Class Rewards

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I am so excited about my new rewards system for class.  For some time, I have used carnival type tickets on a daily basis.  Students would place earned tickets into a basket for a drawing on Friday.  The usual rewards were soda, candy, chips, etc.  I really think the kids started to get bored with this after awhile, and I wanted to do something besides junk food!  So, after surveying my classes at the end of the year, and after some research, I created a new system.

I will continue to use the tickets on a daily basis, but I will use coupons printed on business cards as prizes which range from picking their own seats for the day to wearing a  hat to class all week.  So many of these are things they ask for all the time---why I never thought to use them as rewards before, I cannot say.

I've posted a couple of pics of the cover and some of the coupons.  There are twenty total, and they are available for download on my TeachersPayTeachers account.  I would leave to hear from you if you use them and have any new ideas to add.  Keep in mind---these are created with 8th graders in mind, so they may or may not be suitable for younger students.

Link to download the reward coupons

Passes

Teenagers love to get out of class---there are so many important things which must be done outside of the classroom!  From texting, meeting a buddy in the hall, fixing hair and make-up, there is always a request.  Of course we don't just allow middle schoolers to run at will, it is nice to have some sort of record of when and who goes out of the room.  Our students carry date planners which we have tried to use as records of passes, but not all teachers stick with it, and there are always those who show up to class without them.  I want something I can keep in my room that students take responsibility for completing themselves.  I don't always have time to write passes and records of them.

This idea is based on a homework binder I found on Pinterest.  When students don't have homework, they have to write a record in a binder, so the teacher has it documented.  I am SOOOOOOO using this idea as well---I've shared it below.

Just click on the link below.

Homework Binder

Sorry---I digressed a bit there.  Anyway, I am going to make a binder available for students to record their classroom outings.  We are required to provide laminated passes when students leave class, but this binder will provide a documentation.  When I have a conference, or when the principal wants to know who was out when the bathroom was toilet papered, I can help.  Before students may leave the room, they will be required to fill out the log in the binder.  Knowing how much 8th graders love this stuff, it might even deter the number of requests I get to leave!

Below is a picture of the binder cover and a link to my account on Teachers Pay Teachers for you to download the cover sheet and log.  It's a Freebie!  If you like it, I would love feedback and a Pin.  :-)

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Hall-Pass-Record-Log

Greek Monsters

I miss the days of teaching Greek mythology---kids love the monsters, heroes, gods and goddesses and all of their wacky stories.  Can't teach it anymore---it isn't in our new prescribed reading program.  We just began last year, and every day, I felt like I was Odysseus battling yet again another monster.  No novels allowed---only the basal.  This program is more scripted than the worst B-movie ever made!

So... since my principal wouldn't allow me to retire 10 years early, I have determined this summer to research and find the best strategies that "fit" with the program and would be acceptable by those in charge.  Not really an easy task, but I have to find some way to combine the best of teaching with...well...the "monster" I will refer to as Colossus.