Contest!

LAST UPDATE: 

I eventually started having quizzes at the end of class, where I asked the questions, and the students wrote on dry erase boards.  This helped them pay much better attention in class with less chatter.  I didn't mind a little chatter, just not a lot.  😉

UPDATE AGAIN:
This worked great when I had fewer students, and when I wasn't so busy with life.
But I had to make a few changes.
We still have open-notes quizzes at the beginning of each class, going by the guidelines below, and I still grade their tests since parents might not always know when to allow exceptions or understand what the student really meant to say.
They win 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place chocolate.  =)


UPDATE:
Contests are now for 1 module, and have smaller prizes.
Having them for 4 modules made it discouraging for those students who did badly on one, bringing their whole score down.
We still have open-notes quizzes.  Kids can look at anything they wrote or drew/labeled, including On Your Owns and Study Guide.  No copies of anything.  It has to be by their own hand.


►Current Contest Scores (viewable by students & parents only)

Each week an assignment is late, points will be taken off the original point value.
Get points for:
►On Your Own questions - usually 25 points each for regular questions
►Experiments, Lab Reports - usually 100 points each (exp. and report)
►Study Guide - 5 for vocabulary, 25 for other regular questions
►Quizzes - your grade x 3
►Tests - your grade x 3

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Biology Contests for 2010-2011
Contest #1, Boys against Girls, ended October 25, 2010.  The BOYS won!
Contest #2, Vowels vs. Consonants, ended January 17, 2011.  Rebekah and Caleb won. (The Consonants)
Contest #3, Siblings vs. Friends, ended March 21, 2011.  Rebekah and Isaac won.  (Friends)
Contest #4, Every Man for Himself, ended May 27, 2011.  1st place: Rebekah; 2nd place: Isaac; 3rd place:  Abigail.
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They are allowed to use their notebook for quizzes.  I've never seen such thorough notes!  They're really learning a lot this way.
Finally, Rebekah figured it out.  Her eyes widened. "You tricked us into taking notes!"she cried in mock indignation. 
Yep!  😄



This first contest is for the first 4 Modules.  It is Girls Against Boys.
We'll be switching around the teams every 4 Modules, and the last round will be Every Man For Himself!
The first Grand Prize is a sleepover at my house, with a few other friends - some homeschoolers, some not.  
My son or my daughters will have to go to Grandma's if the other team wins.  =)  No boys and girls here overnight at the same time. 
So the next time, I will invent a new Grand Prize since the teams will be mixed.  Boy, that's gonna be sad if Cousins/friends win and my kids have to stay home!  lol.

There is a second prize.  A big bag of chocolate!  =)  But there is a minimum total score required to receive said bag.   
Study kids!  Take lots of notes!  =D