Properly seeding a positive culture
Oct. 24th, 2016 12:30 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
I'll admit it up front, this is a pat-myself-on-the back post, but I'm proud of what happened this week. I feel like actions I intentionally took in the past help seed a positive culture, and the path from point A to C had to go through B. I think helping people live in a positive and supportive culture is the best thing we can do for our country and the world.
I'm proud that one of my kids at Santa Maria gave $0.50 of "free book" money to another kid who was more of an acquaintance than a friend, asking nothing in return. For some students, this altruism might have happened without help, but I don't think it would have for this particular kid.
At Santa Maria about 4 years ago I started doing the Scholastic Book club with the students. In exchange for good attendance, they were given $7/month in free book money to spend. If they were absent on book order day, it rolled over to the next month, and if there wasn't a book they wanted, or one that was more expensive than $7, they could "save up" the money for the following month.
Other than that, I had a "use it or lose it" policy. Kids could spend $6 on a book they wanted, but couldn't save the extra $1. They could give it to another student, however. Kids would frequently work together to get the books they wanted, and I remember the look of absolute joy I saw on a 1st grader's face when she was able to give $1 away to an older student to help him get the book he wanted.
Letting students earn something of value that they had control over was one of my goals (in addition to the math practice of buying books you can afford and having the experience of promises kept over a span of weeks; I've mailed books to kids who have moved away.) I wanted a culture of sharing as well as a culture of saving.
The use it or lose it policy helped develop a culture of sharing. Some students arguably abused it by finding out who had leftovers and asking for it, sometimes getting up to $5 from others. Others routinely gave half or more of their money away, but did so with pride.
Once the culture was in place, I updated my spreadsheets to allow kids to save-up partial amounts, starting last year. I wondered what would happen to the culture of sharing? The older students still routinely share, and the younger ones are learning it's possible. And that student who frequently received $5 from others? She gave $0.50 away this month. With pride.
I'm proud that one of my kids at Santa Maria gave $0.50 of "free book" money to another kid who was more of an acquaintance than a friend, asking nothing in return. For some students, this altruism might have happened without help, but I don't think it would have for this particular kid.
At Santa Maria about 4 years ago I started doing the Scholastic Book club with the students. In exchange for good attendance, they were given $7/month in free book money to spend. If they were absent on book order day, it rolled over to the next month, and if there wasn't a book they wanted, or one that was more expensive than $7, they could "save up" the money for the following month.
Other than that, I had a "use it or lose it" policy. Kids could spend $6 on a book they wanted, but couldn't save the extra $1. They could give it to another student, however. Kids would frequently work together to get the books they wanted, and I remember the look of absolute joy I saw on a 1st grader's face when she was able to give $1 away to an older student to help him get the book he wanted.
Letting students earn something of value that they had control over was one of my goals (in addition to the math practice of buying books you can afford and having the experience of promises kept over a span of weeks; I've mailed books to kids who have moved away.) I wanted a culture of sharing as well as a culture of saving.
The use it or lose it policy helped develop a culture of sharing. Some students arguably abused it by finding out who had leftovers and asking for it, sometimes getting up to $5 from others. Others routinely gave half or more of their money away, but did so with pride.
Once the culture was in place, I updated my spreadsheets to allow kids to save-up partial amounts, starting last year. I wondered what would happen to the culture of sharing? The older students still routinely share, and the younger ones are learning it's possible. And that student who frequently received $5 from others? She gave $0.50 away this month. With pride.