I dropped by at my son's school to have lunch with him today and after I picked up my food, he led me back to his classroom instead of sitting with his other classmates in the lunchroom. I noticed a sub-section of his classmates joined us in the classroom. It's Sundae party lunch day they excitedly exclaimed. Apparently, the members of the classroom who passed the multiplication test for the trimester won the privilege of lunching in the classroom and eating a sundae courtesy of the teacher. When I looked back at the classmates who failed the test, they were sitting quietly eating and avoided my eyes. I don't know exactly how they were feeling, but they certainly were not happy.
When I looked in the classroom of the kids who won the party, they were mostly who I expected. They were the motivated-to-excel and/or well supported at home group. I believe the goal of the teacher was to motivate everyone to succeed and make an effort to learn their multiplication. However, when she turned it into a high stakes contest (party only once each trimester), I wonder if the pressure and the impression of an insurmountable goal ended up discouraging the kids who NEEDED the motivation and support the most. I think the kids who were eating sundaes were those who would have passed the test anyway.
Last year, I observed a teacher who held competitions in math all the time. Because they happen so frequently, they were low stakes and there were many more opportunities to succeed. It never became a high pressure cooker or ended up looking like an insurmountable goal. She also mix the kids up in different teams each time so kids doing poorly in math would eventually end up on winning teams. I didn't feel anyone felt left out or if they did, they would have another chance in the next few days. I wonder how her math scores compare and how well her students learn. In her case, I wonder if the kids who needed motivation were better serviced. I certainly have a preference for her classroom.
The Ones Who Got Away
10 years ago
1 comment:
There is such a fine line between friendly competition and motivation vs. insurmountable pressure. A lot of times these so called motivators only end up adding unnecessary pressure on kids to succeed. It can be so hard for teachers to find ways to motivate students in classrooms with such varying ability levels. There tends to be such disparity, that even the best of intentions (when it comes to motivation) end up only benefiting, as you said, the students who are already at a higher ability level and those that are well supported at home.
Post a Comment