The other day, I was handing back assignments to my grade 12 Data Management class, when I was asked a surprising question by one of my students.
“Hey Miss,” he said, “do you still give out stickers when we do well on tests?”
(Yes, that was said by an 18-year old, grade 12 boy.)
I had forgotten about that. For years, I would place little star stickers - sparkly, colourful ones - next to students’ marks on assignments and tests when they got over 90%. I would try and do it on every item handed in for evaluation - from large projects right down to the smallest 5-mark task. There were some assignments on which no one received stars, and some where pretty much the entire class got 90% or higher, but regardless of the “importance” of the assignment, my rule stuck.
“Hey Miss,” he said, “do you still give out stickers when we do well on tests?”
(Yes, that was said by an 18-year old, grade 12 boy.)
I had forgotten about that. For years, I would place little star stickers - sparkly, colourful ones - next to students’ marks on assignments and tests when they got over 90%. I would try and do it on every item handed in for evaluation - from large projects right down to the smallest 5-mark task. There were some assignments on which no one received stars, and some where pretty much the entire class got 90% or higher, but regardless of the “importance” of the assignment, my rule stuck.
I wasn’t sure it was making any kind of a difference in terms of motivation. I had seen a few students, over the years, carefully peel the stars off their work and stick them in rows on their binder. Others would compare stickers (“I got a blue one - what colour did you get?”), and some would ask why they didn’t get one. But I hadn’t heard anyone ever say, “I’m going to work harder so that I can get a star!”
And the majority of the students never did or said anything about the stickers, at least that I could see. Sure it was fun (from my point of view), but was it making any kind of a difference in the classroom?
I stopped doing it earlier this year when I went to mark a bunch of assignments at home and had inadvertently left my star stickers at school. It was such a little thing, that I didn’t think it would be noticed. And it wasn’t. I handed back the assignments and not a single student asked why there were no stars.
So the practice fell to the wayside. It’s funny how quickly you can fall out of a little habit like that when there are a dozen things on the go at once. And over time, like I said, I had forgotten that I had even done it in the first place.
Until the other day, when one of my students asked out of the blue if I still gave out star stickers.
“Do you remember that?” he said to another one of the boys at the table.
“I loved those stickers! They were the best!” the second boy replied.
“Wait, you guys used to get stickers? I want stickers too!” said a third, who had never had me as a teacher. “Why don’t we get stickers?”
(Aside: who knew grade 12 boys were so into stickers?)
This made me realize something important - no matter what we do in the classroom, the students notice. Every little act, gesture, comment; even if they don’t acknowledge that you do it, they notice. This can be a good thing - those little star stickers ended up being something they enjoyed, just as I’m sure little comments and tidbits of motivation are, a smile, or a nod of encouragement. But it can also be a negative experience they notice - every eye roll, unhappy face beside a poor mark, every time we neglect to make time for them and their questions.
Anything I can do to make my classroom a happier place for my students, no matter how trivial, I will try. Effective immediately, not only will I go back to using stickers to celebrate success, but I’ll also try harder to deliver as many smiles and messages of encouragement as I can. Because even if they don’t respond, they’ll notice.
What little things do you do in the classroom for your students?
And the majority of the students never did or said anything about the stickers, at least that I could see. Sure it was fun (from my point of view), but was it making any kind of a difference in the classroom?
I stopped doing it earlier this year when I went to mark a bunch of assignments at home and had inadvertently left my star stickers at school. It was such a little thing, that I didn’t think it would be noticed. And it wasn’t. I handed back the assignments and not a single student asked why there were no stars.
So the practice fell to the wayside. It’s funny how quickly you can fall out of a little habit like that when there are a dozen things on the go at once. And over time, like I said, I had forgotten that I had even done it in the first place.
Until the other day, when one of my students asked out of the blue if I still gave out star stickers.
“Do you remember that?” he said to another one of the boys at the table.
“I loved those stickers! They were the best!” the second boy replied.
“Wait, you guys used to get stickers? I want stickers too!” said a third, who had never had me as a teacher. “Why don’t we get stickers?”
(Aside: who knew grade 12 boys were so into stickers?)
This made me realize something important - no matter what we do in the classroom, the students notice. Every little act, gesture, comment; even if they don’t acknowledge that you do it, they notice. This can be a good thing - those little star stickers ended up being something they enjoyed, just as I’m sure little comments and tidbits of motivation are, a smile, or a nod of encouragement. But it can also be a negative experience they notice - every eye roll, unhappy face beside a poor mark, every time we neglect to make time for them and their questions.
Anything I can do to make my classroom a happier place for my students, no matter how trivial, I will try. Effective immediately, not only will I go back to using stickers to celebrate success, but I’ll also try harder to deliver as many smiles and messages of encouragement as I can. Because even if they don’t respond, they’ll notice.
What little things do you do in the classroom for your students?
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