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1) Behavior Bucks and
2) Questions from Colleagues
1) Behavior Bucks
From Nancy Morrison (drpepper@elkhart.com), a third grade teacher at Elkhart
Elementary School in Elkhart, Kansas:
"I adopted this system from my sister who is also a teacher and it works
great! At the beginning of each 9 weeks, each child receives $25.00 in play
money. Anytime they break a classroom or school rule, they are charged a fee.
Breaking rules that COST them include such things as not returning homework,
disrespect to the teacher or peers, abusing computer limits, etc.
"At the end of the 9 weeks, I have a celebration. I charge a fee such as $10.00 as a cover charge. Then I assign prices to the amenities like $2.00 for popcorn, $1.00 for pop, $4.00 to read a book to the class, $5.00 to be the teacher for 30 minutes and the kids just love this. They are not allowed to lend money to friends and I have truly seen a change in the behavior of my kids. Those that do not have enough money for the cover charge are the waiters and waitresses and believe me in the fact that they are so jealous of the others that they make sure they are NOT the servants at the next party.
"Parents have loved this idea and even come in on reward days to help out and join the fun. The kids EARN the right to keep their money and the end result is worth all the money in the world!"
2) Questions from Colleagues
We received many suggestions for the treasure chest question below so we decided to publish a few more responses.
Question: From Barbara Roth (barbmae@verizon.net), a third grade teacher:
"I love the idea of the punch card and the treasure chest. I've heard of
the treasure chest many times before. Any suggestions of what really inexpensive
things I can put in there? Would something like big stickers be ok? I don't
want to get into any competition as to what one gets from the treasure chest
or trying to think of things to put in it. I suspect that anything would be
ok, but just wondering what others have used."
Answer: From Pat Hannon (bobhannon68@msn.com), a second grade teacher at Kiel
School in Kinnelon, NJ:
"One of my colleagues suggested this many years ago and we have been using
it ever since. At the beginning of every school year, we send a note home to
parents asking for any leftover prizes from birthday parties that we can add
to our treasure chest. You would not believe the goodies parents are glad to
get rid of!"
Question: From (smazurco@peoplepc.com):
"I am looking for creative ideas to start the year in a foreign language
classroom grades 6-8, perhaps the 1st or 2nd day of school before getting into
the textbook chapters."
Answer: From Carol O’Neill (jjoneill@uscom.com), a fourth and fifth grade
Spanish teacher in Marlton, New Jersey:
"I think that the "ice-breaker" activity is a good one for the
beginning of the year, but also any other time as well. Divide a piece of paper
into as many squares as you want - probably at least 12 - 16. At the top of
the paper it would say, "Find someone that..." Inside each square
or box, write a description, in Spanish, of course, using grade appropriate
vocabulary/grammar. Some examples would be 1) someone who has two brothers;
2) someone who went to the beach this summer 3) someone who read the new Harry
Potter - whatever you want to use. Copy enough for everyone. The students need
to find classmates who fit the description and have them sign-off in the square.
No English allowed, if possible. It gets the students up and moving, and lets
them learn something about their classmates. It is noisy, but fun!"
New Question: From Linda (Lin4G@aol.com):
"I am looking for ideas on how to handle students' test papers after they
are graded. I used weekly folders to send tests home. All tests were to be signed
and returned in the folder the following day. Upon return I checked to make
all were folders were returned and all tests were signed and returned. I kept
tests and returned them to students at the end of each marking period. I would
like a more efficient and less time consuming method. I've thought of some alternate
ways and would be glad for suggestions."
Answer: (?)
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