Leaps and Bounds!

The past few weeks I’ve not written much as I’ve gone through a period of humbling and testing. I find it’s best for me not to vent in public while my emotions are so close to the surface. Now that a little time has passed, I’m ready to record some of my challenging moments so I won’t forget what I’ve learned. Boy! I’m sure growing leaps and bounds lately!

Lesson #873 – Teenagers will hold you to your word, so be careful what policies you make

In attempt to appear flexible at the beginning of the year, I made my tardiness policy rather lenient. We are supposed to start every day at 6:00 am. To be “fair” to extenuating circumstances though, I decided to make the cut off time for tardiness at 6:10. This has really come back to bite me with some kids, because they consistently arrive at 6:10 (or later) every day. They miss out on devotionals, announcements, and scripture mastery practice. It’s hard on the rest of the students who are timely, and it often slows the pace of our mornings so I’m scrambling at the end of class. If I had this one to do over, I would not implement that policy because teenagers will hold you to your word. Who doesn’t want 10 more minutes of sleep? Duh!

Lesson #874 – Incentives for students = expensive for teachers

Students arriving before we start the opening hymn are considered “early birds” and can pick a treat from the “Treats for the Timely” jar. This wasn’t an original idea of course. One of the ward’s previous teachers had used this incentive to motivate kids to be on time. I thought it was brilliant. It’s always better to motivate and encourage, rather than punish, right?

Another incentive I use is Mormon Money. I give my students a little $ when they present devotionals, give a great answer, win a scripture mastery challenge, etc. The fun part is the auction we have in conjunction with this program. At the end of each quarter, the kids will get to spend their Mormon Money to buy fun things like movie passes, baked goods, CDs, gift cards, etc. The kids are excited about this, and I am too.

Here’s the problem though…That stuff costs money. That’s why I’m so grateful for the one parent who has made contributions (plural) to my candy stash and the auction. Every bit helps! I just wish more parents would respond to my plea for help. It just might save my marriage…HA!

Lesson #875 – Competition does not belong in a seminary lesson

This lesson has been the most painful to learn so far. Before I launch into this story though, I want to give some background info on myself.

I am not a game person. I don’t like competition or conflict of any kind. I’ve never been good at debate. Confrontation makes me break out in a sweat. I will ever be a people-pleaser, a lover not a fighter.

Also, I used to be an early childhood educator. Working with youngsters, I avoided having kids compete with each other because that kind of situation almost always ends in tears. It’s just not an effective teaching tool for that age group.

Now back to my story…For some reason I thought it would be a good idea to bribe my seminary students with Mormon Money so that they would be more eager to give comments in class, read passages, memorize scripture mastery, etc. Unfortunately, this quickly escalated to the point where students have been falling all over each other just to earn Mormon Money. The gap is widening between kids who are already assertive and comfortable in class, and those who are not. It’s created bad feelings and chased the spirit away. It has not worked out the way I envisioned.

I am happy to say that some of the students felt comfortable enough to give me some of their feedback on this whole issue. Their words confirmed what I was already thinking, and also brought me to my knees. It is very painful to hear a teenager talk about how she can’t feel the spirit in your classroom. After much prayer and counsel with close friends, I’ve decided to revamp the whole Mormon Money thing. Money won’t typically be passed out in class. Instead, it will be given on the down-low for reasons that are tailored to each student. Money can still be earned for devotionals, memorization, etc. It just won’t have such a dominant place during the actual lesson.

Lesson #876 – Everyone deserves a second chance, or a third, or a fourth…

Because of the Mormon Money disaster, I have some students who are “rich” and some who are “poor”. A couple of kids were so motivated by the fact that they’d earn $5 for every memorized scripture that they’ve already memorized all 25! Isn’t that incredible? I can barely remember my own address.

On the flipside, I’ve got students who’ve only memorized 2 scriptures. Or, they aren’t comfortable speaking up in class, so they haven’t earned $ that way either. Won’t the auction be lame for them? That’s hardly motivational.

With these things in mind, I’m going to limit the number of auction wins to 2 per student. Everyone will have the opportunity to bid on something, not just the “rich”. For the second quarter, everyone’s balance will start again at zero to even out the playing field once more. My hope is that other kids will have a chance to shine next quarter.

Lesson #877 – Someone always has a more difficult challenge

In talking with other teachers at in-service meetings and such, I’m finding that there are many different kinds of classrooms out there. One teacher I know teaches to just one student, who only shows up half the time. Another delivers her lessons via Skype because the distance is too great. Other teachers, like me, struggle with tardiness and student apathy. It’s a hard job for everyone! I’m sure grateful for the challenges I have though, and I wouldn’t change these experiences for the world.

Wow! You’ve made it through this lengthy post. You get $5 in Mormon Money!

Class Picture

Here's our crew! Cute pic, lousy camera.

Looking Up

Wow. Last week was tough! General Conference was exactly what I needed to get recharged. I was so proud of my class today. Everyone came, and some of my "surly birds" came early or on time. Yes!

Last Friday I held individual interviews with students so that we could go over their binders, attendance records, and scripture mastery verses. It was a neat time to talk with them personally and express my care and concern. I had them evaluate themselves, based on the information noted previously, and then I sent copies of that information to their parents and Bishop for a progress report. I think it was a good idea for the parents to see where their kids were at, especially right around Conference time. I'm hoping it will revitalize our group.

I'm trying some new tactics for lesson planning too. Rick and I went over my outline together last night so I could practice a Reader's Digest version of the lesson. He pointed out some of the holes and helped me work through some of the activities I planned. Things went so much better today!