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Home > Middle School Matters > MSM #73 - Award Award Assembly Conundrum!
Podcast: Middle School Matters
Episode:

MSM #73 - Award Award Assembly Conundrum!
Category: Education
Duration: 00:56:44
Publish Date: 2009-04-25 14:31:02
Description: All of this and more! From the Twitterverse: * michelledodd Have you seen Twitter Handbook for Teachers by @lasic? http://bit.ly/Z8a70 (via @elemtech)@suewaters * russeltarr A must watch on How Moodle can change a school http://bit.ly/RE0fk (RT @Ariellah) * AngelaMaiers RT @ChrisCree A wise person learns from all others. This is why I LOVE Twitter- 24/7 "wiseness" training! :-)) * russeltarr Glogster tutorial on Youtube (RT @Batesy70) http://twurl.nl/ywiouj * schoolwise Now in Boston & writing an examiner.com piece on local Science in the Summer program for elementary kids. * davemcquaid going on right now - community yard sale in Ashby Park neighborhood. Great deals! map - http://tinyurl.com/c5b8js * michelledodd RT @jennyann24 Tom Barretts Teachers on Twitter "Twenty-Two Interesting Ways to use Twitter in the Classroom" - http://bit.ly/7pX0 * annemareemoore Ted Talks wiki - searchable google spreadsheet of Ted Talks http://www.ted.com/index.ph... * jessrisser We had Anzac cookies at our JASCD conference! Happy Anzac Day!!! * annemareemoore secrets of success in 3 minutes http://www.ted.com/index.ph... * sarahhanawald If Edison had tried to develop light bulb in school, he wld have been labeled a failure after first 50 filament failures http://bit.ly/4i4Ke * ChiefCatalyst RT @amp451: Persistence is the twin sister of excellence. One is a matter of quality; the other, a matter of time. - M. Morgan #quote * scottmerrick Life is good. I am sooooo thankful for my PLN folks, and I want to say so. So there. * cfanch good night PLN. Learned a lot tonight and had fun. See you tomorrow. Observation #1: At an awards assembly in a 5-8 middle school, the principal asked the 300+ student body to hold up and wave any awards they had received during the presentation. As I glanced around the bleachers, it seemed that everyone had something to show for their accomplishments. But I wonder if this is too much. If everyone is rewarded, how effective an incentive can recognition be? At college graduation ceremonies, academic excellence awards such as Cum Laude, Magna Cum Laude and Summa Cum Laude are marked individually with sashes or cords of various colors. And you don't tend to see the entire graduating body displaying this accomplishment. And yet, they have all met the undeniably outstanding goal of a college education. They are beaming with self-esteem regardless of whether they were displaying the adornments of high academic success. If we are truly preparing students with authentic content and experiences, shouldn't we be clear on the reality that everyone does not earn honors, an award, or a certificate for doing what is already expected of them as students? Every single child is a winner just by virtue of them learning both academic content and life skills as they attend school each and every day throughout the school year. Shouldn't we be stressing self-management and recognition of worth instead of tying it so heavily to extrinsic displays of pomp and circumstance? Observation #2: Following streams of students receiving one certificate after another, I would have expected to see recognition for a teacher's success as well. From the students' view, one would believe that teachers are neither striving for nor attaining success on a regular basis in their own lives. Yet, how many teachers during a marking period or school year attend seminars and workshops or pursue ongoing academic fulfillment in graduate courses? If we are acting as role models to our students, don't we need to do a better job reflecting our commitment to ongoing education and love of learning? What role does our school administration have in this process?
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