by the artist formerly known as "L.Y."
As I am writing this, I am experiencing my first hosting of “Detention” for my fifth grade class. Upon starting a two week unit, the class was told that there would be an incentive for handing in completed work on time. Several students had already been having difficulties getting work completed (50% of the class handed in the last assignment late). Therefore, we wanted to challenge them and see who was able to meet the demands and alter their past performance.
The rules were set out in the beginning of the unit; out of two weeks, only four homework assignments could be handed in late, and even this was discouraged. However, if they had more than four late homework assignments they would not be able to participate in our incentive. The incentive, which was a movie and snacks on the last day of the unit, was not revealed to the students for fear that they might say it was not a great incentive and not complete their work anyway.
Well, since I have said I am hosting “detention” now, you can imagine somewhat how it turned out! Six students failed to meet the demands of the challenge, regardless of countless warnings they were reaching the borderline. Their response; crying from one, bribing to do extra credit from another, blank and upset faces, and my favorite, “well guys, we deserve it, we need to face the consequences of our actions!”
On the other side of the fence, participating in an incentive now are about nineteen students, several of whom had difficulty getting their work done previously and they pulled through! Many of these students made sure to ask questions about the homework to make sure they knew exactly what was expected and they went the extra mile to make sure to get it done. One student who had previous difficulty getting work completed had a perfect attendance when it came to getting the work completed!
Overall, I feel that the incentive was beneficial. It reduced the late homework by about 50%! However, having this particular incentive may not be the most practical or cost effective type that can be used during an entire year of teaching. Alternative incentives will have to be created.
Saturday, April 28, 2007
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1 comments:
Laura Brady
I think it's great that you 'laid down the law' so to speak with giving detention for missed homework. Students need to learn disipline and that there are consequences for their actions. If a teacher keeps giving them chances and doesn't put their foot down, then the students will know that they can get away with not doing their homework...and what is that going to teach them in the long run about doing work on time? It's definitely a hard thing to do because no one wants to be the bad guy, but I really think in the long run it's good for the students. I've heard stories from friends who have done student teaching and their cooperating teacher told them "Don't give them homework because they won't do it anyway." I found that unbelievable! These students were in high school and must have had teachers who never put their foot down, and they knew that they didn't have to do it. It makes me wonder how those students will make it in the real world with real jobs when they are expected to do that extra work. I'm glad that you did not have that attitude about the students and that you were able to show them they had to do work. And the students responded positively too!
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