Better Behavior Games - A fun way to improve attitudes of children.
Better behavior games, were something that I discovered while trying to get the best from my team.
I have discovered that 'better behavior' is a function of praise/appreciation/respect/love/success.
However, how do you praise something that is not there. My recent discoveries have shown that better behavior is actually a function of right believing.
(What I'm going to say now is because of my Christian beliefs, hence these discoveries.) If I believe the right things about myself - that I am loved, forgiven, blessed no matter what, because, Christ has taken away all sin and its effects from my life on the cross, then better behavior is the fruit of this belief.
Well, I cannot ensure that everybody believes like this about themselves. So I use the following game - especially among older people - to ask questions during the debrief, which will lead participants to questioning their beliefs about themselves.
I used this game with my children and my staff. Everytime I succeeded, I saw that I received desirable responses. I also decided to use this concept in learning games to work with children who needed to learn spellings.
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Here's one 'better behavior' game. Its called: 'Angel'. Its the opposite version of 'DUD'
Remember this is a better-behavior game and the aim of the game is to complete a word (at least five letters long) and becoming an 'Angel'.
In this better behavior game the first time you (play it in groups of five) complete a word you become an 'A'. The second time you complete a word you become a 'An'. The third time you complete a word, you become a 'Ang' and so on until you become an 'Angel'. You then win this learning game and score a point.
This better-behavior game gave me practice in finding ways to 'catch them doing right'. As an adult I was so used to picking out faults, I found it difficult to give praise/appreciation.
Experiments have found that natural and brilliant learning occurs as a result of feedback on successful actions. One such experiment is described below. This experience is used as a demo by Paul R. Scheele in his book 'Natural Brilliance'
| Succeed with praise an excerpt from "Natural Brilliance" by Paul R. Scheele ..."The group has determined one simple task for you to perform in this room. Your job is to figure out what it is and do it. The only information you will receive is my ringing this bell every time you do something wrong." After he had volunteered to take part in an exercise and left the room, the group had decided to have him walk up to the flip chart and turn the page. Brian walked into the room toward the front. He turned to the left and the bell rang out "WRONG". He stopped . With hesitation, Brian walked forward toward the flip chart. Everyone silentlly watched as he turned away from the flip chart towards the podium. The bell stopped him in his tracks. He looked about without moving his feet, tentatively turned around, and headed for the flip chart. No bell. When he walked passed it toward the overhead projector, he got a bell again which halted him in front of the flip chart. Now, more cautiously than ever, he picked up a red marker; "RING!" then, quickly put it down. He tried a black marker; "RING!" After the same response with the blue and green markers, Brian turned in frustration to face the audience. "RING!" Now he was frozen, his back to the flip chart, unable to move. After a painful minute or two of excruciating silence, Brian said, "I give up!" I looked at my watch and noted the total elapsed time - five minutes. "Thank you," I said, "Excellent job! You did precisely what I had hoped. Go ahead and take your seat, I'll tell you more about all this later." "May I have another volunteer?" Now the audience froze. After a rather grim silence, a woman named Jean stood up resolutely....I gave her instructions.....This time the group decided that our volunteer's task would be to walk up to the lectern and pour a glass of water from a pitcher sitting on the water service tray. When Jean returned (inside the room), I explained to her, "As with the last volunteer, the group has determned a task for you to perform. However, this time I will ring the bell EVERY TIME you do something right." Receiving the reassuring ringing of the bell with each move in the direction of the water, Jean strode confidently to the fron t of the room. When she veered left, the bell stopped. This effectively swung her back to the right direction. She spotted the pitcher and walked up to it. Continuing to hear the bell's encouragement she lifted the pitcher and poured a glass of water. When everyone in the room roared their approval (and disbelief), Jean turned to receive the applause. She went on to drink the water, which gave everyone a good chuckle. "Door to pour - fifty-eight seconds!" I announced, glancing at my watch.... ...when our second volunteer receives positive reinforcement from the bell, confidence, creativity, and success increase. Jean looked brilliant, confident, capable and creative. |
This experience reminds me of a childhood game 'Hot and Cold'. On this site it would be categorized as a learning game.
My friends would call out 'hot' as I moved towards the chosen object. The moment I took a wrong turn, they would go 'Cold'. It took longer to find the object in question if I began on the wrong foot and my friends called out 'cold' the first time. Apparently, it fits the description of a better behavior game.
This experience also reminds me of Romans 8:1 which says, "There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus..." and Romans 2:4 which says, "...goodness of God leads you to repentance." The way God deals with us is also through love and acceptance. That's the GOOD NEWS.
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