So the visit to Westview went very well. Better than I expected, actually. I stayed up the night before to watch the Royal Wedding, so I was running off of three hours of sleep, and looked like a total mess (I even wore makeup to try and cover myself up, but I still felt like I looked like a bum!)
Candy has some pretty powerful psychological effects, I must say. With the first group, I didn’t use candy until the very end- I walked around and let everyone pick some out. With the second group, I was warned that they were more rowdy, so I used candy to my advantage. From the start I told them there would be an opportunity for some people to get candy later. Once I had the students get in groups to define the UNST goals, I told them that the best definitions would get candy so people actually did try- even the students who seemed totally uninterested had a motivation, they would get an immediate reward for their effort. Then at the end I set the bag of candy on a chair in the middle of the room and told everyone to get a piece. I much preferred that second method of candy reinforcement, although the first group was easier to engage.
Overall, I was happy to see that students were taking notes, and that my visit was directly benefiting/helping them. It wasn’t just a fun-activity driven visit, it was an assignment-based-activity driven visit.
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