ESL Lesson Plan

I don't think a good student should get any other reward than 'good' written in his/her workbook. This will be reward enough for the student
A 'good' student should not be used to help the teacher, simply because he has finished the work given to him and therefore has time to spare, but he should be given more advanced work, to improve his English further.
The teacher should spend more time with the poor student, who has probably put in more effort than the good student and deserves, by way of a reward, more of the teacher's attention.
If the teacher has a favourite student, then he should keep it to himself

My students are all "poor" students by most people's standards. I have twice in my career been accused of having a favorite because I am able to work with a student that has long been struggling. It is very difficult for me because the other students fail to see what type of changes my "favorite" has made in his attitude, effort and behavior. They want have the same treatment without putting forth any effort just for the sake of fairness.

I am teaching in South Korea and I thought this article was very interesting. I can see how a teacher picks the "teachers pet" and not the student. I was never a teachers pet, but I was a student teachers wanted to talk to after class or would stop me in the street and talk, if our paths ever crossed.

I also have "teachers pets" in each one of my classes, and like the article said I pick them to help me explain something, or do an errand for me etc, but unlike yourself the "teachers pets" I have are usually the kids who do not try, don't do their homework and try and disrupt the class. I find picking (I do not pick on them per se but when I ask them to do something I do it very nicely and/or in a joking manner so the kid actually finds it fun, whatever it is I ask that kid to do) on these kids they find class more fun and identify with me as a person not just some authority figure.

I see these kids improve more than I do the "smart" ones, or the ones that always know the answer. The smart ones improve it can be seen anytime and it really doesn't matter who is or who has taught them.

The children that try and break up class or don't do their homework or do half assed jobs at it, they make me smile (I am human, sometimes they make me see red) and I like to look at what they are passing in for homework and help them, and in turn these kids are nicer to me in class than some of the other teachers. And I get what I want; a job in which I can see improvement or a person doing better because I am helping them

I agree with you on the "teacher's Pet" scenario. I have students that I know if I call on them they WILL have the answer. They are just the prepared ones and not the ones that nag you to death about every grammar point. They sit in their desks quietly and when called upon are prepared. What's better for a teacher than that?

I don't think it's necessary to show any special favours to good students, their reward is the satisfaction of doing well and a naturally more friendly relationaship with the teacher. However, I think it would be strange for a teacher to behave like a machine that treats every student identically, this is not how the world works, we function in society through symbiotic relationships. There are some students who just wont learn, no point in banging your head against a brick wall, if they don't make any effort then you can't make them drink. But to have a 'pet' to whom you constantly direct questions, undermines the other students and unfairly reduces their chances at learning. You may find if this 'pet' leaves the class, there are other students, just as bright, who given a couple of extra seconds and a little more confidence, can answer all the questions too.