Hogwarts System

Harry Potter series have always amazed me. I liked the idea where immediate points would be given to the four houses should its members had merits done. I wished I went to Hogwarts and from answering questions to good manners, I could get points. That would be cool, as a student....which then got me into thinking...hmmm What if i did so in my classroom? Divide the class into 4, and have them compete all year long, and when finals are over, the winning team gets a hamper. I could use only RM100 to make 4 hampers...shouldn't be a problem. And the money spent would have gone into a good cause, competing in the classroom.

First day entering class, they could barely look me in the eyes, let alone speak to me in English. Lol. They wouldn't answer my questions, afraid of being wrong, or perhaps thinking, "well, whats the point? I won't get anything in return anyways....". So, i thought,"heck, its worth a shot".

I know its idealistic, but I did so anyways. Till now, the system has worked great. Students are actively participating. Even the quietest of them all now raised their hands to try and gain points for their group. Not only does the system promote participation, it also controls discipline. If a group member misbehaves, points will be deducted. No one wants to their hard earned points to be deducted because of their misbehaving friends. Besides, what do students fear most? Teacher's wrath? Or their peers? Why not misuse peer pressure for a good cause?
(Yes, devilish some how, but it works controlling class discipline).

I've got a student, notorious for being noisy and uttering vulgar words. When i threatened to deduct their hard earned points, his peers immediately hushed him, scolded him, and told him to be quiet. I didn't even lift a finger...

I am teaching 5 classes, 2 form 1 classes, 2 form 2 classes and a remove class. Although it worked wonders for 3 of my classes (i only have 2 students for remove class, so the system does not apply), i have one form 2 class which i was unable to establish the system.. 70% of the students in the class are delinquents, with nothing to do but disrupt lessons, and neighboring classes. Now, however, i have seen progress in their behaviour and discipline (how i achieve that will be for another post). I will try to establish the system probably next month.

Introduction

Hello. I am just a 24 year old (25 in 2012) individual, who just gotten herself into the education field. I've had other blogs before, but i created this one for the purpose of sharing my teaching experiences as well as serving perhaps as a journal for my reference. I could check how my progress were when I am old and gray. Tomorrow is the beginning of my journey as a teacher. :D I hope this blog helps and if you wish to give critical comments on my practices, or to simply discuss, feel free to do so. You may reach me at alexqaiira@gmail.com.

I am an English Teacher, teaching English as a Second Language. I will be reporting for duty tomorrow, in a secondary school in Sarawak. Wish me luck. :) Hopefully, the future me will not think of this blog as a silly idea and will continue to be updated...