When you get bored, hide your money.

Yesterday’s story was a real yawner. Seriously, just about all of us yawned at least once. It wasn’t that it was especially boring (though admittedly, it wasn’t particularly interesting either), or that we were all unusually tired (though I actually was). The real reason for the yawning outbreak was that the story was about the contagiousness of yawns (and it seems to be true, because I just yawned while typing that). I printed out pictures of yawing people and animals that I found on the internet. Before reading the story, I challenged each of the students to look at his picture for 30 seconds without yawning. I think about half of them were able to do it. I thought this would be a fun, kinesthetic way for them to get the main idea of the story. They definitely got it, but it didn’t really turn out to be as fun as I’d hoped. They got bored (which may or may not have prompted some more yawning) and then they got a little restless.

Speaking of restlessness, these men can get rowdy. Generally, I enjoy their enthusiasm. Who wouldn’t love a student who wants to answer a question so badly that he just about falls out of his seat? But sometimes the speaking out of turn/over someone else/all at once, side conversations, teasing, giggling, etc. can get a little out of hand.

Agatha* uses an interesting class management tool: Monopoly money. When the students come into class, she gives them each two “dollars.” If they’re late, she immediately takes one back. They can earn extra “money” with really outstanding answers/participation. They can lose money for being disruptive, speaking in Arabic, and coming back from the break late. If she asks for volunteers/answers and nobody is jumping at the opportunity, she encourages participation by offering a dollar. At the end of class, they turn back in all their dollars. In exchange they get… nothing.

via thecampuscompanion.com

Before I saw this system in action, I had my doubts about how well it would work. I mean, these are adults! Will they really be motivated by fake money – fake money that doesn’t even buy them anything? Surely not, I thought. Well, I thought wrong. They LOVE it. Whenever they’re given a dollar, they try to wheedle Agatha into giving them more (usually four – I’m not sure why that’s the magic number). They police their friends, calling them out for speaking Arabic or arriving late. They try (very fervently) to answer her questions, even when they don’t have a clue. They just seem to have fun with it. Case in point: Agatha taught the first half of class yesterday, so I was sitting among the students. Sharif* was sitting next to me. When he got up to leave for the break, he looked at me, then he looked at his stash of dollars, then he snatched them up, ran across the room, “hid” them under the overhead projector, winked at me, then walked out.

*Names have been changed to protect the innocent.