Super Survey Day! aka Opportunity Cost

So while I was on the flight to Colorado from Texas I pondered a slightly questionable teaching situation that I would like some feedback from all of you on.

In one of my classes, I have three students that are CONSTANTLY misbehaving, don't do work, and don't seem to care about their grades. I've had a few cases of limited success in getting them to work. I've already given them seating charts, but everyday they test the limits by sitting together until I remind them that if they don't move I will send them to ISS (In-School Suspension). They have always moved, so it hasn't been a problem, but I have sent them to ISS before for other reasons. These are smart kids, capable of learning, and they are actually pretty good kids... when they aren't in class. What I'm wondering is...

Would it be a horrible motivational strategy to tell them that the best of the three (participation-wise) will get $20 a month if I never have to warn them about their behavior in class? If they manage to make it ONE month, it will be worth the $20 for me (or even $60 if I gave each kid a $20). I know that offering kids cash, straight up just for not messing around might not be the best message, but perhaps the fact that they get practice in being good tips the balance of the scales in the direction of it being a potentially good thing... This was merely a thought after talking to a fellow teacher about chronic behavior problems. Let me know if you have any ideas.

-----Author's Note-----
I know that I haven't blogged for the last two weeks. It'll be up, I swear. I just got backlogged and then sick. Whoops!

Connecting Counts

For those of you who read this blog weekly, I apologize for not updating last week. I'll give a quick recap:
1. I spent the whole week looking forward to the Big 12 Championship game.
2. I spent the WHOLE week looking forward to the Big 12 Championship game.
3. On Thursday, I realized that San Antonio had Chipotle.
4. Friday, the kids could have stabbed me and I still would have been happy.
5. We read through the novels and I had the kids working on their short stories.

Unfortunately, Mizzou played the worst game of the year, so the trip was less than stellar. However, San Antonio was TONS of fun and made me realize just how much I miss living in a place that makes me want to get out and enjoy the culture. Don't get me wrong, the RGV has its own culture, but it's not the same as a college town or the River Walk in San Antonio. Maybe I still need to adjust to the culture down here...

This week went by incredibly fast. This was mostly due to the fact that our team (about 140 students and 4 core area teachers) went on a field trip on Friday to see Texas A&M Corpus Christi and Texas A&M Kingsville. We didn't have enough spaces to take all of our kids, unfortunately, so our team toiled over rosters for several weeks in order to determine which kids should not be rewarded with a field trip. It was an incredibly tough decision, made even harder by lack of funds and certain program requirements, but in the end, things turned out ok. It was a whole heck of a lot of stress put on all of the 4 core teachers and me specifically as I was the one handing out the permission slips or the "you're not allowed to go" slips. It was not fun telling 40 or so students they couldn't go because of their grades, behavior, and attendance, when really it was more a lack of funding. Oh well. The kids that did end up going enjoyed the trip and I felt rejuvenated because I was once again able to see my students in a different role. They're a really good group of kids and have some really interesting personalities. I'm lucky to have them. However, things do tend to change when I'm actually making an effort to teach them, and some have that tendency to turn-off their more compassionate, driven sides and feel the need to sit around and distract others. I'm not saying that all of my students are trouble makers, but some of them can have quite petulant behavior when they feel the need. Really, I saw the whole experience as an eye-opener, since on some level I was beginning to see my students as less and less of 'people who happen to be my students' and more just 'students'. It's always good to remember that every day these kids bring a thousand things to the table and I can't begin treating them as if they will come in each day exactly how they left the day before.

Oh drat. I meant to put up my Christmas tree tonight. I guess I have a project for tomorrow.

Student Gems
From the field trip -
"Why is your bag wet?" - girl 1
"What?" - girl 2
*Girl 1 smells handbag*
"Oh no! The pickle juice!" - girl 1
"Oohhh..." girl 2 as girl one pulls out a jar of pickles from girl 2's handbag.
-Surprisingly enough, both girls seemed quite alright with the ordeal, and just accepted the fact that the handbag was now soaked in a layer of pickle juice. They were quite confident that "it'll dry"

Ahh! I meant to update last night and then again tonight! Egads, it did not happen.