A couple of times a year, I show my students some love by giving them coupons to make their lives a little easier. One of those times is around Valentine’s Day. As we all know, High school students are so busy they can get very stressed as they try to juggle all of their classes and extracurriculars. Although it is important to me that they learn to handle deadlines and be responsible about turning their work in, I also do not want them to have a complete meltdown about an artwork. Life is too short for that!
So a couple of times a year, I pass out Extra time/Extra Credit coupons. My students get very excited…you would have thought I had given them each $100!
The coupon states:
“This coupon entitles (student’s name) to extra credit points or the turning in of one project up to a week late without being downgraded. Pay attention to midterms/terms when using this.”
These coupons generally get passed out around Halloween (first semester) and Valentine’s Day (second semester) but they do not expire until the students graduates (unless they would happen to lose them…) Some students use theirs right away, but others hoard them and by their senior year, they have several they can use.
The reason I like the idea of these is because they can take the pressure off of a student who is very dedicated to their work, but needs more time for a project to be done well. It is also nice to give a boost to those who are struggling.
Because they are passed out so infrequently, these coupons will not “cover” for a student who is not working and blows off their projects, but it is a nice cushion for those who are genuinely trying to do well in their Art classes. Anything we can do to encourage our students and let them know we are in this with them is a great thing in my book!
Happy Valentines Day!
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