Incentives, incentives!

I teach the 8-year-olds in primary, and by the time we make it through sacrament meeting, primary class and get to sharing time, the kids are pretty much done with being on their best behavior (not that their behavior was ever very good to start with). The primary chorister is always coming up with ways to try to trick them into enjoying the last hour, with mixed results.

This past Sunday, it was "rhythm sticks". She had 5 sets of sticks--one with the end colored orange, the other with the end colored green. Five kids would gather around the music stand at the front of the room, and follow the color-coded system she had marked to make noise to "Called to Serve Him." As is typical with primary, all the kids were anxious to have a turn, so the chorister told the kids who had just finished banging their sticks to "go find someone with their arms folded who is being reverent."

I have one boy in my class who is incredibly shy. I think a lot of that comes from fear of doing things wrong or messing up in front of other people. He grins a lot, but that's usually all I get out of him on any given day. He is typically the most conversational when I am sitting next to him in sharing time, and he can quietly whisper little side comments to me. I looked over while the chorister was rounding up the next batch of volunteers, and noticed that he had his hands shoved in his pockets as far as they could possibly go. He giggled, and then whispered, "I'm not folding my arms, because I don't want to get picked to go do that."