Today was most definitely a Monday. This is not to say that my Monday was bad or that my students had an awful day, it was just a challenging, yet wonderfully rewarding Monday. Today marked the day of my very first time taking over my teacher's position in the classroom. It was absolutely exhausting, but I certainly learned a lot. I learned that while I have been making some excellent personal progress following the Verbal Behavior Program, I have also been making some mistakes which I suppose is explanatory given the fact that I am only in the classroom Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Here are some of the lessons I learned today. 

1. Even if the student has already mastered a skill, you must continually re-teach the skills, prompt and transfer during every intensive teaching session. Originally, I was simply skipping over the prompt and transfer portion of the assessment for the skills that looked like they had been mastered on the data sheet. Nevertheless, I learned that the main purpose of intensive teaching is that the child is continuously being taught the material regardless of what the data sheet might say. 

2. Constructive criticism is something one must learn to embrace as a teacher. All of my life, I have been what one might call a "typical perfectionist." However, today I managed to make it through five intensive teaching sessions while the teacher hovered over my shoulder commanding me to do certain things differently and praising me when I had an excellent run-through. I have come to learn that I welcome constructive criticism with open arms. I am not perfect and nor should I be. However, criticism is something that gives me hope in the classroom. It gives me the hope that I can, and I will perform better if I am aware of my faults. Thus, I truly thank my mentor teacher this semester for her constructive criticism and praise (albeit used sparingly.)

3. Positive Reinforcement is Essential: One thing I always forget to do (one of my many faults) is that I do not reinforce the students as much as I should. I know exactly what they are motivated by, but I often times am so wrapped up in going through the cards, that I forget to reinforce. The bottom line is: students must be motivated to complete their work. In order to find this motivation, they must be positively reinforced by the teacher. 

4. What I teach should be 80% review and only 20% new. This, was something that I had heard, but not fully embraced until today. In order to successfully instruct a child, you must have a huge stack of "Easy targets" available whilst teaching the other operants. In addition, one must mix up the operants so that you are not asking the child the same thing over and over again. Review is key. It builds confidence and keeps up the old skills which may be removed from one's memory if not reviewed continuously.