Performing Like a Human ;)

• Chapter 14 discusses the concept and evolution of human performance improvement. Several sections of chapter 14 present a variety of non-instructional solutions to performance problems. Identify a performance problem in your area of work and identify non-instructional solutions that may help solve the problem.

When I was teaching in a High School, one of the biggest problems we had that hurt the students’ performance were tardiness. The school had a “Tardy System” in place, but it was not well enforced (by administration), so many students were not really concerned with being on time. As all teachers know, this can seriously disrupt the learning environment! I am going to be creative and say that I believe a “compensation/reward” system would work! I’ll explain: To tie this in with my lesson, we could do a bell-ringer each day discussing money from a specific time/culture. I could have print outs of this money that I hand out to everyone who is on time. While doing the bell-ringer (which will be graded) those who received the money will write the culture/era description on the back. Anyone, at the end of the grading period (ie: 6 wks/9 wks etc), who has collected all the money AND has the description on the back can “buy” rewards.. These options would be: a dropped homework grade pass, a pass to drop 20% of the questions off any multiple choice test/quiz (they choose which questions), Pizza Pass (At the end of each semester each student with one pass gets to enjoy Pizza on me)…etc. Not only does this promote punctuality, but also responsibility because the students have to keep up with these passes and money. I would possibly have smaller prizes for those who had ¾ of the daily money print outs. This way one tardy does not 100% ruin the reward. J

 

 

• Chapter 15 presents Electronic performance support systems. Define performance support systems and explain how a performance support system might (or might not) help solve the problem you identified above.

The administration has just started trying to take the reins on this matter, and has bought an electronic ID card reader for the tardy offices. The school I worked at has appx 3000 students, so monitoring tardies was not a priority. The electronic card reader automatically prints out a tardy pass (take a ton less time than hand-writing passes for all students), and alerts the student how many tardies they have. If they receive 3 tardies in one grading period, they get a 30m detention.. As their tardy count increases so do their consequences. This really does not help, because the kids know how many times they can be tardy- and monitor it at the tardy stations. This just tends to make the student a little cocky as they walk in- knowing they received NO punishment the first 3 times. I, personally, think this type of electronic performance support system was a waste of money. Besides, teachers still had to monitor the stations during part of their conference period (which was legal because my school was block scheduled giving each teacher a 1.5 hr conference/planning period).

 

• Chapter 16 explains knowledge management: the way we manage information, share that information, and use it to solve organization problems. Organizations, such as schools, accumulate a great deal information/data, which must be organized in a way that we can make sense of it in order to use for making decisions. What knowledge would help solve the problem you identified above and how would that knowledge need to be collected and managed to help facilitate problem solving?

I have found that knowing a lot about truancy helped me explain the importance of being in class, on time, to the kids. In my school, if students miss 20m of class, they are counted absent. I adhere to that STRICTLY. So much that I set a timer for 20m, and anyone who comes in after it goes off is counted absent. A production is not made, but the extreme tardy is documented. I have a law enforcement officer come speak to the kids within the first couple of weeks and explain what truancy is and how it can hurt you with future goals/graduation. If I were to implement the bell-ringers and currency for the students on time, I would need to organize lesson plans and print/cut/laminate the money to hand out.

• Chapter 17 describes types of informal learning. What informal learning experiences have you participated in at your organization? Could those informal learning experiences be shared with others? Could the knowledge gained in those settings be codified and managed? And should it be managed or should the informal experiences be replicated or broadened to include others?

Informal Learning happens EVERYWHERE. I love to take something away from every interaction I have. As long as you talk to people, co-workers or learners or a guy at the bus stop, you will learn something. I have spoken with people in a checkout line at the grocery store about their children (convo starts with how cute they are- and leads to the parent saying “if you only knew”). Even these conversations reveal something I either didn’t know period, or forgot I knew. When you learn something the only “right” or “natural” thing to do should be to share the info. I think too many educators have gotten tied up trying to “one-up” each other, that the concept of sharing has been forgotten! I am always offering advice or info, whether someone asks or not. Some people might say this is rude, but I’ve never gotten a complaint!