Today - well today wasn't a big deal. Students were writing instructions to their genres, and I learned that sometimes you have to give instructions in 5 different ways before some 7th graders actually listen (but it's always fun to hear them come to that realization themselves: "Mrs. Brown, we don't know what we're supposed to be doing. I didn't know because... well, because I wasn't listening, and neither was the rest of the group. I asked them. What are we doing again?")
Key to giving explicit instructions (as I have learned so far): speak slowly and quietly--they listen better that way--and give them some contextual examples. When I was trying to tell them that they need to write more than the simple direction to "pick a title," I put it in perspective. I said, "You can't just tell someone baking a cake to "put it in the oven." You've got to be more specific. At what temperature? For how long? Where should it be in the oven? The top rack? Bottom rack? Should you cover it? Should you check on it after a certain amount of time? After this, they understood that they couldn't just give me the basics.
But today - today was the long awaited for day. At the beginning of the year, I established a reward system in my classroom to reward good behavior in class. I wanted to make sure that I wasn't just establishing punitive procedures to scare students into good behavior, but I was also motivating student to want behave well. I call them "Brownie Points." Heehee. I told my students that I would pick out winners at the end of term, encouraging them to get their name in the bowl as much as possible if they wanted the "odds to be in their favor."
To be honest, I really didn't think it all the way through. I brought a cute glass bowl in from home and students would place a small slip of paper in the bowl with their name and period on it if they got a Brownie Point. So, at the end of Term 1, I had a bowl full of names from each of my periods.
The questions was, how was I going to actually do the picking? I wanted to do it in class, but there was no guarantee that I would draw out a student name from that period. GAH. My own fault for stupidity in planning, I suppose.
So, I copped out. I recorded a video of myself picking names out of the bowl and played it in each period. My poor first period students (who really are some of my best behaved students) didn't have a single student chosen from that period. I want to make it up to them because it was super lame to watch the video with them.... Again, my fault for stupidity in planning.
The rest of the periods had a hoot. Many of them, after hearing someone else's name, said, "Hey, I know that chick! I'm gonna tell her she won!" Others, rather than cheering for people they might know, chose a more negative road, but it was a good opportunity to point out that "You could win ALL the prizes if you get your name in there that many times!" (I did have 3 different students who won multiple prizes because I pulled out multiple Brownie Points with their name on it.)
Oh well, next time, I may have them color code their brownie points so I know to look for specific colors.
What were the prizes? Candy. Food. Cute things from the dollar store. Pencils and pens. Did multiple 8th graders call my prizes lame until I pulled out the package of Cosmic Brownies? Yeah - that got them quiet and hopeful.
In my preparation for this celebration, I realized how little I know about the protocol of getting prizes for your students. I had the temptation to go to some popular fast food restaurants or businesses to see if they would donate a few free coupons to me to motivate my students at school, but I wasn't sure if that was kosher or not in the teaching business...
Any ideas about how to raise money for class prizes or get donations? Maybe when I'm not on an intern's salary any more, it won't be such a big deal, but even dollar prizes can add up pretty quickly if I'm going to do this 4 times in a year! And I'd love to have book prizes - I guess I'd better watch scholastic.com for sales!
As I celebrated student success with my class, I saw something change in them a little. Students who have never thanked me at all for anything, called out shouts of gratitude as they left my room. Students (who didn't even win) told me to "Have a nice weekend..." I realized that when I show them real rewards for their work and for their good choices, they realize that I notice and that I want them to know that.
With these Brownie Points, it looks like the odds are actually in MY favor...
Don't tell the students, though!
As for the weekend - mounds and mounds of grading. My goal? Get it all done this weekend so Thanksgiving will be, thankfully, grading-free!
Wish me luck!
It is okay to ask businesses to donate to schools. In fact, as you start to have friends who also have real jobs it becomes increasingly easier to collect cool things.
ReplyDeleteOther ideas for prizes: have you ever been to conferences where they give out posters, stress balls, and the like? One man's trash is another's treasure. Those seemingly junk items can really make for some exciting winnings. I'd check out the Wilk at student orientation.
I'd also keep my eyes open on the clearance sales. After holiday sales are usually full of stuff that can easily be disassociated with a particular holiday when taken out of the Halloween, Christmas, or whatever holiday isle.
Another idea: some professors (aka me) get a lot of books that middle schoolers might like but that sit on my shelves waiting for a good home. At then end of January I'll be finished with many of them, so if you're interested in some of these as prizes (I realize it's a very English teacher thing to give books for prizes, but what do they expect?), just let me know. You might even see if anyone in a good mood at the district office has anything they'd be willing to share. You just never know.
Finally, don't underestimate the power of a "get out of an assignment free" card or a "free late assignment" card. You can decide how many of these you want to give out, but that won't cost you anything. Of course you'll want to figure out boundaries for this, but it could be worth it.