Yesterday I had my class of 12-year-olds for the last time. I wanted to play a historical game with them and I had (painstakingly I might add) created a game of cards for them to play.
Most of them loved it, but a group of five kids could not have cared less. It’s not the caring less that bugged me as it’s very hard for the kids to concentrate during the last week of school when all their teachers could care less too, but the fact that they destroyed the cards I had so lovingly made. I arranged a date with detention for them. Tomorrow after two they will report to me and I will give them an asignment to complete while in detention. But I’m wondering what kind of asignment I should give them. Make them write the same sentence over and over again as is currently the rage in school? Or help them prepare for a test for which I know they won’t study on their own so this dentention could be all the studying they would do for this?
The first would be double punishment: take away their free time and make them do a crappy asingment, but it’s not very constructive.
The last would be a punishment that could turn out to be a reward when they perform better on their test then they would have done otherwise. Maybe it’s too constructive…
I’ll think of something tonight I hope…
