BROWNIE POINTS!

I must say - I have my dear husband to thank for setting me up for one of the AWESOMEST moments of the term. Without him, I would not be Mrs. Brown. Therefore the oh-so-motivating and true-to-my-punny-nature "Brownie Points" would cease to exist.

So thanks, Babe.

But really. Here's a sampling of the comments I heard today when students walked in the door, saw the oodles of prizes by my desk, and turned to me to say....

"I knew there was a reason I came to school today!"

"Mrs. Brown - I promise - I got like 20 Brownie Points this term, but I forgot to put them in the bowl! Can I do it now?!" (I may not have won any personal brownie points with this student because I said no. That, and I kind of knew the 20+ Brownie Point claim was a lie.)

"Sweet! She has book prizes!"

"Oh we're doing THAT thing today?"

"Please Mrs. Brown - just pull out one more name! I know it will be me! I just know it!"

Don't you just love Middle School?

It was a really fun day of reflection. I had them draw a Venn Diagram on their iPads to compare/contrast the two terms of school they have had so far this year. Some students were incredibly perceptive:

"Teachers are meaner in term two!"

"I think I have more friends this term than I did last term."

"There's a lot more homework this term than last term."

"We have iPads now and we didn't before!"

We talked about each of the things they noticed (had a whole discussion about WHY teachers WERE meaner during 2nd term. And it was not a teacher (aka not me) who pointed out that it's because teachers understood if you forgot an assignment or were late to class because you got lost when it was a new school year. But now, they KNOW you KNOW, so they are expecting more from you. Now that was a proud moment.

They talked about how iPads are helping them learn more and have more time to learn. Again, not my realization. It was theirs.

And then, I reminded them that at the end of term I, as their teacher, have to give them a grade. But, I paused then, very dramatically of course, and in a low voice told them I had a secret:

"Wanna hear?" (my 7th graders at this point have their eyes wide open with grins). "Teachers are just STUDENTS in disguise."

They rolled their eyes, but I continued, "I mean it. Everyday you teach me something new. I come in with a lesson and you teach me that it wasn't exciting enough or you teach me that I need to explain things better in a way you can better understand. YOU teach ME. So, as YOUR student, I need you to give me a grade."

Yup. This was the moment I passed out those wonderful Student Response Handouts where they give feedback on my teaching.

Not going to lie - I was a little nervous about the results I would get from my 8th graders. So - I took an extra moment with them to talk about the etiquette required to be a good grader:

"Have any of you ever gotten a paper back with a comment from me saying, 'This is stupid. I hated reading this.'?"

Some of my sassy eighth graders replied affirmatively, but I set myself up for that, I guess.

"I mean it! Have you?"

Their replies: "No - that would be BULLYING!"

"Yeah! That's like abuse!"

"I wouldn't do anything in your class ever again if you said that to me!"

We took a moment to talk about why teachers would NEVER write that - and, again, a student pointed out the reason: because those comments don't do anything to help students improve and get better.

So, I turned it back on them. "I really don't mind if you hate my class. I promise I don't lose sleep at night. However, before you write my class off completely, I want you to give me feedback that I can actually use to IMPROVE! I can't promise that I will make you like my class, but I can promise that I will use your feedback to try to be a better teacher for you."

And you know what - they surprised me. Even the students that have verbally told me how much they hate my class were giving me good marks as a teacher (I promise, I wasn't looking over their shoulders, but I noticed a few. :D).

And so, as I ride off into the Sunset of the weekend, I'm ready for what they have to say, and I'm ready (as I hope they are) to make some changes and improvements for Term 3.

HALFWAY DONE, PEOPLE! FOR REAL!