So why do I spend my Sunday afternoons thinking up what to surprise them with? Well firstly, it's just that - it's a surprise. The wonderfully cute thing about my teens is that, no matter how often I bake for them, they are still really surprised every time. The best present is an unexpected one, and I get an unbelievable high from seeing their amazed faces. I guess Russian state school teachers don't bake too often...
Of course food can be a reward, for example, I think I first started baking for my kids when they got high results in a test. But I also like to use food as part of a game. For instance, I already wrote a post about using a chocolate advent calendar to give my kids CAE Use of English tasks. A mouthful of chocolate prevents students from asking their neighbour for help and forces them to deal with their task on their own.
Sweets are also a great way to divide up the class. One of my first days as a teacher I observed a colleague doing the following with a group. She wrote 6 topics from the coursebook on the board, and beside each a colour. Then she offered each student a coloured Skittle, and depending on the colour of sweet they had chosen, they had to speak on that topic for 30 seconds. Of course there are many other ways to decide which topic each student will receive, but using sweets just makes a nice alternative, and we are, after all, all about varying our activities. I prefer to have students work in pairs rather than speaking in front of the whole class. Sometimes I allow them to choose 2 or 3 sweets right from the start, and then they can choose in which order they want to address the topics. This is a good idea if I want to give them marks for their speaking, because they can speak first on the topic that they consider to be the easiest, and by the time they reach the 'harder' topic, they have satisfactorily rehearsed the structure and functional phrases necessary for their presentation, and are better able to deal with the themes that they feel less confident about.
Finally, I really believe food goes a long way towards helping with affectual issues. Working in a private school where student retention is important, I am always concerned about creating an atmosphere not only conducive to better learning, but also of enjoyment and friendship. I am sure that even the shyest student relaxes for a moment when he takes a big bite of chocolate cake and is therefore just that bit more open to his next speaking task. I like to hope that as he is savouring my sponge, he is forgetting just for a moment to panic about the upcoming listening task. And for the time that the group is partaking of my culinary experiments, there are no conflicts, no less-liked students. Everyone is equal and united in the same activity - eating.
PS. One word of warning: sugar highs lead to very deep slumps. Don't give too much food at the beginning of class or you can kiss productive activity goodbye. You will have a frenzy of chat for 15 minnutes and then the rest of class you will have to just stand by and watch as they slide slowly off their chairs into a sugary coma. Believe me. We've been there.
