Red Badge of Courage

Some of my IB juniors have been struggling lately. It's tough to go from always being the best math student in a class to working hard just to get B's. I give them a lot of credit because they are rising to the challenges that I set for them and learning both math and problem solving. I can see a big difference in their ability to explain what they know, which is often very difficult for gifted kids who intuitively understand things.

To commemorate their completion of Precalculus on Tuesday, I decided to give them an award. I printed out this image onto 3" x 4" mailing labels to make giant stickers. I wasn't sure if they would think it was a dumb idea, but earlier in the year I had made them unit circle stickers which were a big hit, so I figured it was worth a try. I thought they might stick them to their notebooks, but half of the class immediately put them on their shirts! One kid claimed that "this is the nerdiest thing I've ever worn." (I should hope so!) I figured they would take the stickers off as soon as they got in the hall, but at least a few minutes later they were still wearing them. I'm so proud of my little nerds! :)