Thursday, September 20, 2012

Motivating Students Is A Full-Time Job

With all the stress I’ve been experiencing while working with all my partners to set-up the English department room, I had started to forget how much I was looking forward to this new year. I mentioned my new plan about how I’m working with my partner as a resource teacher, meaning I will spend more time helping them develop resources to share in the English department. And even though Peace Corps haven’t approved my new work plan yet, it’s how I’m working right now. The school is still kind of chaotic since the class schedule isn’t finalized yet, so I’m working on resource development.

Early last week, I brought in a game I made for my 5th formers that encourages completing homework called “Homeworkopoly”. It’s a board game based on “Monopoly” that the students get to play when they completed their homework from the night before. There are various prizes that they can win throughout the game, most of which are privileges such as wearing a crown in class or sitting in the teacher’s chair. When I showed it to my partner Valentina, she was so excited. She said she loved it and couldn’t wait to use it. She was so happy to hang it in her classroom and she thought the students would love it. And just in case I had any doubt to the sincerity of her thanks, she gave me a hug for the first time as a result of me providing material for her classroom.

On Tuesday, we explained Homeworkopoly to the students, and their face just lit up with excitement. Positive reinforcement is not something typically seen in Moldova, so the students were surprised to hear they could earn prizes. They seemed particularly excited about singing the “Hokie Pokie” with me.

Today, we were finally able to really start playing Homeworkopoly. The students were so excited. They couldn’t believe they were being rewarded for completing their homework. The students who completed their homework were so proud to show it to me, and they would make the biggest grin when I would call them to come and play. There were several students who didn’t complete their homework, so they would worked on it in class and show it to me, hoping to get to play. I explained that they had to do their homework before class. Based on the responses today, I’m really hoping to see a lot more completed homework at the beginning of the next class.






Seeing my students so motivated was incredible. I don’t see that too often here. Since I was able to spend my time looking up ideas to use in the classroom, I was able to make something that is new and effective in the classroom. Hopefully PC will approve my new plan, and I can be working more with my partners to come up with these types of ideas this year. 

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