Teacher uses reward system for students

Students selected as the Student of the Month get their name on an apple on a bulletin board in Michelle Porters English room.

Aliza Porter

Students selected as the “Student of the Month” get their name on an apple on a bulletin board in Michelle Porter’s English room.

For English teacher Michelle Porter, a thing of the past for many serves as a tool of today. Every month, she presents a special honor to two students from each of her six classes.

“The student of the month is a reward system designed to recognize those students who have, according to our model, worked hard and had been nice,” Porter said. “And that includes participation in class, getting their assignments in on time, helping others, and just generally being an all around kind person.”

I truly believe that students should be recognized for the goodness that they do.

— English teacher Michelle Porter

The Student of the Month has been an integrative part of Porter’s fifteen year teaching career.

“Ever since I’ve started teaching, I’ve done some sort of student of the month award,” Porter said.

However, being named student of the month means that the recipient has to fit a certain model that includes multiple points.

“They have a list of criteria that is on a PowerPoint that is shown to them before the two students per class are picked every month,” Porter said.  “And it shows them that, they can’t have any missing assignments, they had to have put forth effort all month, they have to be passing the class, they have to be polite and kind about the subject and those who they work with and they have to make an initiative to show class participation.”

Junior Jun Kong was selected as one of the people who fit that criteria this month.

“It feels really nice to be a student of the month,” Kong said. “I think I got chosen because I stay quiet and try hard in the class.”

Students feel honored to be picked out of the entire class.

“It feels really nice that out of everyone, I was one of the people that she picked,” junior Simran Daya said. “I’m a good listener in class, and I always participate, and stuff like that.”

For Daya, the “student of the month” is a valuable ideology in its inclusive nature.

“I think it’s nice because not a lot of teachers do it, and it’s nice that she does it because by the end of it, most of the students in her classes get picked, so that’s cool,” Daya said.

It feels really nice that out of everyone, I was one of the people that she picked.

— junior Simran Daya

Regardless of the reasons that students are named, most of the students agree that it’s a commendable system.

I think ‘student of the month’ can motivate students to make good grades and behave well in the class,” Kong said.

Although not all classrooms adopt a system like a student of the month system, Porter believes that it’s an effective way to feature above and beyond students.

“I started student of the month because I truly believe that students should be recognized for the goodness that they do,” Porter said. “Many times we only devote our attention to students when they are not doing things that they should. And so, I think that students should also get recognition and be highlighted for those positive things that they do.”