“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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Carla Arena on 06 Oct 08What I am going to share here will probably be the most personal thing I have ever shared on my blog. Only 3 other people know of this and some who are skeptics will dismiss me right away. But - I promise if you stick with me to the very end, it will make sense AND it will be woven into Tech. A long time ago, a pastor I trusted was into meditation and he was leading several people through them. Being the skeptic (yes, even though my faith is strong, I still have doubts at times) I decided to give it a try. What I am sharing next was what I saw. I was sitting on a fountain and there was a gentle man sitting next to me and we began to talk about what I was afraid of. He asked me if I was ready to conquer some of my fears and I said "Yes". He advised me to look up - and there floating above me were planks with words on them….words with the fears that I indeed was dealing with. And the closest one said "Dogs". I was able to easily reach up and grab it. As I gave the gentle man the plank, I said "But I am not really afraid of dogs" and his response was "sometimes you have to go for the easy before you can go for the hard." He then asked me if I wanted to fly and I said yes and suddenly we were flying through the sky…….yet, I continually looked toward the fountain, toward the ground, toward the certain. He finally asked if I wanted to return and we returned to the fountain. He laid his head in his hands and began to cry. When I asked him why, his response was "Jennifer, I want you to fly, yet you always wish to return to where it is safe." What I am sharing with you is true - and I still deal with my fears and my wanting to be safe - but today - I want to take those 2 stories and weave them, if I may, into what our teachers are dealing with in regards to being open to tech. In the last few weeks, I have had several conversations with tech coordinators, integratrators, evangelists, ambassadors - whatever you want to call
