'Star of the day' system for yr 1 - RANT (apologies)

[ipanemabunny]

My ds is in an ELS group of about 6 or 7 children.
The 'Star of the Day' award is clearly for the child who has been the quietest and has sat the most still and not made a sound etc.
My ds is never going to be a mouse or a statue. He is a normally active and excited boy - I'm so sick of the messages he gets that the meek, quiet, pliable, compliant get festooned with awards!
Of course those children should be rewarded (and I'm sure they're EASIER TO TEACH...) but what about other qualities that enable communication and language like confidence? vocabulary? general verbal skills? expressiveness? passion? imagination? sense of humour? narrative skills? acting skills? musical skills? creativity?????? Shouldn't they get some room for praise too?
This is not the USSR or China - we don't want to just breed drones do we????
Awards should not be set higher than a child can achieve and they should vary in what they reward shouldn't they????
My ds was in tears last night saying "it's too hard, I can't do it, I'm not going to get a shiny pencil - wailing and sobbing"

I largely agree with you shimmy21, it's just that our present system does not address the significant differences between boys and girls. I think the present system favours girls overall. Do you disagree?
There are people who argue that boys and girls should be educated separately up to a certain point to accommodate their different needs. That boys should really have far more physical activity without the emphasis for sitting still so much.
No poster here has fuller addressed those physiological differences and how they should perhaps more fairly be catered for.
I know some people say that girls improve boys educational attainment but I don't know if that's in early primary - I suspect it's later. I'm no expert - I'm just judging from what I see and read inexpertly.
If I ran the world and could work on gut instinct I would have my ds in an all-boys, outwardbound school staffed by a majority of men, dominated by physical activity and where learning was more active. I think the learning groups should be age-mixed as well. I would have them sitting still at the end of the day but with much more drama and narrative etc. I would have learning from older boys everyday, handwriting etc. I would be far less bothered by literacy attainment and far more bothered by self-confidence and social ease. Let the literacy be built on stronger shoulders.
I would increase their sedentary education as it suited them better i.e. later,and then mix them in with girls.
But I am not king of the world and can't afford one of those private outward bound schools! Also I know those wouldn't suit all boys but I know my boy would LOVE a school like that. He needs more men in his education but what can you do?

I like twiglet's hand tattoo idea (Listen & Don't Talk) I make quite a lot of cue cards at the junior school I work at, not just for the children in the ASD resource, but for some of those in mainstream who have problems sitting still, remembering to put their hand up, not talking etc. It does help them to remember if they have a visual aid of this kind - I usually take a picture of them modelling the behaviour we want to encourage, and they love having their picture on their special card.

I haven't read the whole thread but I totally agree with you ipanemabunny.

All you can do is make sure he knows that you don't hold to much store by these rewards necessarily and that there are plenty of other important things he's doing well at.

I have very many similar irritations about school. Our kids are being taught to sit and wait.

Blimey, mine aren't. A Class Assembly at DD1's school has me thinking fond thoughts of Victorian strictures. And no uniform. Clearly a sink of depravity among the well-conducted academies of South London.

shouldbedoingsomethingelse - that makes me so cross, too! My 2 boys have always had a great attitude to school, yet the 'prizes' would be awarded for such things as 'X went a whole day without hitting anyone...'
Grrrr....

I do feel for you. At DS's pre-school the teachers seem to be looking out for everything they can reward - good work in letters book, helping new children settle in, joining in enthusiastically - and everyone seems to get something. That's the way it should be.

Fortyplus - We have had that too. its doesnt give the incentive for the "good" ones to stay good does it?

If I could live my life over again I'd Home Educate!

if it's any consolation, as DD's school (she's in Y1) it seems to be the noisy, exuberant, dare I say agressive boys who continually get the reward stickers and certificates - the belief is that it takes more effort for them to sit obediently when the teacher is talking for 5 minutes than it takes a lot of the more "obedient" girls in the class, therefore these boys need to be rewarded. I agree that their efforts should be recognised but I am also outraged that the children who behave well all the time at school are permanently overlooked as it is felt they don't need encouragement. My DD has often said she should be naughty like X as he gets the certificates and she doesn't! It's just a question of balance - all kids need encouragement from teachers and they should be rewarded for different things. This is NOT a criticism of your DS - am in total agreement that he is developing other skills necessary for life and I hate this whole obsession with sitting on the carpet quietly mentality....all I'm saying is that at DD's school they have gone to the opposite extreme with rewards and this is no better!

Mine are older now, but the reward system still seems odd. ds2 is in yr7 and had to get together with a partner to build a motte & bailey castle. I told him he should ask the other child which part he would like to build - the castle or the base. Other child chose the base so they agreed the dimensions and ds2 had to build the castle. It took him several hours and it did look great - he painted it and then drew on the details. On the day that they brought their handiwork in to their history class ds2 was pretty devastated that his partner just brought in a square of cardboard painted green.

Bizarrely, the history teacher gave out 'Head Teacher commendations' to each pair, so ds2 and his partner both got one. ds2 was pretty indignant about that!

It does seem that the "carrot" approach to behaviour management has some pretty severe flaws in practice - especially disincentivising those whose behaviour is by nature more "acceptable", or leaving some children to get on with things without singling out their strengths in other areas.

As things stand the accepted norm is that carpet time is the way for the teacher to communicate directly with the class and that for it to be productive there is an accepted norm of behaviour - ie shut up and listen. Whether this method of teaching is working for boys is a moot point, but whilst it is the accepted method of teaching, boys (and girls) are going to have to learn to live with it, and that means learning to sit still and listen when appropriate.

I'm with shimmy on this one. It's interesting that no-one else seems to see beyond the individual. Dare I say that it's a reflection of our increasingly egoistic culture? In a classroom the behaviour of each child influences every other child's learning environment. And that while the teaching methods necessitate sitting still and paying attention, to encourage (either by design or ommission) any other type of behaviour acts against the interests of the class as a whole, as well as against the interests of the individual.

I think another problem is when teachers have so much they have to teach young children, they havent time to work with the individual learning styles of each child.

Im lucky with DDs school, its tiny, and their sticker system is awarded individually for a variety of things. Each week they have "achievers of the week", DD has had certificates for "Great illustrations" and "lovely dancing".

I know she doesnt sit still on the carpet, Ive watched her out of the corner of my eye when Im reading with others!

Some teachers seem better able to cope with the "individuals" who dont sit meekly, others dont. A lot of the children I see that are referred by Drs as dyspraxic, are very mild, and would actually do fine in school if the staff were just more tolerant of their individuality (sorry for the overuse of that word!)

A lot of fidgety children are actually trying desperately to stay focused - if they didnt fidget, they would start to drift. This isnt abnormal - think how many of us need a drink, snack, chewing gum, pencil end etc while concentrating. Research in America has shown that chewing gum actually improves concentration, but can you see Britsh schools allowing gum in class?

DD1 was in trouble last week for chewing gum. Except she wasn't - she has small elastic bands on her braces. Which she showed the teacher, who said 'If I catch you chewing gum you will be in trouble'. Sorry, I hate schemes which don't let all small children get rewarded - all get sports day medals now after a teacher's son went hysterical. I wonder if teachers without children appreciate the angst of these schemes. And I hope he gets a shiny pencil soon.

I'd suggest the OP read "Punished by Rewards" by Alfie Kohn. You'll think about star charts in a very different and rather sinister light.

Yes I second that.