This Means (A Bidding) War...?

So I’ve been trying very hard not to use this blog to just bitch, but I’m having a difficult time finding anywhere else to express my disappointment or frustration.
Today’s frustration is about how it seems every time I go above and beyond, it just falls flat.

Here’s the situation: with the end of the year coming up, I wanted to go something fun and rewarding for the students. But I also wanted an activity that students would actually have to work at if they wanted a prize, and the prize would have to be something they were interested in (stickers just ain’t cutting in.) Then it occurred to me-a bidding war!

The activity was arranged like this: students were placed with partners. I gave them a dialogue pretty closely based to the one in the book they’d just learned, with some variations. With their partner, they would recite the dialogue to either I or my JTE. We would give them bidding money based on how well they did their conversation, and if it was memorized. They could redo the recitation as many times as they wanted.

After the recitation period, I pulled out the prizes. Some of them were left-over prizes from earlier in the year (2 pens left from a pack), but others I’d specifically gone out to go to encourage participation; a manga, some American candy, glow sticks, those pens, some hand warmers.

In one of the two classes, the activity worked great, and students seemed to have a lot of fun with it. In the other class, unfortunately, we ran out of time before we could properly bid. Worse yet, I didn’t have another period with that class for the rest of the year… so students just worked hard for nothing.

I felt this was unfair, so I asked the homeroom teacher if I could come in a few minutes during their homeroom meeting and finish up the bidding. He said sure. Unfortunately, I’d have to do it alone-both my JTEs were busy.

So I went in alone, and more than a little nervous about the miscommunication barrier. However, most of the students seemed to understand well enough when I said “take out your paper”… we had told them to save their bidding papers, it was the only way to know how much money they had.

The candy of course went for the high ranging price of 14000 yen. The students who seemed most engaged in the bidding got something (the pen went for 100 yen)… except for *sigh* Above It Boy. Above It Boy kept his hand raised during the entire bidding… kept it raised for almost every single bidding item. I kept asking where his sheet was… his tabletop was totally bare. I’d ask him how much money he had; he’d merely snap “わからない。” (Pretty much the laziest way to say “I don’t understand.”) So I just shrugged, and gave the prizes to the students who had their sheets out, and were actively participating.

At one point I tried engaging him again, just as the bell was ringing, and he just snapped “Goodbye!” And started standing up and cleaning up his desk.

I come back to the teacher’s room to get ready for cleaning time. Above It Boy follows me, and starts bitching something at my JTE; he was complaining that he had had his hand raised, and yet hadn’t gotten anything! I replied he didn’t have his sheet out; I had no way to check whether he had the highest bid, or any money at all. No sheet, no bid. He stalks away, comes back, and slams the sheet on my keyboard. Gee, it didn’t occur to you to get it out DURING the bidding?

In the end, it doesn’t much matter, he got outbid on everything anyway. (His total amount was only 8000 yen.) Still, I was alone in the room, and my main JTE is gone today… I have no one to back up my story, and if I'm half decent at predicting middle school behavior, this is only going to make his harassment even meaner and more abusive. (Things like slamming doors in my face, making rude noises at me as I walk past. I ignore him, but I certainly don’t relish the behavior.)

It just makes me wonder why I ever bother doing fun activities. It’s just so easy, and so tempting, to be the ALT who never does anything, never plans activities, never engages with students (except to teach them a dirty English word), just sits at their desk. I don’t expect all my activities to take off… but I thought I’d found a really good one to finish off the year with. Now I just feel pissed off and disheartened. Why bother? Why bother, if students only ever give you abuse?