We Compete in Room 5

In my classroom I do not shy away from competition. 

It has been said that competition is not good for the classroom.  There is a trend in which everybody gets ribbons just for participating. We seem to try to cushion kids from losing.

I believe there is a good bit that can be learned from losing.

I believe it creates a teachable moment that an educator can use if done correctly.

We will all lose at some point in life.  What is more important? 

That we lost or how we handle the loss?

That we won? Or how we handle the victory?

I believe in creating a classroom environment that encourages one another, pushes one another, works with one another and does not fear competition,

When my students enter the "real world" they will compete.  They will compete for jobs, accounts, promotions, customers and more.

The important thing I want my students to take from me is the value of hard work.  I want them to understand that wallowing in a pity party or giving up and quiting because they did not succeed immediately is not acceptable.

I want them to understand that losing is not the end of the world.

In fact, I want them to understand it is OK.

I want them to realize it is how they handle the loss that dictates their success.

Will they work harder and try again until they reach their goal?

If I succeed, they will.

Therefore, I do not shy away from losing in my classroom.  While we celebrate victories no matter how small in a MAJOR way and we do not hesitate to be proud and show our pride, we also acknowledge our losses.

We then identify what needs to improve and we work to improve it.

So now I bring you to our current Math concept.  We are learning how to convert fractions to percents.  There are several common fractions/percents I want them to memorize.  In my life, I have benefited from just knowing the percentages of certain common fractions like 4ths and 5ths and 8ths and so on.

So we have made flashcards and the students have practiced memorizing them.  You may remember an old game we used to play in school called Around the World.  Two students would race to answer an operation problem first.  The winner moves on while the loser sits.  At the end, many students are sitting in different seats than their own.

Those of us who were competitive would count out how many seats everyone moved to see who moved the most and "won."

I do a similar thing in the first 10 minutes of Math to open the lesson.

But I have my students sit in teams for numerous reasons.

So I have each team compete for a "team champ."

Since I teach a split which means half 4th graders and half 5th graders, each team champ competes for a "grade champ."

Then we compete for a "class champ."

It is quite fun.

Since my class is used to competition and have been taught how to compete with sportsmanship and positive support and not to freak out over losing since there will be plenty of opportunities to win in the future, we really get into it.

There is a ton of cheering and pats on the back.  I love to see classmates console the student who loses.  I love to hear them beg to have more time to study up on their flashcards before we play again to get them in their head.

In fact.....

It reminds me a lot of this:

Not quite as loud....but almost.