Agreement with my pupils.
In order to keep my pupils on their toes, I decided to introduce a prize to be won in a quiz every Friday. Whatever is learnt from Monday to Thursday is assessed in the form of a quiz on Friday. Any pupil that answers any question in the quiz is rewarded with a pack of biscuits. They love the quiz and look up to it every week. At some points, the headteacher witnessed the quiz and she was impressed. She went ahead to instruct other teachers to adopt something similar.
There was a particular Friday that we embarked on the quiz as usual. Any child that answers any question has his name written down and the biscuits would be shared at the end of the quiz to the winners. Others that couldn't attempt any question correctly are compensated with sweets. As expected, the questions are always the type that involves critical thinking that are very deserving of the prizes. We started on that particular day and at the end of it, we had four winners - one won twice making the number of prizes to be given out to be five. I distributed the prizes and we were set to round up the program when I checked the time and realized that we had about ten minutes left.
I decided to give a "tough" question that I promised to give any pupil that provides a solution to it five of the biscuits. As their teacher, I wasn't expecting anyone to get the solution correctly because the topic hadn't been taught to that level before that time.
The whole class turned their attention to me and one of the leading pupils in class, David, asked me again if I was serious about the five biscuits prize which I answered in affirmative.
Uncle, this is an agreement ooo ...
I assured David that it was an agreement.
Another girl, looking at my empty tabletop, asked for the biscuits that I would give to the winner.
Don't worry about that. I will give whoever wins the prize before closing of school activities today.
I was so confident that none of them would be able to answer the question and there wouldn't be any reason to give anyone a prize.
I went to the board and put down the question. It was a Mathematics question that requires some level of calculation before getting the solution.
They swung into action and different answers were presented to me which were incorrect. I waited for everyone to submit after giving them adequate time to provide a solution to the question. David's solution was the last that I marked and to my surprise, he solved it correctly. I was amazed. I immediately called him and gave him a marker to solve what he had in his book on the board. He confidently solved the question on the board with enough explanation to other pupils to understand.
We celebrated such a level of brilliance as a whole class. At that point, it dawned on me that I was parting away with five biscuits to David as earlier agreed with the whole class. I told the pupils that I was going to redeem the prize to David on the following Monday but the whole class chorused "No Uncle" as they stood in solidarity with David to demand for the prize. I had no option than to keep to my own side of the agreement.
Few weeks earlier I was in the class when their Civic Education teacher was teaching them the good act of keeping to agreement. I then thought of it as a good opportunity to live what we preach as teachers. They learn a lot from the actions of teachers around them and I knew this very well.
I wasn't with money and I had to go get the biscuits from the provisions store in the school premises. I explained to the storekeeper and promised to give him the money the following Monday.
I brought the biscuits for David and all the pupils hailed and celebrated him.
As much as I know, to some extent, the intellectual capacity of my pupils, I learnt not to underrate the kids. I also learned to be ready to implement my part of an agreement no matter how low the possibility of the other party actualizing his part is.
Life with this kids is fun.
What a great story and a great job you have, @lightpen! A story full of lessons. You can tell from this story what a good job the teachers are doing with these beautiful children.
Some children can surprise us so much. David undoubtedly has very good maths skills. An agreement is an agreement and all children know that. It's so good that you were able to keep the deal! Thank you so much for those beautiful pictures that fill the reader with hope!
Children are full of surprises. Thank you @theinkwell for the motivating words as usual.
Some of these students are full of surprises. They can read ahead of their class. Such student needed something more than that to make the vibes burning.
You are right. Children are gifted in diverse ways. The task is to identify the gift and nurture it.
Hello,
the fact that you admit that you did not believe that your students would be able to solve the task suggests to me that you are open to surprises. Or that they are not only able to solve certain maths tasks that they are "actually" not yet capable of because of your teaching alone. It's nice that you share something like that.
One question about your first paragraph. What alternatives do you see to the rewards or punishments mentioned? Is there something else? And if so, what would that be?
Greetings.
I think I go with the first suggestion is the fact that I am open to surprises. I am a kind of teacher that tells the pupils to always open their minds to learning at any given opportunity not just from their teachers but from their parents and every other person available to offer them knowledge. I later discovered that David's mother is a Mathematician and she had finished the topic with the boy after introducing it in class.
Regarding to the question about alternatives to reward and punishment in dealing with the pupils, there are many other ways of making the pupils willing to do necessary tasks and improve their learning experiences. I encourage them that they can achieve a given task. I make them see value in doing it and let them know that the cost of doing it is within their reach. I make sure I motivate them intrinsically so that they are eager to do the task without any kind of force.
That's good to hear. The responsibility to be a teacher ist truly high. I remember how important the teacher was when I was young myself. I hope, your pupils will hold you in good memory and will think of your lessons as inspiring and valuable.
It was a very pleasant surprise, sometimes the boys can surprise us with their ingenuity. As you say on many occasions we underestimate the boys, they are lessons that are learned in the knowledge of the students. A lovely experience you share with us on this day.
Thanks for sharing.
Good day.
The surprise was very pleasant indeed. Helping the kids to maximize such potentials is the task before me as their teacher. I hope to do my part with blemish. Thanks for stopping by.
Being a teacher sometimes can be draining but I can see that you're doing great with it. I admire your zeal.
Thank you for stopping by.
As an educator myself, I totally relate. I once underrated my students like that and they indeed surprised me.
Thanks for sharing this beautiful story.
More grease to your elbow. Thank you for stopping by.
Congratulations, @lightpen! Your story has been chosen as one of the best stories of the week and is part of the 105th highlighted authors Magazine!
https://peakd.com/hive-170798/@theinkwell/the-ink-well-highlights-magazine-105
Wow... Thank you for the recognition. I am highly elated and motivated.