“Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion”

Although I felt like I was organized I now see that there is room for improvement. Writing a literature review has not necessarily affected the research I did but definitely affected how I would organize the information so that it would be easily retrieved. The process was similar to the annotated bibliography. If time was spent researching and writing a good bibliography it could be used to dig up the information needed for the review. I feel like I did well in writing the review, but I have been fooled by feelings from time to time. I will just have to wait and see how the work is judged. In the end there are many avenues to consider when looking at the development of “delay of gratification” and the effects it has on individuals from relationships, educational goals, sports, financial planning, and more. I predict that the development of impulse control and the ability to, as Mahammad Ali put it “Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion” is a personal decision put into place by forces not yet understood.

What he said

Every time I sit down to work on an assignment I wonder if I’m doing it right. Through this class we have been building on the previous assignment which makes it seem almost simple (too good to be true) which is why I feel like there is something I’m missing. 

To complete this assignment I searched for additional journal sources and stumbled on a journal studying the effects social trust has on delaying gratification. The way they approached this study was very interesting to me. They used characters with various physical appearances. The study found that those characters with more desirable features were able to incite trust and therefore people were more likely to delay the reward with the attractive characters rather than the other options.

This is interesting in and of itself, but eventually (given enough time) relationships are formed and who’s to say that a lesser attractive character would not win someone’s trust over an attractive one. I believe that relationship would win in the long run, although I understand how initially it would not.

This article also caused me to think about the nature and appearance of the environment and the effects it may have on encouraging delaying gratification. How can we alter a school environment to encourage a more productive school setting? When I went to school there were no such thing as portable classrooms. My place of learning was a beautiful white building with steps leading to the pillars in front of the entrance. It looked like some to be proud of. And by its appearance alone set the expectation of education and behavior. Portable classrooms on the other hand carry no visual beauty, no prestige, and by its appearance has no high standard of education or behavior.

I forgot to add the annotated bib.

THANKS PHIL FOR POINTING THIS OUT

            Delayed Gratification and its effects on the learning enviornment

Annotated Bibliography

Dupper, D. (2010). A new model of school discipline engaging students and preventing behavior

problems. New York: Oxford University Press.

In this book Duper goes over current Discipline practices that are commonly found through our nation. Practices that include zero-tolerance policies, suspensions, detentions, as well as other security policies that fail to improve school safety and student behaviors.  It is suggested that the common practices are inefficient towards their intended goal and provides evidence that they may be contributing to students risk of dropping out. The new model suggested in the text engages students and focuses on strengthening students’ connection to school through building positive relationships that encourage and grow social skills.

The book seems well written and covers aspects of discipline I agree with. The author (David R. Dupper, PhD) is a professor at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville College of Social Work. He has written two books, numerous book chapters and many papers on topics that include school violence, bullying, at-risk students, and school discipline. His work is current and continuing as he is currently studying the effectiveness of an empathy training program for undergraduate students that incorporates mindfulness practices. This book and his work presents current ideas and practices for further research.

Hutton, P., & Holmes, J. (2005). Savings education: Learning the value of self-control.

Education Policy Analysis Archives Epaa, 28-28.

This article proposes a program model that would fund allowances and savings to be given to students from disadvantaged circumstances, mainly economically disadvantaged students with poor educational outcomes. The purpose of the savings and allowance is to help the students move away from instant gratification patters and shift to goal setting and delayed gratification practices. The hope is that with earning potential the students would develop skills and habits of quality. The skills acquisition would help the student avoid the pitfalls that are common with economically disadvantaged students with poor educational support and outcomes. The lack of the ability to delay gratification is associated with low educational outcomes as a result of low educational investments. The inability to delay gratification is associated with teen pregnancy, criminality, and poverty. As the students matures their time value and their ability to consider the future payoffs of their current efforts will be a great determiner of success.

            This article was well written and had a solid reward system to motivate the targeted students. Many of the students the program would target would have not developed a positive extrinsic motivation system of belief. Often time’s extrinsic motivation can be the catalyst for intrinsic motivation. This source is directly related to my research question as its topic is motivational factors that are contingent on delayed gratification.

Nocera, E., Whitbread, K., & Nocera, G. (2014). Impact of School-wide Positive Behavior

Supports on Student Behavior in the Middle Grades. RMLE Online, 1-14.

This journal explores the alternative to traditional reactive and punitive approaches to problem behavior in schools. Research supports the effectiveness of a school-wide positive behavior support program. In such a program a school would establish preventative measures and intervention specific to the needs of the schools culture and environment. The article directly describes how a low-preforming middle school established preventative and intervention strategies to reduce student suspension and discipline referrals. In addition, scores on the state mastery tests in reading and math were improved by 25% schoolwide. The study suggests that implementation of a positive behavior and support program may result in more desirable academic and behavioral performances for all students enrolled in the school.

            Many schools have a grant driven school wide program  that supports positive behavior and early intervention. This article was interesting because of the increase of test scores as a result of the program. During the intervention aspect of programs like this the student has the opportunity to reflect on the behavior and think of and explain a more productive reaction to incidents that resulted in poor behavior. This reflection is greatly important. It gives the student the opportunity to sit with their actions and ponder the effects they had on themselves, other students, teachers, and the school. To understand the products of your actions is something many students don’t think about. After studying cause and effects the student may choose a more favorable cause for a more favorable outcome.

Razza, R., & Raymond, K. (2012). Associations among Maternal Behavior, Delay of

Gratification, and School Readiness across the Early Childhood Years. Social Development, 180-196.

This journal explores the role of delay of gratification and the effects it has from maternal behavior to school readiness. The behavior of a sample of 1007 children were studied to explore the possibilities that motherly behavior for the first three years could be a way to predict a child’s ability to delay gratification in kindergarten. The study’s findings support the correlation of delay of gratification and academic skills. The findings in the study suggests that maternal sensitivity and delay of gratification as possible enforcers in enhancing school readiness among young children

            It all starts at home. The ability to delay gratification is a great determiner of future academic success. This article suggests that a child’s ability to do so can be predicted by looking at the early mother child relationship. This article directly related to my topic and gave examples of determining school readiness through the child’s ability to delay gratification.

William N. Bender (2007). Relational Discipline: Strategies for In-your-face Kids. Available from https://eds-b-ebscohost-com.libproxy.chapman.edu

The information from this publication was published in 2007 well after the onset of the zero tolerance policies and the violence that occurred on American school. The information in this publication is important because it addresses the importance of relationship to affect behavior through discipline. The author has observed and studied school discipline practices, he is also widely recognized in the field of school discipline. The purpose of the book is to help schools and teachers understand the pitfalls of zero tolerance policies and the benefits of building relationships to support the discipline process. While it is hard to quantify relationship the statistical data concerning disciplinary issues is more easily measurable.

            Through positive relationships the student can be influenced in a positive way. Without positive relationship the student will have no reason to internalize any advice presented to better the student’s behavior. Delayed gratification could be considered as impulse control and or moral judgement. The ability to decipher through possible options of actions and choose the action that would avoid disciplinary action is skill students could learn if they had positive relationships supporting and advising consistently.

Michaelson, L., Vega, A., Chatham, C., & Munakata, Y. (n.d.). Delaying gratification depends

on social trust. Frontiers in Psychology Front. Psychol.

Many theories about the topic of delayed gratification focus on the sensitivity an individual has on the immediate reward, and the cost of time spent waiting for the reward. This journal added something to the equation, trust. The individual practicing delay of gratification requires trust that the reward will actually be there and that the people responsible for following through with the reward will actually follow through and provide the reward. This article suggests something essential to the process of delayed gratification, relationship. This journal tests the role of social trust presenting participants with various settings and faces that varied in perceived trustworthiness. Through the tests participants were less likely to wait for delayed rewards when promised rewards from characters appearing less trustworthy. Characters appearing trustworthy incited participants to delay gratification. 

            Although this journal studied the trustworthiness of the appearance of characters and the affect it has on the ability to wait for a reward I believe that relationship and track record will trump appearance. This article was very interesting and directly related to my topic. It made me want to explore the importance of the aesthetics of the learning environment and the role individual appearance has on supporting the development of the ability to delay gratification. 

BOOM

When in doubt cite it.

I’m totally paranoid! After last week’s class and the example of the student getting the boot from the program she was taking because of a citation mistake (plagiarism) was a little chilling. I’m of the understanding that I have learned everything I know from someone. Should I cite them?  At what point does common knowledge trump having to cite the said knowledge. This issue kind of falls parallel with the issue of politically correctness. It is common in today’s world to offend someone for doing or not doing something in the same day to two different people. Do I say Marry Christmas or happy holidays? In any case I’m much more in favor of letting knowledge and ideas flow freely. Although I do understand what citation brings to a paper, it brings weight, expertise, credentials, legitimacy, and authority. I haven’t really presented a reason for someone to cite me, maybe if I did I would feel different about getting my credit where credit is due.

Knowing is half the battle

Absolute and total frustration.

I spent one hour and a half looking at the computer screen wondering why I wasn’t getting this week’s assignment. I read the lecture notes, the section in the book, and some of the supplemental information provided. When it came down to searching for and finding a peer reviewed empirical article I just hit a wall. Maybe I didn’t understand. Maybe it wasn’t explained well. Maybe I’m tired from staying up all night with two sick kids and I’m finally losing it. Whatever it was, I vented a little by cursing at the computer screen (as if it was its fault) then left the room for a moment to grab a bottle of water. Moments later I felt better and sat back down in front of the HP. It’s amazing what a little break can do.

            After the break I started up and things began to flow. I found a really interesting study about the relationship between maternal behavior, delayed gratification and school readiness across early childhood. It’s not that this positive early relationship between a mother and child is anything new. It the study of the relationship and the effects it possibly has on school readiness and the child’s ability to delay gratification that was interesting to me.

            If a child is able to be disciplined enough to delay gratification then it would be fair to assume that the child would be able to control impulses appropriately. Much of our social experience is instant which can be of great convenience but at what cost. What is happening when a child has nothing to do? A couple of things. The child is waiting for something to do, looking for something to do and possibly creating something to do. To be patient, imaginative, creative, observant, and looking for opportunity are not bad abilities to poses (as long as we stay on the positive side of things). Just a few thoughts.

            I feel that the tools gained in this class are half the battle. It’s not that researching is a terribly difficult task, although it kind of is if you don’t know where to look, its time consuming but more productive if you know where to look. This class has definitely helped me use my time more productively.

Reaction v. Prevention

This week the research I conducted lead to a deeper understanding of my topic by exposing me to This week the research I conducted lead to a deeper understanding of my topic by exposing me to various different models used to positively impact a schools environment, discipline, and test scores. Although models may vary they have the similar goals and similar practices of obtaining the goal. They focus on positive relationship building and positive reinforcement. The goal it to turn away from reactive discipline and focus on preventative tactics that look to empower the individual and create ownership. People for the most part enjoy predictability and structure. Schools in the past have struggled to maintain a level of order. They are tasked with educating a youth not fully understanding what kind of baggage the students have. Often students act out at school because of issues unrelated to school. Schools are now realizing that in order to effectively teach a student and for the student to effectively learn these issues should be addressed.

Sleep deprivation is a form of torture: Week 3, Assignment 2

This week has been a challenging one. My days usually consist of 17 hours of go time. On top of that lately the nights have been interrupted. My poor boys are sick and feverish. I’m counting on getting to sleep in on Saturday. Okay, now on to the assignment. 

             I settled my sights on the book “A new model of school discipline: engaging students and preventing behavior problems” by David R. Dupper. While scanning through the pages of this book I was encouraged to find support in the models I have learned through working with nonprofit organizations that work with at risk youth and communities. It is really all about building strong positive relationships. I also found growing evidence that supports the ineffectiveness of discipline practices many schools around the nation currently hold as policy.

Research is much simpler of a task when you have an idea where to look. College online library resources are phenomenal and the difference between Google, Google scholar, and Google books are something I wish I knew long ago (not only the difference but the existence as well). 

             As I continue to research I hope to find more information on strategies to use with in your face kids. Building relationships can be fun and challenging but what do you do when you are faced with a kid where there is a personality conflict and the relationship seems unobtainable. I suspect that if the staff on sight is diverse there should be someone available for the student (individual) to connect with. 

It's all about the resources baby

Searching for background information for assignment 1 was a little more challenging than I thought (at first). But then I remembered we were to be general in our search. I didn’t necessarily find a deeper understanding of the topic. What I did find were ways to fulfill the understanding I already had. Knowing that knowledge and application are two entirely different things. I found techniques and practices to support what I knew should happen but didn’t quite know how to make them happen. It’s like knowing you need to get somewhere, you can head in the general direction and likely get to where you want (eventually). Or you can get a map that tells you tried routs that will be effective and save you the burden of figuring it out all by yourself. In addition to giving me tools to use it gave me supporting arguments against common practices that may not be the best choice when trying to create a safe learning environment.

            I also found the results to be more desirable when using Leatherbies library website. I also enjoyed Google Scholar. Google Scholar is a search option I rarely use and the schools online resource is one I have never used. When compared with general searches search options the findings are vastly different when comparing creditability and authority.

            I would like to specifically like to research the gap between expectation and reality. Schools can have rules but if they are not enforced or cannot be enforced then there is a gap that the students will pick up on. This gap is a failure in the structure, chaos is inevitable without structure. I would also like to explore what type of management skills would be beneficial to the schools leadership. This is important because “a divided house will not stand”. This means that everyone that is a part of the day to day functions and interactions of the students should have a clear understanding of expectations the school has for the students. This understanding will only help support the main goal of the school when each staff member is empowered to authoritatively enforce the expectations of the school. All while intentionally building a positive relationship with the students.

In the beginning

I could feel the pressure starting to build in my chest, this happens every time. I pounded the desk as if it was the problem. It’s the start of another semester or is it a trimester this time around. Either way, I’m nervous as hell. School (of any kind) and I have never had a good relationship, but like with any bad relationship it’s hard to say goodbye. Currently I’m perusing a criminal justice degree and am in the process of becoming a probation officer that has the pleasure to work with youth. I have a background of working with youth from disadvantaged circumstances (the nicest way I could think to put it). This is my first year at Brandman, I’m still trying to determine if I have bitten off more than I can chew.  I invite you to follow along for better or worse, either way, this should be interesting.
                I am currently working for a school district providing security for students that are in preschool through 8^th grade. Before working for this particular school district I ran afterschool programs for troubled youth ages 5-19. Both of the jobs mentioned had great opportunities to personally know and work with individuals that need guidance. I am interested in learning about the opportunities a probation officer has to positively impact the individuals they work with.
                This question of how probation officers impact the individuals they work with is broad, I know. Through research I hope to gain a better understanding of what the job description is and what they actually do. Research can be a tedious task. By taking this class I am hoping to learn how to be a better researcher. I want to learn how to find authoritative and legitimate information that is current to the topic and times. I am also looking forward to gaining skills in critical thinking as well as skills to communicate findings in an appropriate and productive way.