Just wanted to share something new that my teaching partner has started in phy ed class at Sweeney and I definitely think other subjects should try something like this out or maybe some other teachers have similar systems like this...
We started a reward system called, " I know what to do, and I will do it!" My teaching partner came up with wonderful idea. We get to see our students 4 out of 10 cycle days, so it adds up to be about 100 minutes a week. It's really hard to waste time by chatty students or disruptive behavior in phy ed since we don't have that much time and need to get through our curriculum.
So... We had every student in the school grades 1-5 sign a huge poster saying I know what to do and I will do it. By having them signing the poster, they made a promise to us that they know the rules and expectations in phy ed class and will follow the rules and we hung it up in the gym. When we see a student doing the right thing and following the rules by listening or participating in the skill or game, we will give them a ticket. On the ticket, it has a face with binoculars saying, " You got caught!" For doing what is right, nice job! When a student receives a ticket, they quietly walk over and grab a pencil we have sitting out in the gymnasium and put it in their grade level bucket. Every two weeks, we draw 5 names out of the grade level bucket and will announce their names over the loud speaker so their teachers, the principal and classmates know that they are following the rules. One lucky name drawn out of the bucket will also get to come down and pick something out of the prize bucket. We have jump ropes, Frisbees, hula hoops, etc that they can choose from. We also added lunch with your phy ed teacher for a day and are asking some local business's in Shakopee, like cherry berry to donate some gift certificates. So far it is working great and we carry these tickets around and the kids are ready to listen, learn and follow the rules.
I know a lot of schools have a system school wide for positive behavior, but I just thought I would share this because it's fun to have something in your class. This works great with elementary students :)
Here is the poster. I tried to turn it so you can see how it hanging but I can't figure out how to do that on the blog, so you just have to turn your head :)
I think this is a terrific idea. It follows the PBIS model I believe. It's amazing how allot of the PBIS stuff works for everyone but your top teir behavioral kiddos. Is this the case at your school? Or do you feel as though everyone is buying in? Also, do you reward those kids who get there name put in the bucket who's name isn't randomly drawn by posting there name somewhere for recognition? Otherwise students will stop participating in the process if they think it's left soley to chance. Love the idea though keep up the good work!
ReplyDeleteI was actually thinking this morning, "What will I blog about this week?" and was curious about reward systems! Does anyone else have another great system that is working in their classroom? Sometimes I get caught on it being "cheesy," but I would like to try something to see if it works. My sister is an elementary teacher, and she uses a different ticket system. Each student gets three tickets (not sure if it's per day or week), and when they are misbehaving, a ticket gets taken away. All the tickets left get put into a drawing and she draws one student to get a prize. Obviously, the more tickets you have left the better your chances! I think this would be a lot to handle in a middle-level room (with five classes a day), but she says it works great for elementary!
ReplyDeleteI am not a classroom teacher but am loving reading about what everyone is doing in their classrooms. Such creativity!! I think it is awesome that everyone is using different strategies. It would be interesting to learn about more what high school teachers are doing...?
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of rewarding anyone who is caught being good. (and Kathy one of my students was recognized on the morning announcements and was just beaming!) It gives everyone a chance to feel recognized when they earn a ticket and depending on the student you can look for a variety of behaviors that are "good." Sometimes I struggle with rewarding kids because it seems that the kids who are good most of the time are not always recognized for their behavior and this is a good way to do it.
ReplyDeleteIn my own classroom I have a point system for teams. If a team is quick and quiet and cleaned up during a classroom transition (from reading to writing for example) I give their team a point. Once a team reaches 15 points they get an edible reward.