Devised Play

Last Thursday night I stayed after school to do some work, get dinner with another teacher, and go to the school play. This year they did something new — a devised play. The students that were in the cast were given a theme and tasked with writing the play themselves. The result was a series of skits that all tied together by the common theme that was assigned: change.

I loved it! I laughed and cried and saw some of my students in a new light. I was impressed with the depth of some of the issues they addressed. From the hypocrisy of religion to its true meaning, cancer and the concept of our mortality, and the shallow nature as well as the (sometimes unnoticed) compassion of humanity.

There was a scene put to music without any dialogue that really touched me. It was a montage of the life of a man that lead to his homelessness. It showed him being picked up, walked with, then abandoned, pushed down, ignored, and finally looked down upon.

It was by far one of the best plays I’ve seen and I was so proud of all the hard work and heart that went into it. I was sure to tell the students I had in class the next day to go see it. I also made sure to express how much I enjoyed the play to the students who were a part of it. They all seemed very happy to hear that I came to watch.

“What do I get?”

Earlier this week at the end of a class period, I had my personal finance students read about two people who were saving for their retirement. One saved $2,000 a year between the ages of 22 and 33, and the other saved $2,000 a year between the ages of 34 and 65. My students were supposed to predict who they thought would end up with more money once they retired. The next day, I asked who they predicted. Only 2 students predicted the first person would end up with more, while the rest of the students predicted the second person would. Once they looked at the numbers in the chart on the next page, clearly showing the 2 students who had chosen the first person were correct, one of those students asked me “what do I get?” For a split second I was wondering what he was talking about, but then I realized that he wanted some kind of reward for getting it right. My response was “a high-five” and I held my hand up. He made no move to reciprocate, and indicated he had no interest in my high-five. I walked a few feet over to the other student who got the answer correct and offered him a high-five. He took it.

I reflected on this later in the day and was torn between feeling amused and disappointed. Since when do kids feel like they need to be bribed to learn? Is the simple knowledge that they figured something out when most of their classmates did not, not enough? Why did this student feel like I should have given him something material as a reward? I had no doubt he was expecting something along the lines of candy or bonus points, as those are the most common things my students seem to want these days. Has it always been this way? I don’t remember expecting a reward for getting something right in class when I was in high school. But was that just me? The student I am talking about is a good student, too. He gets good grades and does his work without me having to help keep him focused, unlike some of his classmates. Is pride in yourself for doing well not enough anymore?