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 Awards as a Habit Below are seven of the eight questions (I'll share results from the 8th one below because the answers aren't graphable) and the results. About four advisories submitted their responses on paper and 26 students took the online survey. So these results are from 73 students out of about 250 in our middle school, so almost 30% of our students have responded. (You can click on the pie charts to see a slightly larger chart if you can't read the numbers.)
These results are very telling. What they tell me is that we've convinced so many kids that to be appreciated they need a certificate or award. That doesn't seem right. Years of getting awards, stickers, and other rewards for doing the right things have taught them that without those rewards we don't appreciate them. A teacher whose blog I read recently wrote some blog posts about these same issues. When I shared our results with her she wrote a post on motivation and achievement. Here are some quotes from those who want to keep awards in our assemblies: "It [the award] might make them [kids who don't get awards] want to try harder." (Cause we know that works, right? No!) "I feel accomplished." (So if you don't get a certificate you don't feel accomplished? What have we done?!) "Not appreciated [if they don't get an award]" (So I've been asking, how can we show each other appreciation without calling some out for an award and leaving others behind?) "I feel awkward," or "I feel embarrassed." (When called up for an award.) "I wouldn't feel special." (That one hurts.) One person even wrote that they believe that being called up and put, "in the spotlight," causes more bullying because kids in middle school can use anything against you. These are just my opinions. What do you think? Have we damaged these kids or is this what we want of our children? I don't want my son or my daughter waiting for an award to feel accomplished or to feel special. And I'm saying spoil them so that when they get a job they feel bad because their boss doesn't give awards or doesn't praise them. (Read this about praise to get some ideas on how to do it better.) The last question asked kids what they would like to see during our monthly assemblies. Here are some things they came up with:
Sounds good to me. Article posted February 16, 2012 at 07:36 PM • comment (1) • Reads 15709 • Return to Blog List Add a CommentPosted Comments  G'day Mr G and students, Thanks for registering for the March 2012 student blogging challenge. Make sure you visit the blog every week beginning early March, when the first challenge will be published. If you want a reminder sent to your email each week, use the "Subscribe by email" on the right sidebar of the blog. Also make sure you visit blogs from other classes around the world with similar ages. Miss W or tasteach - challenge organizer
Comment Posted on February 23, 2012 at 06:12 PM by
Miss W |
My Classes & Students About the Blogger I started my teaching career in South Central Los Angeles teaching in modified to full bilingual 4th and 5th grade classes. Then I moved to WA State where I have taught mainly 6th through 8th grade. I have enjoyed the culture clash but notice that kids are the same everywhere :o) My areas of interest are science and technology but I also love studying ancient cultures and learning about different peoples and cultures.
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