“I’ll Work If You Give Me Candy”
Filed under classroom practice
Students were working on an assignment a couple of weeks ago. “Jack” (who
faces a lot of challenges at home, and has been having some difficulties at
school), however, was not. I went over to him and asked how it was going, and if
he had some questions about what he needed to do.
“I’ll work if you give me some candy,” he replied.
I told him that wasn’t going to happen, that he was better than that, and
that he needed to get to work. I knew that he didn’t like me “bugging him,” and
we had made an arrangement a couple of months ago that when he was in this kind
of mood I would leave him alone for a few minutes. Often, after that period of
time, he would get focused without needing any additional intervention.
A few minutes later, though, and Jack still wasn’t doing the assignment.
I went over to him to check-in. “I’ll work if you give me some candy,” he
repeated.
I asked him to go outside where we could talk privately. I asked him if he
felt that eating helped him to concentrate. He said yes, it did.
I said, “Jack, I want you to be successful. We all have things
that help us concentrate — with me, it’s important to be in a quiet
place. You know there’s a class rule against eating in class, and I
certainly don’t feel comfortable with your eating candy. But how about if I give
you the option of bringing something besides candy to school and, if you’re
having a hard time concentrating, as long as it doesn’t happen too often, you
can have the option to eat while you’re working? How does that sound?”
He eagerly agreed, we shook hands on the deal, and he went back to class and
focused on his work.
He’s been working hard since that time, and has not eaten anything in class
since we made our agreement.
But his knowing that he has the option to do so, I believe, has been a key
part of the solution.
This is similar to the option I’ve given some students to leave the room when
they feel like they’re going to “blow” — as long as they remain directly
outside the door (see When A
“Good” Class Goes “Bad” (And Back To “Good” Again!). All of us, particularly
students who have family lives which are often out-of-control, function better
when we feel we do have a certain level of control over…something.
I have individual “deals” with many students in my class, and everybody knows
it (we talk pretty explicitly about everybody being different, having different
talents and different needs). Only very, very ocassionally will students
actually exercise the power they have in these deals. Some might
think these kinds of arrangements would prompt charges of unfairness from other
students. Surprisingly enough, in my five years of teaching, that has
never occurred. The students who don’t need these deals to focus
understand why some do, and everybody else understands because they have
their own special arrangments with me.
What kinds of individual “deals” have you made with students in your
classes?
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Innovation, as I've said before, is an inside job. It begins with the individual. Organizations don't innovate. People do. And if people are ruled by past experiences, old assumptions, and limiting concepts of what's possible, nothing much will ever change.
