Second Semester Finals

For the 2016/17 second semester final, students were asked to be creative in order to show their knowledge of the terms we learned. These terms spanned the last 100 years of American history. Although I gave them options for their creativity, some students came up with ideas that I hadn’t thought of, such as creating a puzzle or a board game. On the board game, for example, in order to move forward, a question you might be asked is, “What was one cause for the Great Depression?” Other spaces on the board might say, “You fell in love with a flapper. Move back one space.”

Other students created a short video as a team or composed a poem. Here are a few links to some of these projects.

Last but not least, here is a wonderful example of a digital infographic: Second Semester Final

It’s been an awesome first year. Thanks to all my awesome students at Desert Christian High School.

Operant Conditioning

In Psychology class we’ve been learning all about the different types of learning, including classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and observational learning. Operant conditioning was our favorite as we combined our learning with a project using continuous, positive reinforcement. Employing operant conditioning with continuous positive reinforcement is probably the best way to teach your pet a new trick and so that is exactly what we tried to do!

Students were given 7 days at home to attempt to teach their pet a new trick. They were not graded based on their success or failure, but rather on whether they employed these learning techniques. I told them I’d give it a try with one of my pets as well. It’s a good thing grades weren’t based on how well the pet did the trick at the end of week because I failed miserably! Laughing! Here is my video showing my attempt at getting one of my dogs to rollover. Continue reading “Operant Conditioning”