troubles with class 1

After talking to some of my colleagues it sounds like they have had similar reactions with class one. They have to pull their teeth to get them motivated and working. That is similar to what I was seeing in my class. I had a large group not wanting to participate even though I was giving out points or chances for moon cakes like crazy. The other English teacher I was talking to was saying that he can't get them to work on English in his class they are always working on math homework or physics homework.

However I think my game helped some of the students who don't have a great grasp at English work at trying to use their English. They struggled some in the game, but they were trying their best. They really wanted a moon cake so they were doing their best to try and get one. I think they even came in third which won them a moon cake to share between the two of them. So I think there were some upsides to the game. It gave the weaker students a chance to shine and motivated them to use in English. I bought some chocolate over the weekend to hand out instead of moon cakes if I do something similar again.

I had to buy something else because the next lesson I put up a few AP problems from the 2008 exam and asked them to put up their choice of answer on their whiteboards. However then they asked if they got a prize. So I already saw them getting trained to do it for the goodies. I don't want them working for the goodies. I want them working because they know it is what is expected of them and because it will help prepare them for the exam. Although I think that they know the pressure of the test is there and they have had the pressure of so many tests thrust upon them. They have plenty of intrinsic motivation when it comes down to it that I think they just need a break from it and a little extrinsic motivation. I don't it is a different culture and the students work differently. It just bothers me and irks me that I need gimmicks to get them working. I just worry that they will be working for the chocolate. I think back to listening to Alfie Kohn in Equity class. It just goes against my educational philosophy and makes me worry what type of global citizen they will be. However I am learning a lot as the time goes by so maybe I will find a way to motivate the classes and students without the use of chocolate or other goodies.