I've built up quite a reputation for myself in a few schools in this division. "You're the guy with the dice, right?" As luck would have it, "Yes I am."I begin each new day with the clear, determined, and sincere explanation of the source of the rattle in my pocket. I remove the five dice and begin to explain the reason why each and every wide-eyed student will desperately want one of these five dice in their possession by the day's end. They Oooo and Aaaaw at the prospect of winning the mysterious grand prize.
When the explanation of the rules has been clearly given, and every student nods in agreement, including the ones who didn't hear it the first time because they were still in the hall getting their ski pants off, or returning from crossing guard duty, I raise my arm and say, as I lower my arm in one smooth motion, "The contest begins...NOW."
********************SILENCE********************
Not a creature was stirring...not even a runny-nosed eight-year-old.
One di given just before every recess; and a bonus one given at the end of the day...just for good measure.
"I sure hope I get one of those dice, Mr. Hildebrand. Do you like my printing? I'm doing my very best."
"You sure have a nice smile, Mr. Hildebrand. Could you sing us another song later? You have a really good singing voice."
Anticipation grows with each di given. They can hardly bear the thought of not being chosen.
The end of the day has arrived and nary a wimper from the little pups. Pavlov would be proud.
The dice are rolled, the prize is won, and everyone wants me to come back tomorrow.
I win.
8 comments:
Oh wow......... those dice have just got me paralyzed in my seat!
That looks like red jello!!! Great photo!
Must go back and read post.........
Smooch,
The Tart
this is such a sweet and charming post Brian! I am sure that everybody wants to be teachers pet to get one of those ruby red dice. Great idea!
I just read all your posts for the week... mellow sounding, thought provoking... I'm so glad I stoped by (again).
My grown son is just beginning his teaching career... how do you DO the pit boss/dice thing? Although he's in a conservative little town now, and maybe they'd think it was immoral or gambling. I'm glad you have shifted into neutral about science and scientists. ;-) I think humans can get in trouble when they "only" use thoughts or intuition and NOT their five senses to make big decisions. Thanks, too for the Compliance disorder post. My first husband insisted that psychology (especially clinical psychology) was not at all scientific. Certainly a lot of therapy is more like pastoral counseling than a doctor's visit complete with lab work. But the DSM is mostly a taxonomy of human behavior and attitude... and for the purpose of communicating with other people interested in human behavior... OR communicating with (dreaded) insurance companies. There have been "fads" in the DSM and errors. At least the teacher you substituted for realized that in order for that particular kid to succeed, the TEACHER was going to have to change behavior, because using force on that kid was a losing battle. (You have no idea how many kids I've counseled because the TEACHER insisted on "my way or the highway." Can't there be win-win classrooms?
Didn't mean to dump! Have a great trip and a good week.
LOL, devious...
I like that.
Great story. I must try this with my friends.
Maybe even the kitties.
Roll on Pitt Boss Man.
=^..^=
Mounties in Manitoba are investigating a cluster of reports of thefts of children's toys.
A number of families have been hit but the worst to be affected are the homes of the Hildebrands and their close friends, the Schmidt's.
" The children had been playing a board game last night and left it on the kitchen table when they went to bed," Mrs H told our reporter, "When they came back to play with it this morning, the dice were nowhere to be found. Nothing else appears to be missing. We can't understand it".
A mountie spokesman states there has been no sign of a break-in and there have been no reports of intruders by the other families.
" The only person we've seen since the snows came last October was our good friend, Brian" told one neighbour, " He's been wonderful, helping our children hide their toys in secret places that only they know about. We just can't understand how the thief could have found them".
Mounties don't want to gamble on the outcome. Well, they would, but they can't find a single die this side of Vancouver.
Brian - I love your inventiveness. I just couldn't figure out where you got your supply from - do you have specialist dice shops in Canada? I don't think I've ever seen on them on sale on their own before xx
PS.. Thank you, Christy
Jody: Good idea about the red jello. I think I'll actually try that.
Val: You have no idea what lengths these kids go to to get one. Puddy in my hands...
Sultry: I'm so glad you stopped by, again. I'm in the Canadian Bible belt, so speaking of conservative...
I haven't had any troubles yet.
The way I run the dice program is I show them the five dice at the beginning of the day, and tell them that throughout the day, I will be handing them out. At the end of the day, the five students who received the dice come to the front of the classroom and they each get one roll. The highest number wins the grand prize and the other four recieve a smaller one. The prizes are never the same, so that if I return to the class again, they will want to find out what it is. I keep the prize a surprise until the end of the day, just in case it would hinder good behaviour. I know illiciting good behaviour in this way is not the most desireable, but in a substitute situation, where rapport hasn't had ample time to grow, this seems to work really well.
Catnapping: Thanks...I know. ;)
Lyn: Let me know if it works on friends. I would be VERY interested in trying that.
Cherrypie: Hey...how did you get a hold of the Manitoba Free Press?
I would tell you the black market website for finding my dice source, but then, obviously, I'd have to kill you.
I think Im going to use this on my kids!!!Brian your so smart.
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