For the past several months, I have taught a study skills course at work. I was very fortunate to get three students I already knew very well (~1 year). On September 30th, we will have our last seminar of the program, and I wanted to give each of them something as a reward for their efforts. It wasn’t easy for these students to spend every Saturday afternoon in a conference room rather than with their friends, and over the past fifteen or so weeks I have seen wonderful improvement in not only their ability to study productively, but also adapting their behavior in class.
I have been trying to think of something I could get each of them (3 students) that is small enough not to be considered inappropriate/extravagant and yet significant enough for them to feel how much I dedicated myself to helping them improve (hey, I had to be there every saturday too! ) Any ideas?
• student calendars or assignment planners, any sort of appointment book to track assignments - can be small and inexpensive or pricey and fancy
• a nice Blackberry! Well, that would motivate me to study.
• a dictionary or thesaurus, most come with CDs now that you can load on your 'puter
• a nice pen set or a collection of pens, pencils, highlighters, a small calculator -stuff you need to do your homework
• bookstore gift card, or office supply store gift card for notebooks, paper, supplies, etc.
• coffee house gift card, so they can stay up all night studying
Think about things you’ve taught them in terms of study skills. What tools do they need? Highlighters? Note cards? What organizational tools did you recommend they try? Give them a little help with acquiring that stuff – you can put together some goodies for $5 or $50 depending on the age range, content area limits and your budget and what you think is appropriate.
) Any ideas?