The Football Cups

 



A few years ago, I was teaching a class of 35 kids. Many of these students came from tough families and a lot of them were discipline problems. I was at my wit's end trying to keep order in the classroom and also trying to help these kids. I wanted them to feel safe and to want to learn. But for that to happen, I had to form a bond and try to get them to trust me. After trying several strategies and them not working, I was ready to call it quits. 

My husband, a truck driver, was always on the road and would stop at McDonalds fairly often. At the time, McDonalds was giving away Cleveland Browns football cups. He had the idea that I should use the cups as an incentive for good behavior in the classroom. I figured that anything was worth a try. I started to collect the cups and put them on my desk at school. Once the boys saw the cups, they were interested. They started to talk to me about football.... the games, the players, etc. I had to really research and watch the games to be able to talk to the boys about it, but that's when things began to change for the better. 

The kids and I started to bond over the football cups. They also began to be more involved in the lessons and behavior got much better. At the end of the week, if they had a good one, I would give them each a cup. You would have thought it was gold! From that day on, my class changed, and I was able to be a great teacher with a great class....all because of a McDonald's cup. 

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