This week I am very honored to receive this award – Attitude of Gratitude from Denise of WAHM-Articles

Denise has helped me a lot in getting me interested in article writing and introducing me to many wonderful people in the blog sphere.

When I began blogging on my own domain in 2008 I was rather new to community building and establishing my online presence. Denise was one of the person that I was following to learn how to network and increase traffic to my site.

I won many great prizes from posting at her forums and taking part in her competitions at WAHM-Articles. I learned about e-book marketing through participating in her “Saving Christmas E-book”.

I have yet to really “explode ” myself online through the launch of my own e-book and really hope to be able to do it by December this year.

I’m still learning as I go along in the blogsphere and have a lot to learn about the in and out of blogging. It is not as easy as it seems and there is still a long path for me to go one to become a successful blogger.

April 10, 2009

Motivating Kids in the Classroom

Dominique Parenting Views Classroom, Kids and Teens

Since returning to the classroom I have met a wide variety of kids from various social and economic background. There are 42 students in my form class ( a big class with lots of kids to handle). Each one of them has their own unique character and quirks. Every single day handling their misbehaviour and challenges is really very exhausting. It is really a challenge to be able to give adequate attention to each and every student PLUS complete the syllabus within the given 10 weeks time frame per term.

What I observe these few months is a lot of the kids in my class lack motivation. I have tried out a few techniques and am fine tuning the ones that work in my class.

Here is a list of what I have implemented to motivate them.

Ice-Cream Groups
(Fostering team spirit)Every kid has a soft spot for ice-cream. Naming the group by the yummy flavours – Vanilla, Chocolate, Strawberry, Mango etc is more refreshing then referring to the normal colour groups.An additional bonus is that the groups can accumulate stars for good behaviour, positive work attitude etc. Groups with the most number of stars will be treated to a pint or two of Ben & Jerry ice- cream at the end of the semester. [This is something that the kids are eagerly anticipating]
Red Rewards System ( individually tailored)
To motivate my classroom kids to aim for academic excellence. I have set aside these prizes for the following kids.

Position Prizes

1^st in both English & Science Up to $30

2^nd in English Up to $20

2^nd in Science Up to $10

Most improved student Up to $10

The prizes purchased for the winners will be based on his/her preference after results are released at the end of the semester. This is to give the kid a say in deciding the prize that he would like to receive.