Reply to Silver Spring's Eastern Middle School gets slammed for rewarding good students

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]pp here... Also want to add that the schools give WAAAY too many rewards these days as it is. The kids don't need freakin' rewards for everything. It starts in kindergarten with stickers and lollipops and then goes on with all kinds of convoluted reward systems that see the teachers having to spend their own money on things (even if they're from the dollar store, they add up!)

Why is getting straight As not considered a reward in itself? The achievement is the reward. I think we do the kids a disservice to suggest anything else. I think we'll also see problems with this in society in the future as this generation becomes adults who expect every little achievement to have a material reward. (I've already heard from a high school teacher how when he tells a student they did a good job, they say "what do i get?")[/quote]

+1000. I really don't see any benefit to these rewards/bribes and I can see a huge potential for harm to kids who are working their butts off but will never reach that elusive straight A award.[/quote]

As the parent of an Eastern magnet student who does get straight As, I don't like the focus on straight A's.  I think one of the really unhealthy things for gifted kids (or any kid) is a focus on perfection.  Gifted kids are often perfectionists themselves and don't really need or benefit from additional pressure in this regard.  For a long time the straight A students were just given a certificate as an award.  My child was fine with that.  It was a way of honoring the student without being divisive by offering treats to the few and exclusion from events to the many.  As the parent of a straight A student, I would prefer to see an emphasis on improvement at any level, combined with recognition (but not rewards) to students at a variety of different levels (B average, A average, etc.)  IMO, moving your average from a D to a B deserves at least as much recognition as getting straight As.  Having a B+ average while playing the highest level of travel soccer is as much an accomplishment as a kid who does nothing but study and gets straight As.

There is a lack of imagination and sensitivity in the school administration as to how to deal with this issue in a productive way.  I have always thought that the substance of the magnet program is fairly good, but that the teachers have very little socio-emotional understanding about how to motivate kids in ways other than by using fear and shame.  [/quote]

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