Incentives

Greetings Apples,

One of the most important things a teacher needs to have is good classroom management.

While I do have consequences in my classroom, I really try to have a lot of different incentives for positive reinforcement.  One of the things I do with my students is a raffle jar. The kids receive raffle tickets for being on task, returning their weekly behavior folder on time, doing their homework, getting a parent signature in their assignment notebook, etc. Kids can put their tickets in the raffle jar right away or save them up. We hold the raffle once a month, at the end of the month.

I have always had a prize box for my raffle winners, filled with things like novelty school supplies and little trinkets from the Target dollar bin. I also offer a homework pass to winners, which is good for any one item of homework on any night of the student's choosing.

Over the summer while scouring Pinterest, I saw "incentive coupons" popping up. (Remember making your parents coupons as presents when you were little, before you had an income? Five minute backrubs and car washes that you never really intended to pay out, but the sentiment was there? Same idea...) Incentive coupons are great for so many reasons. First, aside from the materials to create the coupons, they cost nothing. And let's face it, teachers spend enough money out of pocket to run their classrooms, so something that costs nothing is a welcomed treat. Second, I liked the idea of offering the kids privileges as rewards, rather than things.

A friend of mine just donated her old love sack beanbag chair to my classroom, so I figured it was a great time to buckle down and set the incentive coupon system up. I still plan to offer the prize basket, too, as I have a ton of things left to raffle off, but as the basket empties out, I won't need to replenish it.

To make sure the coupons hold up for more than one use, I printed them on cardstock and plan to have them laminated. I can't take credit for the design of the coupons. I found them on the Teachers Pay Teachers website here and here. I liked the pre-made ones by Mel D. very much, but I didn't like that I couldn't edit them. Some of the wording and rewards won't work for the way I run my classroom, so I found the second (free!) set of coupons that I was able to edit to my needs. I also got a plastic bead holder at Michael's (use a coupon - it ends up only being a couple dollars) to sort the coupons.

Here's the final product:

Here are the coupons that are inside:

1. Teacher's Chair: Kids can use my chair at their desk for the day.

2. Stinky Feet: A student can take his/her shoes off in class.

3. Job Swap: The kids are all assigned weekly jobs - they can switch their job to a job of their choice for the day.

4. Teacher's Assistant: I will give a student odd jobs to help me throughout the day - you'd be surprised at how excited they get to erase the board and turn the lights off and on!

5. Show & Tell: Kids can bring in something special to share with the class.

6. Feeling Lazy?: A student can pass on the morning warm-ups on the board.

7. Teacher, Teacher: A student can prepare a lesson to teach his/her classmates - making a paper airplane, how to draw something, etc.

8. Teacher's Desk: A student can sit at my desk during independent work time.

9. Ink Pens: Kids can write in pen all day.

10. Cool Cat in the Hat: Students aren't allowed to wear hats in my classroom. Redeem this coupon, and a student can wear their hat indoors for the day.

11. Tech Break?: A student can go on the computer throughout the day as soon as his/her work is finished.

12. Thirsty?: Students aren't allowed to get up and get a drink during class time. This coupon enables them to make as many in-class water fountain trips as they please.

13. Learning from the Love Sack: Kids can sit in the beanbag chair in the front of the room all day.

14. Chew Gum in Class: I will provide gum for the student that he/she can chew in class.

15. Read Outside: A student can sit on the lawn outside and read when his/her work is completed.

16. Lollipop Learning: I will provide the student with a lollipop that he/she can eat in class.

17. Listen to Music While You Work: A student can bring in his/her MP3 player and listen to music during independent work time.

The Rules:

• Students need to turn in the coupon they want to use first thing in the morning.
• If students want to redeem the "Teacher, Teacher" or "Show and Tell" coupons, they must let me know what lesson they want to teach or item they want to share ahead of time, and I will plan a 10 minute block of time for them as soon as possible.
• If any student is not redeeming their coupon responsibly or if a reward is causing a distraction in class and preventing any student from learning, I reserve the right to revoke the privilege. 

I'm introducing these on Monday afternoon when we hold our December raffle. I'll let you know how they go over!

Miss H.

Sandy Hook

Greetings Apples,

I have been wanting to write something about the horrific tragedy in Connecticut, but I needed time to process.

When I first heard what happened, I was in the middle of teaching when my cell phone buzzed.  I glanced down at my desk and saw a news story text alert that there was a shooting at an elementary school in Connecticut. As I directed my attention back to my students, I didn't have much time to give it a second thought. Our principal was off campus for meetings that day, and a short while later, the teacher-in-charge called my classroom to let me know about the shooting and notify me that some parents had begun pulling their kids out of school. Obviously, we were all instructed not to say anything to the children.

This all took place on a Friday. By the time I got home from work, more information was being reported on the news stations. I spent the whole weekend trying not to read or hear too much, but Sandy Hook was everywhere. It was hard not to see my children in the faces of those children. It was hard not to see my coworkers in the faces and stories of their teachers and staff. It was hard not to see myself in faces of the three young teachers who died trying to protect their students from horror.

Tragedies happen every day. Shootings, disgustingly, have continued to become more common since the Columbine shooting that took place while I was in high school. But when something so profoundly horrible happens that is so completely relatable to a part of your life, it is very hard not to feel affected by it.

The weekend progressed, and emails began pouring in on my phone from the district, the superintendent, and my principal. We were having a staff meeting first thing Monday morning to discuss protocol, how to handle students with questions and any lingering safety concerns.

I cried on my way to work on Monday morning. Seeing the faces of all the children on campus Monday morning felt impossibly sad. Sitting in meetings listening to the schedules of the school psychologist and counselor on campus all day for grief counseling was too real. The moment the bell rang, and I switched into "teacher mode" was a lifesaver. While I was in my classroom with my students, I didn't have any time to think about what was going on outside of those walls.

Since all of this has happened, my district has been hard at work identifying potential safety issues at all of our schools and putting plans in motion, both short-term and long-term, in an effort to protect our schools. There has been some surprising resistance from parents to some of the changes, but as far as I am concerned, everything we are doing is in the best interest of keeping the children and the school staff safe, so that we can do our jobs and help children learn without fear of anything else.

Will all of these new changes guarantee completely that something bad will never happen? Of course not. But at least we were trying. The deaths of all of the innocent at Sandy Hook Elementary School - the teachers, the principal and staff, the small children - can't be for nothing. My school and I may not be able to weigh in on huge national decisions like gun control or mental health awareness, but we can work on a smaller scale to protect our school and our children.

My heart goes out to everyone in the community of Sandy Hook Elementary School. For all the tears I have cried and bad dreams I have had, I can't even begin to imagine the depth of their sorrow. To the brave, heroic teachers, both who died and survived, I am honored to share this noble profession with you.

Miss H.