DIY Bookmark Reward

I wanted to do something to reward students who had gotten no mark during the first 3 weeks of this 6 weeks. When I was at the dollar store, I saw they had foam bookmarks with other foam shapes to decorate, so I figured that'd be perfect.

I got all the above supplies for $5 - that's 10 bookmarks, 32 sheets of foam so my kids could cut out whatever shape they wanted, 248 foam letters, and some glue. It was more than enough - I still have lots of foam left over.

So while the rest of the class was working this afternoon, I pulled the 8 who had no marks aside to help them work on their bookmarks. I drew names for the order in which they picked their bookmark color, foam colors, and letters (everyone was able to get the letters they wanted, in the colors they wanted).

The bookmarks turned out really cute and the kids loved it!

Organization Ideas

Today I was looking through the pictures on my phone trying to decide what to post about today. I finally decided just to do a hodgepodge of ideas.

This is an idea I got from pinterest. I put an empty toilet paper roll inside a plastic cup for my popsicle sticks with student names. The popsicle sticks stay inside the roll until after I call on the student. Once I've selected a student I put it there popsicle stick outside the roll, unless I may want to call on them again.

Because I've now spent four years teaching science, and have never actually taught reading, most of my classroom books are about science. Just like I have my other books split up by genre, I split my science books based on topic.

I got this organizer from Dollar Tree. It is perfect for happy notes, nurse passes, change in transportation forms, missing work notices, and other small items.

I bought a bunch of used games and puzzles from thrift stores for indoor recess. I am storing them on a shelf hidden behind a grass skirt, also from the dollar store, that goes along with my Safari theme. Goodwill has a lot of good games and toys for decent prices. I even got a huge tub of Legos.

I do not have a closet in my portable for students to put their backpacks. I do, however, have a coat rack. To store their backpacks, I bought sturdy hangers to make use of the coat rack. Students hook their handle handle around the hanger.

So I don't have to pass everything out separately, I keep whiteboards, dry erase markers, and wash cloths in baggies. The baggies currently being used are gallon sized, which doesn't work as well. My favorite was the 2 gallon bags because the whiteboards could go in sideways and the bag could fold over. This makes it so much easier when every student is using a whiteboard.

Neat Desk Awards

I don't do the whole "desk fairy" thing. Sure, some 4th graders may still like the idea of a magic fairy coming in the classroom at night and looking through their desk, but I think it's a little weird. I want my students to know I'M the one that thinks their desk is neat, that I'M the one that's proud of them, and that I'M the one recognizing them. Call me selfish - whatever.

So, today after school, I went around the desks to find the neatest ones. Yesterday, I actually gave them some time to clean out their desks, so most of them were neat enough (i.e. no random papers stuffed in there). But yesterday I also told my class that I don't like them leaving pencils sitting in their desk - I like pencils to be kept in their pencil bags so they don't get lost or stolen.

I have no idea what made this picture look so weird. Must be the ghosts in my room again.

I waited until today to check for this to see who remembered. Five of them did. So five students got a little reward. And interestingly, 4 of those 5 students were boys. Who would've thought?

We're not allowed to give out candy, so I gave each neat desk a pink eraser and a pencil top eraser. Sometimes it may be a pencil, sometimes a red pen (those get lost a lot!), sometimes a pencil sharpener, or maybe something fun like a mini-slinky or play-dough.

I decided to open up a Teachers Pay Teachers seller's account to keep my freebies. I don't plan on selling anything, it's just a place for you to go to download what I have. I think it's easier than using Google Docs like I have been.

You can click here to get my Neat Desk Award. And this link will take you to my seller's page (aka freebie's page). I'll put more stuff on there whenever I have a chance, but for now, it's off to play hockey!

CHAMPS

CHAMPS is a classroom management technique used at my school. It sets expectations for students for various activities. CHAMPS stand for

Conversation: Can students talk to each other during this activity?
Help: How do students get the teacher's attention and their questions answered?
Activity: What is the task/objective? What is the end product?
Movement: Can students move about during this activity?
Participation: How do students show they are fully participating? What does work behavior look/sound like?
Success: When students meet CHAMPS expectations, they will be successful!

 I changed it up a little bit for my own classroom. For my class, CHAMPS set expectations for

Conversation
Help
Activity
Movement
Post-Activity (What should students do with their assignment when they are finished?)
Supplies (What supplies are needed for this activity?)

I have a CHAMPS board on display in my room. Prior to each activity, I explain the expectations and update the CHAMPS board. Because I do this regularly, my students will remind me if I forget. It really helps them to have a visual reminder.

Jealous of my ugly brown paneling? Of course you are...

So all I have to do is change the strip for that expectation.

The conversation level can be:

• No Talking
• Whisper
• Low Voices

To get help, it may say

• Ask group then raise hand
• Raise hand
• Kidney Table (which is where students go for small groups)

The activity might be

• Individual work
• Group work
• Partners
• Lab
• Test / Quiz

Movement options are

• Stay in your seat
• Stay in your group
• Trashcan and pencil sharpener
• Move around

When students are done with their work, they will

• Keep it
• Turn it in to the Inbox
• Other (I may have some other place I want them to put their work)

Supplies lets students know if they are using

• Pen
• Pencil
• Red Pen
• Supply Boxes (markers, color pencils, etc)
• Glue / Scissors
• Book
• Journal

So if a student asks what to do with their paper, I simply say, "What does CHAMPS say?"
If a student asks if they are supposed to write in pen or pencil (this was for my 5th graders), I say, "What does CHAMPS say?"
After a while, they get the point. Sometimes they'll start to ask me, then turn around and look at the board, because they know that's what I'm going to tell them to do. :-)

Next to my CHAMPS board is a door where I tell students what they are allowed to do when they are finished with their work. I printed out signs, laminated them, and put magnetic tape on the back. It makes it easy to switch out options.

These are my go-to activities that are almost always up. Sometimes, though, I take down VersaTiles depending on how quiet I want to keep it, such as for tests. Other things I may put up are Beat The Clock (to practice math facts), flash cards, acrostic poems (I give them a word), ABC lists (I give them a topic), and probably some others I can't think of right now. My kids know that drawing is never an option, though they sometimes like to see if I've forgotten my own rule.

Now I'm Done is a drawer where I put fun (and usually educational) worksheets. It may have math problems (line designs are popular, and the ones where you solve the problem to determine what color you shade a piece in - I don't remember what they're called), creative writing, using dictionaries, patterns, word searches, etc. Basically, whatever I can find. I don't give bonus points; I don't even check them. Students turn them in to the inbox so I can see what they've done, then I send them right back home with them.

Class Dojo

When I have a difficult class, I'm willing to try almost anything to maintain a productive atmosphere. ClassDojo is one of the things I tried, and it has worked pretty well with my kids.

Once you sign up, you'll create your classes. Since I have two classes, I titled them "homeroom" and "switch class". I know, super creative. In each class, you'll have to input your kids' names. Dojo (as me and my students call it) will randomly assign avatars to each child.

After I put in my students, I changed the positive and negative behaviors to those that work for me.

I don't use it every day because I don't want my kids to get bored with it. I like to change things up to keep it fresh sometimes. When I do use it, I'll either project it on the SmartBoard or on my TV. Apparently you can also use this on your phone while walking around the room and in the halls, but I haven't tried it.

To make it worth their while, the person with the most positives at the end of the day (or sometimes end of the week) will get some kind of reward like a homework pass or a pencil. Students who end up with 3 negatives at the end of the day get a "mark" on their Responsibility Card.

The kids enjoy it, and it provides a little incentive/reminder to stay on task.