I've got book prizes for the best literature students in my 3 classes, out of my own pocket. Thinking about it, I should have got 6 of them - 3 for best end of year scripts and 3 for best overall results.
I used to get a few book prizes in Primary school, but I think I got none at the Secondary level, strange huh? I remember I got a 3-in-1 volume of Agatha Christie's crime novels, which I was barely able to read but did finish it in the end after some effort, and I used a popular book voucher to buy the unabridged version of Oliver Twist, which I tried reading several times but always gave up. I can't find it now, but I'll always remember the effort I put into the attempt to understand it; that is memorable too.
And of course, in my formative years in JC, I've got D.H Lawrence's Sons and Lovers which did much to help me understand my literature text Women in Love, from the same writer. That was one book that made me a more mature reader/person.
I think students treasure book prizes especially when they come with personal messages from the teacher, and for my case, I'll make effort to finish them even though they were not really suitable for my reading ability then. It did me a whole lot of good, and I want to pay it forward. Who knows, one of them might graduate summa cum laude from the Literature department from a university someday because I had done my part to encouraged them.
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3 comments:
awww, my teacher never gave me anything! but then again, i guess i wasn't deserving anyway. =)
That's a very nice thing that you are doing. May I also suggest another - give a prize to the person who showed the greatest improvement. This really gives recognition to the person who works hard, but just can't make it to the top. His/her example can be an inspiration to the rest of your students. =)
Psss... grammar error on last line... somewhere near "to encouraged"...
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