A Mathematics teacher from the “Emil Negruțiu” Technical College in Turda, Cluj county, awarded her students who managed to get grades above nine in the Baccalaureate. “Everything started from a joke that I, however, took seriously,” Alexandra Avasicei told “Adevărul”.
The math teacher collected 1,000 lei from her own salary. Photo source: facebook
Alexandra, Anda, as her friends call her, is 28 years old and has been teaching Mathematics at the “Emil Negruțiu” college in Turda for four years. “I was also lucky to have children who liked Mathematics and who learned it with pleasure. It’s true, the way I teach the subject is as interactive as possible. I try to make them learn with pleasure, come to class with pleasure”she began her story.
A full car, a joke that turned serious
Coming from a new generation of teachers, Alexandra has a slightly different way of teaching than the traditional one. She is not the teacher that children fear, locked in prejudices or fixed ideas. Nor the teacher who comes to class, teaches and leaves. On the contrary. In her class, they talk freely, the children, when they don’t understand something, ask her, and Alexandra explains to them without getting upset that she was interrupted. The young teacher gets involved in their lives, talks with them, gets down, as it were, from the chair and comes among the students. And together they built a relationship based on communication and mutual respect.
The idea to reward his students came to him after the Simulation he gave the children at the beginning of the school year. “Since there are no more theses, I have to evaluate them somehow. To know what the level is at the beginning of the year, but also at the beginning of each module. And then, depending on the results, we see what we have to do”. And this simulation, says the teacher, is “for real”. “On special sheets, one in the bank..just like in the real exam. To learn what this test entails, how it is organized, what they have to do, how to treat the subjects, etc.“.
As in one of these Simulations the students got high marks, one of the children, more jokingly, more seriously, asked the teacher if she won’t reward him by filling up his car. “I didn’t find it cheeky or impertinent…his proposal actually amused me. And I entered the game. After thinking for a few moments, I told everyone that whoever gets high marks in the Baccalaureate will get a cash prize. More precisely, those who get 10 at Bac will receive 500 lei”.
1000 lei, money collected from the salary and put in the children’s piggy bank
In the next second, there was complete silence in the classroom. The children looked at their teacher in astonishment. They couldn’t believe it. “They thought I was joking. So I came up with explanations. I wanted to mobilize them to give their best. Because I saw that many have potential. And because I have children in my class who work during the holidays to earn an extra penny for their families, I thought the award would help them a lot.”
Not two weeks after this promise, the students opened the discussion again. “But if we take 9.90? Do we still get a prize?” they asked Alexandra one day. ANDand negotiations began. “I told them like this: whoever takes math between 9 and 9.50 gets 100 lei. Those who get grades from 9.50 up to close to 10, receive 250 lei. Whoever gets 10 straight wins the big prize.”
Starting from the next day, all of Alexandra’s students sat down with their stomachs on the book even more. “I noticed a change in their behavior. Throughout the year until the Baccalaureate they were more attentive, more active on time, more interested. I think they learned more than they would have if this prize wasn’t at stake.”
Alexandra had 5 students who got above grade 9 in the exam: four boys and one girl. “Only one student, Lucas, did not want to receive money for the grade obtained. He got a grade of 9.80, without extra preparation, without meditations, but only with what he learned in class. He told me that he could not accept the 250 lei prize, because his success is due to the effort I put in”.
The most coveted prize, the one of 500 lei, was not obtained by anyone, although there was one student very close to winning it. “He got 9.95 and the grade was awarded with 300 lei. I made an exception, because it was obvious that one correctional teacher, out of the two, had given him a ten”.
In total, Alexandra offered the children 900 lei. “I had two children who received 250 lei, one who received 300 lei and one who received 100 lei”. Money collected by the teacher throughout the school year, from her own salary. “I put pennies aside every month. In one month more, in another less..any surplus went into the children’s piggy bank”.
The money, sent directly to the students’ bank account
Alexandra was very happy to give them such a surprise. “They are good, hard-working kids who come from middle-income families and work during the holidays to earn an extra penny. I remembered myself when I was their age. I didn’t have much money either, especially since there were no scholarships at that time. I also finished a technological high school, but I managed to enter the University, at Babeș-Bolyai, at mate-info. This is what I always told my students. It doesn’t matter what high school you go to, it matters that you stick to your books, learn more, be interested, want to get somewhere in life”.
The money was sent directly to the students’ bank account. “I made them a bank transfer, and the children received the money in their personal accounts. I don’t know what they did with those amounts. Maybe the gas in the car, maybe they used them to enroll in college. There are a few who want to go further, to Cluj most likely”.
The students were very excited, as were the parents who thanked the teacher. “Then I received phone calls from the parents who thanked me. And for the children, this gesture mattered, because they felt that they were appreciated, that their results were valued. For a student, the opinion of the teacher, his attitude, the way in which he judges his performance matters enormously. My students know: you study, you get 10, you don’t study, you get 4. It’s simple. And when he happens to get a small grade, he doesn’t even get upset. They are assumed. You can see how proud they were when they were awarded”.
A gesture appreciated in the chancellery
The teacher’s gesture was also appreciated in the chancellery. His colleagues applauded his idea. “In the school the idea was appreciated. However, because this story somehow went viral, counter-comments also appeared on the Internet. But it seemed like a good idea to me, and lo and behold, I got results. I’m really glad I did it that way.”
Indeed, the teachers from the “Emil Negruțiu” College congratulated the young teacher including online, through a message posted on the college’s official Facebook page.
Alexandra Avasicei is aware of the fact that a precedent has now been created, but it does not bother her. “Most likely, I will continue the tradition with the next generations of students.” she also told us. “The idea that we shouldn’t motivate children to learn by giving them money is backwards. For there are situations and situations. I, for one, thought that if I could do something to push them, anything in addition to the subject I was teaching them, I would do it. And here we all drew the winning lot. I think it was a small gesture, but with fantastic results.” the teacher told us proudly.
