Healthy Competition

This might be a controversial topic, but my day in the classroom today makes me want to talk about it.

I believe that it is good for kids to experience some classroom competitions, even though it means that some kids will lose.

Today I did a project where every group was given a portion of the textbook to read, and then they had to do a poster representing their given reading. Then the four kids in the group stood in the front of the class, and the rest of the class voted for their favorite poster of the four. The winning poster from each team will be up for a week, and the others will be sent home.

I had students who were upset about losing, (it is only 2nd grade), and were crying that theirs wasn't picked.

Although I obviously felt bad for those students who were bummed that theirs was not chosen, I also felt that it was a learning experience. Not everyone wins...

I have seen many times where there is a competition, but at the end they say the kids are all winners, and there are no losers. This is done to shelter the kids, and to help boost self esteem, but does it really help them? In the long run, wouldn't it be better to start teaching them how to deal appropriately with both winning and losing?

Imagine a world where we keep the kid sheltered attitude throughout life.

We go for a job interview, and they decide that everyone gets the job!
You go to an audition for a part in the play and they say everyone gets the lead!
We stop keeping score in baseball, football, and all other sports, and instead declare every game a tie!

It would be ridiculous!

Also, while making everyone winners is supposed to make the kids feel good, most kids aren't fooled. The joy of winning doesn't exist when everyone wins, and for every child that was upset about losing in my class, there was another child whose face beamed with pride that theirs was picked. For every race that one child loses, another child can feel proud that they won. For every soccer game one team loses, the other teams feels the sweet taste of victory.

If you eliminate competitions, the sour, bitter edge of losing is gone, but so is the great feeling of accomplishment from winning.

Until I am told I can't anymore, I will continue to expose my class to competitions, and try to teach them how its a part of life that some will win and some will lose, and hope that each time the kids mature through the process.

Why I prefer Class Cards to Popsicle Sticks

Buy the book - Class Cards

My first experience with class cards was from a Rick Morris presentation. (He has many useful tips and tools, and I am sure more of his great ideas will show up on here later). He introduced the idea, and I have sworn by it since I started student teaching.

At its simplest, class cards is a deck of playing cards, with each card labeled with the name of one student (top and bottom).

This deck will become one of your best tools.

Have you ever had that moment where you can pick one kid to do something special, maybe do an experiment, or help you with something special (that doesn't fall under your regular class jobs), and all you see is tons of hands and you have no idea how to do it fairly?

If you are like me, if required to be done without assistance, you choose a model student. But don't they get picked a lot?

These cards can help. You shuffle your deck (of however many students you have) and pick one. You can feel confident that it truly was completely random, and the kids know that you aren't playing favorites.

Okay, another scenario for you, you simply ask a question that you want someone in the class to answer, because you have just been teaching the lesson. You could call on one of the many bright outgoing students who are desperately raising their hand to get your attention, or you could call on someone who is obviously out in space and has no idea what you are talking about, but you really just want to see if random kids in the class understand it. Pick up your deck of cards. I usually take the top one, and then call on them.

The nice thing about the deck of cards here is that if that student knew the answer, you can go to the next card, and ask another question. If they didn't know, put the card not at the bottom of the pile, but a few from the top, so they will get called on again shortly.

Now, I know what you are thinking, you are wondering why my post talks about why the cards are better than Popsicle sticks, and so far I am not convincing you. Yes, for both applications above, picking up a popsicle stick will work just as well.

The #1 reason why I don't like the sticks is portability. A deck of cards, I can easily carry with my teacher guide, or reading book, or any other thing I need while teaching. I can pick cards and put them back with one hand. With popsicle sticks I have to carry my jar, and then put the sticks somewhere after I use them.

The 2nd reason I don't like using sticks is that when we are doing group reading, I want to be able to keep giving turns, but in a way so that I know everyone gets a turn before we start again, and it is even spacing. So... I use my deck, I shuffle it once before we start, and then I go through it as many times as I need during that lesson.

If we need to vote on something, I use these cards. I call on the students in the order of the cards, and then I put them in piles based on their answer. It helps me decide which movie to watch during a rainy day, or to use student answers to build a class graph.

If kids are absent, I make their cards "wild." In other words, I am letting kids tell me what they would do if they were on the Mayflower. I am calling on students from my cards, and then I come across Suzie's card, and Suzie is absent, I will say, "wild" and then students are allowed to raise their hand to be called on.

For the record, I occasionally do have class activities where I don't use the cards. Sometimes kids like to be called on because they know it, not just randomly.

When you want the kids in groups, and the grouping doesn't matter (I group sometimes based on interests or academic ability as the case dictates), shuffle the cards, deal them into decks, and there are your groups. You want a class competition? Instead of boy/girl, deal the deck in two piles, and then tell the kids what team they are on. It keeps it interesting.

I hope I have given some useful tips for how to use class cards, and I think you will find that they are much better than sticks. If you have additional ideas on how to use these cards, please comment below.

Visit Rick Morris' website here