Incentive II

Ok, so I'm still working out the whole incentive thing. One of the problems is that no two kids are "incentified" (?) by the same thing. Which brings us to Brick. Brick can spell...good memory...so, I am never surprised by good spelling test results from him.
Apparently, four weeks ago, the words got hard. A note from the teacher home explained that the class had spent the first three months of school doing a combination of "review" words and "new" words and now she was dropping the hammer...get ready. I made a mental note to test Brick ahead of time or something and within five and a half seconds...forgot the whole thing.

The teacher does have a system to keep parents from completely failing their children...its called the "Wednesday Pre-Test". They take the spelling test on Wednesday and bring it home so you can see what is going wrong and prepare them for the "Friday Final"...is all of this familiar? Oh, and it doesn't matter what you get on Weds. test, you still take Friday's test.

All this build-up leads us to Wednesday...four weeks ago...Brick is walking toward the car to go home, looking very depressed, all of a sudden it flashes back to me, "Oh no, this was the first 'hard' spelling test!" Brick is depressed, and it is because of the spelling test...he got 100%...he was the only kid to get 100% and the teacher told him because he was the only one he didn't have to take the test on Friday...he's upset...wait for it...because...and I quote,"What am I going to do on Friday when everyone else in the WHOLE class is taking the test!" See, i am unprepared, nothing about parenting Dallin (or Heather and Holly for that matter) through 3rd grade has given me any indication that this is a "problem" I will ever face. I laugh. I mean, come on? I explain to Brick that this is not a punishment, it was not his teacher's intention to create a problem for him. I tell him that I'm going to bring him hot chocolate and a doughnut and he can eat it during the test...his teacher is cool...she'll go for it.

Now, a word on Brick...this has been a problem before...what do I do when everyone else in the class is still working on something. He has a math book he works on while waiting for everyone else to finish their math. (Dallin and I both used/use this time to pass notes, daydream, and generally gawk at members of the opposite sex) Each time the class is reading a book, Brick asks me to get him a copy for home because he is only allowed to read the "assigned" reading in class so that everyone is in the same place and this pace is too painful, so he finishes the book at home and just kind of coasts the rest of the month. (Once again, not an issue raised in my own life, my life with Dallin, or really anyone else I know...maybe Caitlin York, I bet Caitlin does this stuff).

Ok, three weeks later, three more 100%, three more hot chocolate and doughnuts, still the only kid in class getting 100% on Wednesday's test...I decide to begin my campaign for "Most Popular 3rd Grade Mom". After all, doing a weekly interpretive dance, smashing a cupcake in my own face and generally hassling Dallin had led me to the "Most Popular 4th Grade Mom" crown last year...what if I told the teacher on Monday that I would bring hot chocolate and doughnuts in for EVERY 3RD GRADER that got 100% on Weds. Spelling Test! She thinks it sounds great and announces it to the class. I go to Costco and buy that set of cups with the lids for hot drinks, just like the one's at Starbucks. I'm ready. Tuesday night is a little tense...for me...what if the whole class gets 100% and Brick buckles and I'm brining in 21 cups and doughnuts for everyone EXCEPT Brick who is taking the test all by himself...how much in therapy is that going to cost me? Brick is unfazed, he can spell.

Wednesday I walk into the classroom, "How many of you got 100%?" The whole class looks at me and in unison says, "Just Brick" I have disppointed an entire class... I am plummeting in the class, the teacher is laughing, "We had 5 minus 1's, but Brick was the only one to get them all right." On Friday, I make hot chocolate in a thermos and send it with him with a piece of cinnamon cake. He and I are both kind of over this. I explain that the hot chocolate thing will end with Christmas break. He says, "Ok, but what if I keep getting 100%? What am I going to do on Friday when everybody else is taking the test?" I tell him to read a book. "You mean any book I want?" he is gleaming!

I'm going to 5th grade now. I'm going to go pass a note to Dallin.