I had a sister who always excelled in class. She loved reading and academics seemed to find it easy. For us, parent-teacher conferences went very differently. This year, after parent-teacher conferences, my mother attempted to motivate me using a different strategy. He said my sister would get a toy if she had good grades. It notified me if I received favorable votes the next time I earned a toy. I was extremely upset and eager to receive a toy for my academic skills. I remember sitting in the kitchen many evenings after this reading. I've read all the Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen adventure books and anything by RL Stine. I was a slow reader, but I was determined to improve my literacy. Reading more has enriched my vocabulary and improved my understanding. I wasn't yet at the same level as most of my peers, but I was making progress. I would avoid using this approach with my children. It worked for me, but it could have easily put me off. I would also avoid comparing children because they are all different. Instead I would try to cultivate each child's ability. From seventh to ninth grade it was problematic because I was more interested in my friends than the book I was reading. I remember struggling with the fundamentals of writing. I would like to say that I have worked really hard and overcome my difficulties at this time. Unfortunately I wasn't interested and felt I had better things to do. I honestly have no idea how they let me pass this grade because I wasn't participating. If I had a student like this in my class, I would try to discover a topic of interest to him