Rarely, if ever, do I write about teaching. This is a personal blog, and so I try to keep my job out of the blog. Despite this, I often think about my students and the day as each night comes to a close. Tonight is no exception. Tonight, I am going to write about what I thought about today's events.
So, the art teacher I work with gives out points to the kids for good behavior. As the year progresses they can earn more points. This week my students, who are actually the brightest students in the grade (10 students with Stanford Intelligence scores in the 91st-99th percentile), had the opportunity to earn 16 points.
At the end of art class, as I peered through the narrow rectangular window I could see Ms. A talking to the students and nodding "Yes, I think that's fair," as she wrote the points on a card in black Sharpie ink. As the door creaked open, the students beamed at me. They were obviously proud of themselves and thought they had done well. And so, I was excited--until I saw the card. "8" the card read. 8! 8? I looked at my students, seemingly oblivious to their half-assed efforts for the day, and calmly walked them down the hall. Ms. A said the kids were not their best and that they "used to be" such a good class. Ouch. Of course I take this personally, as if I were at fault for their poor behavior. "I'll talk to the kids," I told Ms. A. And talk to them I did.
I explained to the kids that when we know what their potential is, and they accomplish only half of what they can achieve (for the record, all of the classes got 14-16 points this week, and my little competitive self did not like that!), then they need to work on it. One student quietly pulled me aside later on and said that it feels as though if they aren't perfect, then they aren't good at all. I told her that that wasn't it. I said that while they did earn 8 points, they could have done so much more. Still, I understood what the student was saying, but I felt like I had to back up the art teacher and talk to them about their effort and being on task. I wonder though, what's really going on here?
When I think of the classes that do actually get the most points, they are also the same classes whose behavior is usually less than stellar for their regular teachers. Conversely, they are usually well-behaved for me, and even mostly well behaved for the other teachers as well.
What I did notice is that the kids were happy with even getting 8 points. I think that perhaps they don't really think they need rewards to enjoy what they are doing. For all of the grief that Mrs. A gave them, they are actually the most artistic and talented kids in the grade. I was given the cream of the crop on purpose. Last year's class was enough to make many teachers lose their minds. I stuck it out, and was rewarded handsomely. So although Mrs. A may be frustrated because they aren't performing for her, I think that's just the point: they aren't performing for HER. They are in art for themselves, and not for her. I do not give out points and rewards for behavior. They have never needed points, and so I've never given points. I also tell them that their success is their own personal reward, and they don't need candy or treats or points to reinforce that.
So maybe, although I will continue to back Mrs. A, I think the kids are a hell of a lot smarter than Mrs. A realizes. They get what learning is all about. This is why they perform well in my room. They do it for themselves, and not for me. With all of the research done on intrinsic motivation, what more could a teacher ask for? I also see why such kids are a literal pain in the arse to may teachers who wholeheartedly believe in rewarding every single little move for kids. For many kids, they'll think "yay!" For my kids, they think, "I don't need your rewards." If I were their mother, I would say, "That's my boy/girl!"
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