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Matt_R.L.
Joined: 15 Apr 2009
Posts: 4
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 Posted: Mon Jun 08, 2009 4:39 pm Post subject: Teaching Children -- Prizes Question |
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So my first stint as a TEFL teacher in China will be for first graders in a public school, and I've been admonished to bring prizes/trinkets/relics from home (USA) as giveaways to motivate classroom learning through games and such.
So simply: Any suggestions on good prizes to bring for 1st grade Chinese students? I live in the NYC area, so I can certainly go into the city to pick some souvenir-type stuff up, but I'm looking for more specific suggestions. (Ideally said prizes would be on the smallish side so I can bring a bunch of them over without compromising the rest of my luggage.) |
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theincredibleegg
Joined: 01 Jul 2008
Posts: 224
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| Posted: Mon Jun 08, 2009 5:33 pm Post subject: |
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Before you do it - Watch out so that you don't bribe your students instead of motivating them. There's a difference.
I suggest you buy candy. It's easy and all kids like it. They never had American candy either. So candy it is. |
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kev7161
Joined: 06 Feb 2004
Posts: 5880
Location: Suzhou, China
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| Posted: Mon Jun 08, 2009 10:35 pm Post subject: |
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| Stickers any and all kinds. My kids have loved the "scratch and sniff" kind and the shiny foil kind. The sticker sheets are flat, lightweight, inexpensive, and you can buy a ton of different variety. Fun pencils are also appreciated by the kids, even erasers (but a ton of those could get too bulky). |
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eddy-cool
Joined: 06 Jul 2008
Posts: 1008
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| Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 1:05 am Post subject: |
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The advice given to the OP is somewhat dubious. Only amateurs come to work here with a bag full of Santa Claus gifts.
An occasional donation of a used stamp, a photograph or a keyholder might be accepted with alacrity but you certainly should not have tobribe the whole class into 'cooperation' on a term-long basis! |
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foreignDevil
Joined: 23 Jun 2003
Posts: 580
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| Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 4:34 am Post subject: |
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| eddy-cool wrote: |
The advice given to the OP is somewhat dubious. Only amateurs come to work here with a bag full of Santa Claus gifts.
An occasional donation of a used stamp, a photograph or a keyholder might be accepted with alacrity but you certainly should not have tobribe the whole class into 'cooperation' on a term-long basis! |
I found that to be a bit too dismissive, Eddy.
Certainly there is nothing wrong with a classroom reward that reinforces learning objectives.
However, one school I worked for wanted teachers to select "the three best" students in each class, each session, and reward them. I always found that pointless, if not counter-productive. For one, there were no objective criteria. Two, it would invariably be the same students each time. Three, it didn't really reinforce any specific learning objectives. So I simply didn't do it.
But... non-competitive "progress chart"-type systems would be a good way to distribute prizes such as stickers, etc. For example, have a chart on the wall with students names, cross indexed by homework assignments, or units covered, etc. When a student successfully completes the homework, or finishes a unit, reward him or her.
There certainly should be no reason to "bribe" students into cooperating. But we can recognize their work. |
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The Great Wall of Whiner
Joined: 29 Jan 2003
Posts: 4946
Location: Blabbing
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| Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 4:35 am Post subject: |
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| If you start down this path I'll just warn you that on days when there are no "prizes", you will be sure to find a lot of unmotivated kids. |
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theincredibleegg
Joined: 01 Jul 2008
Posts: 224
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| Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 5:48 am Post subject: |
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| eddy-cool wrote: |
The advice given to the OP is somewhat dubious. Only amateurs come to work here with a bag full of Santa Claus gifts.
An occasional donation of a used stamp, a photograph or a keyholder might be accepted with alacrity but you certainly should not have tobribe the whole class into 'cooperation' on a term-long basis! |
What a relief that we have full-blown professionals like you here to tell us what's what  |
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sharpe88
Joined: 21 Oct 2008
Posts: 226
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| Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 8:38 am Post subject: |
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Not necessarily.. but it takes a good teacher, with some understanding of child education and psychology
Ideally, you want to have intrinsic rewards rather than extrinsic ones
| The Great Wall of Whiner wrote: |
| If you start down this path I'll just warn you that on days when there are no "prizes", you will be sure to find a lot of unmotivated kids. |
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foreignDevil
Joined: 23 Jun 2003
Posts: 580
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| Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 10:04 am Post subject: |
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| sharpe88 wrote: |
Not necessarily.. but it takes a good teacher, with some understanding of child education and psychology
Ideally, you want to have intrinsic rewards rather than extrinsic ones
| The Great Wall of Whiner wrote: |
| If you start down this path I'll just warn you that on days when there are no "prizes", you will be sure to find a lot of unmotivated kids. |
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Yes. And I will be the first to admit, I do not have higher education in psychology or childhood education. I don't think my undergraduate years spent reading Heidegger, Kant, and Adorno really prepared me for teaching seven year-old Chinese children.
And I have always had a knee-jerk resistance to the "classroom competition" thing here, such as selecting the "best student" every time. I was certainly not the "best student" when I was younger, so maybe that is part of it. I have been here for some years now, and I see this "ranking" thing a lot, at all levels.
I would be interested to hear about other teachers with more training/experience successfully implement some sort of reward program. |
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kev7161
Joined: 06 Feb 2004
Posts: 5880
Location: Suzhou, China
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| Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 1:31 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| But... non-competitive "progress chart"-type systems would be a good way to distribute prizes such as stickers, etc. |
I do something like this in my fourth grade class. They get points for all sorts of things, not just good grades. It's amazing how competitive some of these kids get with each other. We reward based on not only top students every week but also most improved (because not every student can be at the top, but many can try harder and accomplish better results). Last week was our final week of the term to tally points since we are so near the end of the school year but we still have testing this week and next to finish. Does anyone honestly believe my consistent high-achievers are going to suddenly give up and do poorly on their tests? No, most students at this age or younger don't think like that. They're not quite at that jaded stage where many of us are! I've been doing progress charts and reward incentives for years and I've never run into the problem of kids giving up once the stickers (or whatever) run out. Positive reinforcements (what some call bribing) can be a good thing in the educational system if executed properly. |
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naturegirl321
Joined: 04 May 2003
Posts: 9041
Location: home sweet home
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| Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 6:23 pm Post subject: |
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Smiles
thumbs up
imaginary stars on their forehead
work as well. |
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Katja84
Joined: 06 May 2007
Posts: 165
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| Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 9:24 pm Post subject: |
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For the critics, did you never get stickers as prizes when you were in primary school? The fact that I still remember this - that I even remember what they looked like (gold stars of different shapes) - should indicate that at least it meant something at the time.
I think gifts are great as long as they are awarded on the basis of hard work or improvement rather than always to the good students - for the good students, high marks is a better reward than stickers, but for students with average marks, stickers can indicate that they are doing things right despite their less impressive marks. |
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nick1753593
Joined: 06 Jun 2009
Posts: 2
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| Posted: Wed Jun 10, 2009 12:10 am Post subject: |
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| Stickers are a great idea also pens or pencils from your home university are really good ideas. Candy is a great idea, but at least from my experience in Korea they did not enjoy it as much as I thought they would. Stickers, pens and pencils were huge hits. In addition I would give my best students A t-shirt and a folder from my home university as incentives. These were only handed out at the end of the term and on some other special occasions. |
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Sugar Magnolia
Joined: 14 Oct 2008
Posts: 233
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| Posted: Wed Jun 10, 2009 12:22 am Post subject: |
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I was once given a sticker which indicated that I was a "turkey". The "turkies" were supposedly the best.
I'm happy to type that the other "turkies" are making a lot more than me. Besides that, my friend who was a mere "peanut" is now a Doctor in Beverly Hills.
Beyond that, I was once replaced by Duncan Sheik in the band. He too was classified as a "peanut".
I wish I was a "peanut".
I wonder what went wrong?
Last edited by Sugar Magnolia on Wed Jun 10, 2009 12:39 am; edited 1 time in total |
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calgrl471
Joined: 13 May 2009
Posts: 36
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| Posted: Wed Jun 10, 2009 12:33 am Post subject: |
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What I do is get the cheap little stickers about 100 for 1 dollar and I give out stickers during class. Whether I am asking a question or they are following directions. I have a chart and when the students get 10 stickers they get a candy or prize. I have a bag of things and they get to pick one. I think it works well because all students are working for 10 stickers.
What to bring from NYC... I would say bring a couple things that say NYC, either pencils, keychains, notebook, postcard. (I would have these for your two kids in your class. whoever has the most stickers at the end. I would then bring candy from home... small candy and give those out when students get 10 stickers. But like someone said earlier there will be a time that all your candy from back home will be gone and you will have sad students. So maybe give all the students candy one day... have it be a day they are really good so everyone can try it, then give students candy from china. |
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