Motivate children with grades at an early age

A couple of weeks ago it suddenly occurred to me why some of our students did not put any effort in the classes they had in Swedish/English, a subject they take instead of a third language. It was not because the teachers were bad they said, or the classes were dull. The only reason for not putting any attempt in the subject was because they did not achieve any grades. Now, does not this speak a clear language? The students want grades otherwise achievement is pointless.

Due to the government shift in 2006, the Centre-Right Alliance has introduced some changes in the society. One of these is that pupils will start receiving grades already in 6th grade instead of in 8th grade. This is something that goes along with other European countries which already give grades in school at early age. I believe this is also one of the reasons why pupils from other European countries accomplish better at school than Swedish pupils do.

Some might say that children are not ready to get grades in primary school since they are too young and that they should have the possibility to be children while still being young. But that does not mean we are to give the grades at the age of eight. At the age of twelve children have gone to school for eight years, by that time they should differ playing from learning and they need to learn to take some own responsibility.

Since I work with students in the 7th-9th grade, I often see pupils who start their 7th grade playing around for a year because they know they will not get any grades until 8th grade. In other words they are wasting a year in junior high school because they do not take school seriously. Then suddenly they realize that they only have two years left before they really need the grades to continue to a chosen high school after junior high. If you ask me, I do believe it is very important we start grading pupils earlier at school. It is obvious that grades are pupils’ motivation, without them they will not know why to achieve.

I actually heard a colleague of mine who said we should not have any grades in Physical Education since then our pupils would not compete with each other during class. I feel the total opposite for many reasons but one is that; in that case the majority of the class would probably not even come to class since there is nothing to receive. The ones already exercising during spare time would rather spend more time on the certain sport they practise and those who do not exercise at all, they would not come since they do not like recreation and what is the point coming to class if they will not even receive any grades in the subject? Competition among pupils is something we need to work on daily but still they need to learn that they are not in school to have fun during PE, it is an educating subject like the others. To grade that certain subject is as fundamental as to teach children the importance of going to school. And to motivate them even more I think it is good to grade them from early age.

Finally, why do I think we should grade our pupils at an early age? Well, grading at an early age will indicate the importance of why children actually go to school. It will give them an opportunity to take responsibility of their learning but also give them motivation why to work hard at school.

A Christmas gift 2010 is to be announced

Imagine thousands of nails pressed against your bare back when you are lying on the floor. It is a slight feeling of heat, almost like burning that whizzes through your body. Slowly the pesty sense disappears before the feeling of relaxation and calmness spreads in you body. It is a sensation that every centimetre of your back has awakened and each single part of your muscles is working and the microcirculation is on-stream. Despite of the short feeling of pain this is actually one of my best buys ever and it is simply because of that I am announcing the bed of nails also called the spike mat to be the Christmas present of the year 2010. I know many people have it already but I wish every one could experience what the spike mat can offer in a stressed world like ours.

Every year we spend tremendous amounts of money on expensive health treatments as massage, acupuncture, zone therapy and so forth. These usually cost quite a lot of money and to receive any effects of them you either need to go there regularly or at least have several treatments in a short time. This is not only expensive, they also consume a lot of time, time that in our modern life is very precious. So when the spike mat was introduced on the market I realized that it was an alternative to all those treatments. First of all it is cheap. Secondly it is very easy to use and easy to bring. Thirdly you have it at home and you can use it at any time and for as long as it suits you.

Indians have been using the spike mat for thousands of years for different relaxation exercises. The outcome of those exercises is pain relief and an activation of the body’s own production of endorphins which give a sense of physical well-being. This must indicate that people have been and still are satisfied with the spike mat.

Some might say that it is only a new thing to have in our materialistic world and that the effects of the mat do not replace treatments you get from a masseur. I do agree on the fact that we buy a lot of things, things that we mostly do not even need. But still I claim that this fad deserves to be emphasized because it does something good for your health. And maybe that is true that the effects from the mat are not the same as from a masseur but many people today cannot even afford to buy health treatments and therefore I believe this is a good alternative.

A gizmo or not, but the spike mat is something everyone deserve to have. It has healing and releasing effect of physical and mental blockage; it reduces muscle tension and decreases anxieties, it raises pain threshold and increases our sexual desire. That is why I also think it deserves to be the Christmas gift of the year 2010.