Today I had the pleasure of attending my oldest son’s award ceremony for the third and fourth grade classes at his school. After being there just a short time I realized not all the students would be receiving an award for their efforts in the classroom. I panicked a little at the thought of my son not having his named called and walking up on stage. It turns out invitations were sent out to all the parents of the children who were receiving an award. Well I didn’t get one but not because he wasn’t getting acknowledge, but because my dear son didn’t give me the invitation. Well anyway this prompted me to think about the other children sitting there not getting their names called. I felt really uneasy. Surly they put forth effort to earn their grades and improve over the first two quarters. I’m not certain that the rule of not giving every student something is really the right way to motivate improvement in our students. One of the facilitators said that these awards wouldn’t be special if everyone got one. I don’t agree. I feel every child should be rewarded through acknowledgement and if it takes the form of an award ceremony so be it. Each teacher I’m sure can come up with at least one positive attribute of every child in his or her class and recognize it with a certificate.
My boys currently go to the public school in our neighborhood and due to severe budget cuts for next year a lot of things will have to be done away with. Since there is so much that is being taken away from our students, would it hurt to print a certificate with every child’s name on it to encourage growth and development? That one certificate could be all the difference in a student’s confidence and propel them to bigger and greater accomplishments. The administration has no idea what is going on in the homes of some of these children, maybe there are some students who don’t get nurtured or encouraged at home and look to school for those praises. It is a true shame that our academic institutions have become so cut throat even in the third and fourth grade.
oh wow that is really sad. my heart is kind of hurting for the poor kids who sat there, feeling very left out. if they weren't going to award every kid, they could have just had an evening ceremony that only the awardees and their parents came to. seems unecessarily mean.
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