Kids are jerks, but help me give them prizes
Recently, I've managed to get Mario Teaches Typing on DOSBox and run a cute little preferences file that automagically mounts and starts the program... and install this on all the laptops at one of my schools. A couple of the teachers have taken to teaching their classes how to type using the game.
Awesome.
Some kids asked if there would be prizes for the fastest typist. This is a great idea. They're seventh grades.
What I'd like to do is have some sort of flash drive I can give the fastest typist with a game installer on it - minecraft would be perfect, but half the kids in the class already have it. Bastion would also be awesome, but I can't even evaluate standalone installers that can be run from a flash drive without first paying for the software (much as I love SuperGiant games, I've already bought three copies of Bastion!).
What other things can I put on a flash drive that kids would like?
Also, re:title - I asked the class who played minecraft in order to get a poll - then mentioned to one of the teachers that I would have chosen that for a prize if kids didn't already have it. One of the students heard and busted out "that's not a good enough prize! So cheap! Why not an iPad or something?" Spoiled little $#!&.
Awesome.
Some kids asked if there would be prizes for the fastest typist. This is a great idea. They're seventh grades.
What I'd like to do is have some sort of flash drive I can give the fastest typist with a game installer on it - minecraft would be perfect, but half the kids in the class already have it. Bastion would also be awesome, but I can't even evaluate standalone installers that can be run from a flash drive without first paying for the software (much as I love SuperGiant games, I've already bought three copies of Bastion!).
What other things can I put on a flash drive that kids would like?
Also, re:title - I asked the class who played minecraft in order to get a poll - then mentioned to one of the teachers that I would have chosen that for a prize if kids didn't already have it. One of the students heard and busted out "that's not a good enough prize! So cheap! Why not an iPad or something?" Spoiled little $#!&.
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Comments
As for prizes I agree with the gold star method, kids in my first grade class pummeled each other for the opportunity to get a gold star next to their name. In 4th grade kids bragged about the stickers they got on their homework and the kids I worked with (6th grade) genuinely worked hard in class because it came with the promise of a tesla coil demonstration at the end of the year. (They really loved my electricity presentations and the chance to see my uncles tesla coil in real life as opposed to a video got them all really motivated.)
@Canti: I had typing class in 6th, 8th, 10th, and 11th grade. Though that was of course a handful of years ago, and I did choose to have it myself.
Maybe have someone who is really good at typing do a 'race' with the class to show what better typing skills can do?
As for the intrinsic vs extrinsic motivation statements, it doesn't sound like folks have the full picture: Kids have to have an intrinsic locus of control before intrinsic motivation sets in. Kids with extrinsic locuses (loci?) of control tend to suck at school and see all work as chores. One accepted method of solving this problem is to offer small extrinsic rewards, almost too small to matter. Kids with intrinsic locuses of control should experience only small undermining of their intrinsic motivation (this is the often-quoted "overjustification effect," and it's what Tushon is talking about), kids with external locuses of control, meanwhile, will have more intrinsic motivation than before if a small extrinsic reward is offered for a few times.
tl;dr, if you already are intrinsically motivated, rewards make the task suck. If you have no interest in the task, rewards make you more INTERNALLY interested the next time you do the task; but only if they're small... so I shouldn't use a flash drive with video games. Too big.
Meanwhile, does anyone have any good ideas for prizes?
Before there is any question on why kids do or do not already have the intrinsic motivation, ask their parents... You'll figure it out real quick.
@Myrmidon I think the leaderboard is a winner in my book. If you wanted to put a tangible factor onto it to further motivated, look into (cheap) trophies for the end of the year (unit). You could do certificates for the rest of the completing students.
Kudos to the acknowledgement of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, too
Funny, my first typing class was my freshmen year in high school ('94).
2) Certificates aren't a bad idea, but most students will just toss it.
Are you able to have music going in the classroom or something? Maybe let the students pick out the tracks, but winners get more tracks they can pick out. Or something like that. Something that's creative, mostly intangible, doesn't leave anyone out, but gives them something to work for. A feeling of control is a huge reward. Maybe use tickets. I seem to remember people really like getting tickets for achieving things, especially when they can use those tickets for stuff later.
Way out in Front - hit 100 wpm for over 25 seconds
So Close it Hurts - take second place on the leaderboard 3 times
http://www.pocketshot.net/
It is not about how well they do but the effort put in. This is the same reason why racing to the finish also gives half-assed results despite the student getting done first.
Kids are not black and white. They don't need praise for some things, do need it for others, and behavior can be shaped based on teacher reactions. That's one reason people study psychology - so we don't have to make silly black and white assumptions about what 'builds character' based on the single growing-up experience that we had ourselves. We can analyze scientific data and make smarter teaching choices.
So, I've built a leaderboard for these kids, but it occurred to me - I'm actually not sure how to run these achievements, short of WATCHING the kid do stuff (and it's a class of about 30 kids). Like, I think Thrax's backspwhat is hilarious, but hmm, how to tell...
This is a shortcoming of my own; I have NO IDEA how to program a script to run in the background and listen for keyboard interrupts. See how I am?