Do you ever walk into another teacher's room and get so excited about something so relatively simple that happens to be exactly what you need?! I had that feeling this week, and I wanted to share the idea with you (with her permission) in case it's exactly what you need, too.
We are entering that point of the year when it might feel that we have to pull out all the stops to make it through the last few weeks of school. This is how my coworker created a behavior reward chain with her class.
First of all, they brainstormed a list of rewards they might like to earn. The teacher had to approve them, such as hat day, iPad time, reading outside, 5 min. extra recess. Any ideas that were bigger or that the teacher wouldn't be willing to do several times, such as moving desks and PJ day, were kept on a different list.
After the class had come up with a dozen or so teacher-approved rewards, she handed out a strip of paper to each student. They each chose one item from the list and wrote it on the paper strip. The she numbered them on the other side with the number of days left of school. For the extras, she chose some of the bigger rewards so they would only be in the chain once each. Finally, she created a chain with the numbers on the outside.
At the end of each day, she takes off a link as part of the countdown. If the students had behaved during the day, they earn the reward. If they didn't behave, they don't earn it and the link goes in the trash.
You might want something a little more measurable. I have {this NOISE freebie} in my store that might help. If they get down to the NO, then they don't earn the reward.
Let me know if you think this idea might work in your classroom? What twist might you put on it?
What kind of rewards do the kids earn?
ReplyDeleteExtra recess time, reading outside, iPad time, hat day, reduced assignments, things like that.
DeleteMy kids enjoy doing student-led art projects. That could be one of the rewards.
ReplyDeleteGreat idea!
DeleteI love this idea. I may have to borrow it.
ReplyDeleteI may do mini versions of this for each student to keep on their desk. I have some talkers who don't seem to care if their behavior wrecks it for the whole class. However, they do notice and dislike when they don't get to participate in a whole class reward.
ReplyDelete