes (core knowledge): "Using the clicker instead of your voice give us a tool that makes a unique sound that has never been heard before and usually doesn’t have any pre-existing associations. The signal is consistent, deliverable with precision and from a distance. It also an event marker-the click marks the behaviour as it occurs. The click also ends the behaviour, and now you are ready to start again" To demonstrate that the click is quicker than praise, I produce a rubber ball and ask a student to use their "praise" words when the ball hits the ground when I bounce it. A student with good timing normally says "GOOD" when the ball hits the ground and "DOG" when the ball is back in my hand. I demonstrate clicking the ball when the student bounces it and the click hits the "target" every time. If I have a felt tip pen handy I could also demonstrate the difference between a "pin prick" on a piece of paper compared to the mark made by the felt tip pen. So a further fine tuning of what they can achieve with the click. Has anyone played the training game first introduced by Karen Pryor? Visit my site at: crosskeysbooks.com/clicker_zone.html
 

I have also been doing some research on how quickly dogs become conditioned to the click, I have started counting the clicks with every new dog that comes for training until I see the first startle (each twitch) and record my score. Would this give me an indication as to how quick this particular animal learns?