Using Shaping in the Classroom- Behaviorism Blog

I think a really clear example of how I will use shaping in my English classes in through teaching writing. It seems that a lot of teachers assign writing, but it isn't often explicitly taught. I've recently worked on a unit plan for writing, and really honed in at each step of writing a paper, from pre-writing, organization, the first draft, peer review, revision, proofreading, and final draft. At each step of the writing process, we can focus in on that step, guide students through it, provide feedback and reinforce success through praise and grades. Then we can see how that step connects to the writing process as a whole. After the assignment is done, we can reflect on how each step made the finished product that much better. Ideally, seeing how much easier it was to write a paper (and probably receiving a higher grade) will be a cumulative reinforcer, increasing the likelihood that they will go through the steps again the next time they write a paper.