B.F. Skinner’s behaviorist theory states: 1. determine the desired behavior, 2. measure the student behavior, 3. reward the positive behavior, and 4. punish the negative behavior. However, the most positive learning experiences occur when the student has more empowerment over his/her learning and behavior. Once students understand the classroom to be an environment where learning can be harmless and understands the "whys" of learning, then the positive behavior models will fall into place. Students need to comprehend the ways in which they learn best, and the importance of the concept they are learning in order to promote productive learning behaviors. The classroom should become a "we" instead of "this is my classroom, and you will do what I say." Many teachers have a difficult time moving out of the normal "box" that the teacher needs to be the controller, and allowing the students to take a more active role in their learning.

Why is this important for the learner to take more control in their experiences in the classroom? It is common knowledge that the brain responds at a more productive, rapid rate during positive experiences. Therefore, the question should really be, "Why should the classroom NOT be empowered by students with the teacher acting as a facilitator of knowledge, as opposed to a dictator of the knowledge?"

To begin with, we all understand the Pygmalion effect in the classroom. A great motivational speaker once told me a story about a teacher in the 70s who was given a list of her students with their IQ scores listed beside them. The teacher instilled high expectations of her students, requiring them to complete work much unlike the students were used to accomplishing. The assignments that she bestowed upon them were expected to be completed because according to their scores they were capable of the work. The students completed the work, often at first wondering why the teacher would ask them to do such challenging work. One day the principal questioned the teacher on the students’ difficult work because the students had always been such low achievers. Teachers in previous years had continuous academic and behavior problems in these same students and he asked how the teacher was not only capable of getting above high school work from the students, but their behavior had become 100% positive. The teacher said she would expect no less from students with such high IQs. The principal further questioned why she thought these students had such high IQs when in fact they were the lowest students in the school. She begged to differ and pulled out her roster to show the students scores: 142, 146, 139, 150, 148, etc. The principal grinned as he walked to the door and commended again the teacher’s success in turning these students around. Before he departed, he turned to the teacher and said, "By the way, those are their locker numbers, not IQ scores."

Our students will respond and achieve in the classroom with the challenges that we set forth. If we treat our students as they were low achievers, then they will behave and perform as such. However, if we treat our students as if they were all academically gifted then they will achieve as gifted students and behave in the manner in which we expect. Furthermore, students are gifted, and it is our responsibility as educators to figure out how to tap into what sparks the interest in each of our students. Is this difficult in a classroom of 30 different learners? Yes, but in order to have the most optimal learning experiences in the classroom, we must challenge ourselves to discover how to teach our students in the most productive manner that is conducive to their style of learning.

Educators must learn to put more responsibility of learning into the hands of the student. We have taken so much of that responsibility out, and then question why students are not motivated to do their assignments or why they act flippant when we give them assignments to complete. We must instill in them the ability to choose the way they learn by offering a variety of learning modalities. We must move away from the adult way of thinking, and think like a student. If a student does not understand a concept, instead of becoming frustrated, which in turn frustrates the student and makes learning a negative experience, educators must offer a different approach to the learning. For example, maybe a peer can teach a student in a way he/she can understand it, or maybe another teacher has a different approach to the concept. The most important aspect of learning is for the students to grasp the concepts we are teaching them. The rule should be: Whatever it takes to get the student to that point, is what the teacher should strive for in the classroom.

As an educator of ten and eleven year olds, I often hear that the challenges I give my students are impossible for them to learn. Yet, as the end of the year approaches, and I see my students capable of completing power point presentations on different countries around the world, without teacher assistance, and keep up with their own grades and averages, I know that students are capable of doing most anything we allow ourselves to give to them to achieve. Did they learn to do those things overnight? No, it took the age-old strategy that we have heard since the beginning of teaching: modeling and remodeling. Empowering the student to be more responsible and giving them challenging work that requires the brain to think beyond the norm, educators will see a big improvement in our education system. A five year old is not capable of keeping a chart of his/her own grades, however a child so young is very capable of much more challenging work then we normally offer. Once students take more responsibility in their own learning, and understand why and how they should learn, then they will be more productive in their own education, both academically and behaviorally. We have the choice to instill that accountability back into the hands of our students. The teacher has the power to create opportunities in the classroom to motivate the students into taking responsibility for their own learning. The power to give the students that gift of learning is in the hands of the teacher.

Kim received her BA in Elementary Education from St. Andrew's Presbyterian College in North Carolina and her MA in Education from The University of North Carolina at Pembroke. Kim thrives on teaching other educators about Brain Compatible Learning because she has seen the successes of the strategies in her classroom. Educators seeking advice with implementing BCL strategies can email Ms. Tracy at kimtracy@teachers.net.