Feb

4

What Mark Do You Want in This Class? Ok, Sign Here

Filed Under "At-risk" students, Behaviour Management, Engaging Assignments and Activities for Students, Evaluation, Special Education 

Contract I really like Todd’s grade contract because it gives kids hope and the feeling of being having some control of their lives. Reading Todd’s post reminded me of something that I had done early in my teaching career. At that time , I was teaching grades nine to twelve at a vocational secondary school. As a special education teacher with a specialist in behaviour, I was assigned to help students who got kicked out of their regular classes and were timetabled to work with me to help rescue their credits. I found that I had the best results when I would get students to contract for a mark that they wanted. I had students sign a very formal looking contract printed on special paper with all the expectations outlined in detail. For an A, I will complete …, For a B, I will complete… etc. I found students responded very well -remember all things are relative- they didn’t tell me to f*** off when I introduced the contract. I told them they didn’t need to worry about getting anything more than a D, (this took them by surprise) although their final mark could be an A, B, C or D. They couldn’t contract for less than a D. Failure was not an option. I know we’re supposed to aim high, but high for these kids was a pass.

I had it set up so that for a D, the student would have to meet the minimum expectations for that course. The expectations rose as did the mark. Not surprisingly, most students would contract for the minimum D. But as they became more successful , they would ask to renegotiate the contract for a higher final mark. My department head at that time told me to create assignments that were totally different from those in the regular classroom. He said it was important the assignments be different so that the students wouldn’t be reminded of their failure in the regular classroom. I vaguely remember one assignment that I created for a student that had him plan a trip to Florida over March break with his friends. He had to determine the cost of the trip and show the route they would take. It was a good basic math exercise because he had to determine the cost of going from Oakville, Ontario to some place in Florida – Fort Lauderdale I think. I can’t remember exactly where. But, he had to determine the cost of getting there by car or plane, the cost of his over night stays, the cost of his food, entertainment etc. He also had to find out the average temperature and rain fall at his destination and plan an appropriate wardrobe to take along. I can still see him sitting at a table with his tough macho exterior colouring a map and highlighting his route while telling me he and his friends would sleep in the car or on the beach so they could save money for lots of beer and still stay within his budget.

Working with those students was a real eye opener. Remember that was early in my career. Now after all these years and after teaching young offenders in open and closed custody facilities, my eyes are wide open. Nothing, absolutely nothing surprises or shocks me anymore.

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