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The Prize


     Thursday is quiz review day. Students walked in groggily to first period with an air of stress, fatigue, and teenage angst only a high school teacher can recognize. Lucky for the kids, I chose to do a Kahoot review.

 Upon the announcement, the normal excitement was met with silence. One student asked, "will there be a prize?" I responded, "there will be candy given to the first and second place winners". Students immediately perked up and quickly got out their devices to play the game.

   As an educator, I'd love for some intrinsic motivation. I'd relish kids learning for the sake of earning. But on this tired Thursday in March, the infamous month with no breaks, a sweet external motivator was called for.
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Comments

  1. AnonymousMarch 14, 2019 at 12:07 PM

    Love this line: "Students walked in groggily to first period with an air of stress, fatigue, and teenage angst only a high school teacher can recognize. " Your post shows that sometimes as a teacher, we just need to lean on that "sweet external motivator"-- that's life, right!? Thanks for this great little slice!

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousMarch 14, 2019 at 12:11 PM

    Sometimes that external motivator is the right choice! People can be so judgmental about it. You keep doing what you have to do to make it to Spring Break in one piece!

    ReplyDelete
  3. fireflytrailsMarch 14, 2019 at 3:46 PM

    You gotta do what you gotta do! And it sounds like this worked.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Leigh Anne EckMarch 14, 2019 at 8:30 PM

    I was going to say the exact same thing as fireflytrails! At this point in the year - whatever it takes!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Stacey ShubitzMarch 14, 2019 at 11:51 PM

    An occasional sweet treat to help kids move through the winter months is okay!

    ReplyDelete

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