My Free & Easy Classroom Reward Binder . . . Or "How I Replaced The Classroom Treasure Chest FOREVER!"

Happy almost-August folks!  I have NO IDEA how we got here so fast, but HERE. WE. ARE.

It's hard to believe that it was almost a year ago that I made a decision to switch schools AND grade levels.  Crazy, right? 

Oh . . . and did I mention that this decision happened a week before the first day of school??!!  As in, my kindergarten room was pretty much set up and ready to go, I was pumped to be starting my 9th year in kindergarten and have some pretty sweet returning families . . . and then IT happened.

I had an opportunity to teach with my teaching bestie Kerri B. 

Ever since I was pink slipped during budget layoffs years ago and we ended up at different school we ALWAYS said how fun/great/wonderful/fabulous/cool it would be if we could ever teach together again . . .

Well, God's timing sure is funny sometimes!

Anyhow . . . if you had NO IDEA that I was in first grade last year that would be because: 1) I fell off the blogging bandwagon, 2) I hardly had time to take a picture of what we were up to AND 3) I had no idea what I was doing most of the time . . . Okay, maybe just SOME of the time.

Luckily, there were some things that I was able to bring over from kindergarten that I easily used with my FAB FIRSTIES. 

One of those was my classroom reward binder!



Once upon a time I did have a treasure chest, and spent lots of time and money making sure that it was well-stocked with lots of fun trinkets, that there were plenty of choices of things for both boys and girls . . . blah, blah, blah.  Then I heard about having a classroom reward binder with things for my kiddos to choose as a prize that were FREE and I. WAS. SOLD.

I had a binder for many years, but last summer I gave it a lil makeover . . . and I hafta say that it is pretty darn cute. Amiright?

If you aren't familiar with the way a classroom reward binder works, it is SO EASY. 

First, you decide what rewards you would like your class to choose from.  I made 24 different reward choices, but I did not actually put all of those choices in my binder.  I wanted to start the year off with a few choices, and then add some more and keep changing the choices up so that my students would stay excited to pick from the binder.

{Disclaimer: There are SOME rewards in the binder that are ALWAYS a choice that my kiddos just loooooooove and they would be crushed if those choices were taken out . . . choices like Stinky Feet, Thump Bump and Fluffy Friend.}

Next, you need to create your binder.  I printed out the reward choices full-size and put them in page protectors in our classroom reward binder. Anytime a student earns a reward, they know where the binder is and they can flip through and peruse the choices. :)


 
In the back of the binder I put in baseball card collector sheets.  I found mine at a local sports memorabilia store and was able to buy them by the sheet.  These are the perfect size to store the reward coupons in!  When a student picks a reward, they take the corresponding coupon from the back of the binder. So easy and convenient!  

The coupons serve as a reminder - students sometimes leave their coupon in their pencil box so they remember they have (fill in the blank prize) the next day OR some rewards need a take-home reminder . . . like if they chose Fluffy Friend and want to bring a favorite stuffed animal to school the next day.  Their lil coupon that they take home will be a great reminder at home to pick their stuffed animal and pack it in their backpack.



Finally, you need to have your classroom reward plan in place.  My reward binder corresponds to my classroom behavior chart. Students who move their pin up get a sticker at the end of the day that they put into their work folder on a little chart.  When a student gets 5 stickers, they get to pick a reward.  After they get a reward, they have to work to get 5 more stickers, and so on.  This part can totally be tailored to whatever works best for you and your students.

The point is that rewarding your students can be much, much easier.  And cost-effective.  And fun.

Ready for a cute story?

Once I was gone for a teacher training and one of my ittiest bittiest kiddos went right up to the substitute teacher for that day and announced to him, "I have STINKY FEET!"  Well, that sub was pretty confused and didn't know what to say, so he just tried to ignore the Itty Bitty.  So she said it again . . . "No really, I have STINKY FEET today!"  Finaaaaaaaaaaaaaaally, after some explaining from the other students (and a classroom aide who happened to be in the room), the sub realized that Itty Bitty was trying to tell him that she had a reward called Stinky Feet for the day - which basically meant she got to take her shoes off all day. :)


Interested in making the jump from a treasure chest to a classroom reward binder?  Or perhaps you already are doing the reward binder but it's time for a lil update?  You can check out my Free & Easy Classroom Rewards in my TPT store HERE.

 

 

 

Well, that's it for now.  I'm off to have some delicious BBQ with the family . . . hooray for summer break! :)

 

Talk to y'all soon!

 

Lindsay

 

 

 

 

Taming the Wild - One Behavior Chart At A Time . . .

Hi folks!

Lindsay here . . .

Tonight we are linkin' up with the peeps over at Blog Hoppin' once again for Teacher Week! Woohoo!

Tonight's topic: "Taming the Wild" (a.k.a. Classroom Management). 

This is an easy topic to blog about tonight, because I love, love, LOVE the behavior system that Kerri and I use in our classrooms.  It's easy AND effective! 

Part 1: The Behavior Clip Chart

I'm sure many of you have seen (or have yourselves) clip charts of all different shapes, sizes, colors and themes.  My clip chart has seven levels.  Each day my students start on GREEN, which means they are "Ready to Learn".  Throughout the day I move pins up AND down.  The first time a student pulls their pin down, they end up on YELLOW, which is "OOPS!".  There is no actual consequence for having your pin on OOPS, but for MOST kids the mere thought of having to get up in front of everyone and go pull you pin down is enough to keep them in line. Most of the time.

The ORANGE, RED and PURPLE levels on the chart are for the other 5% of the kiddos in your class who will need more of a consequence. The second time a student pulls their pin, they "LOSE 5 MINUTES" . . . this can be 5 minutes of Free Choice Time, Recess, etc.  It is really up to the teacher's discretion.  Another pin pulled equals "LOSE 10 MINUTES". And finally, at the bottom of the chart, is PHONE CALL HOME . . . which in my classroom, students know will be made from the Principal's Office.  I think I could probably count on one hand how many times I have had a child move their pin all the way down that far . . .

On the other extreme, I also am busy moving students up on the behavior chart throughout the day. I honestly think I probably spend MORE time "catching" students being good and making a big deal of moving one or two kiddos up (so that the rest of my little wiggle worms snap to attention!) than I do of pulling pins.  If I student gets moved up to BLUE (a.k.a. "Totally Awesome"), they earn a sticker.  When a student earns 5 days worth of stickers in their folder, they get to move their pin to RAINBOW, or "WOW". When a student is on RAINBOW, they get to pick a prize from the Prize Binder. 

The thing that I truly L-O-V-E about this behavior system is that students ALWAYS have the opportunity to turn their day around and improve!  When I have a student who has pulled their pin I like to give them reminders throughout the day for them to make better choices.  I am so proud when kiddos take pulling their pin seriously and really put in effort to change their behavior for the rest of the day!

Part 2: The Behavior Log

In order to help me keep track of students' behavior on a daily basis, AND to help keep students accountable to mom and dad for their behavior as well, I use a behavior log.  The behavior log tracks students' behavior and classwork every day.  (Warning: Having 30 five year olds fill in their behavior sheets the first six weeks of school is hellish. HELLISH I TELL YOU!  But . . . it DOES get better!)

At the end of every day before I have my kiddos pack up to go home (or before we clean up for Choice Time) we review the Behavior Chart.  SOMETIMES I have kids who had pulled their pin earlier in the day and reeeeeeeeeeeeeally tried hard to have a better day, so I might move them back up to GREEN.  Other kids might stay where they are. Or I may have one or two more kiddos who I want to move up to BLUE.  It just depends on the day.

Then, I send ALL of the kids to take their behavior log out of their folders at their table, color the little behavior bubble at the bottom whatever color they ended their day on (using the Behavior Chart), and they get to give themselves a happy face for "Classwork" if all of their work is finished. (More on that tomorrow when Kerri talks about teaching tips & tricks!) 

At the end of every week, I take the behavior logs out of all of the students' folders, make notes or corrections if necessary (especially in the beginning of the year!), and I file the logs into my Homework Bin so that they get sent home the following Monday in the HW folder.  That way parents can easily glance and see what kind of day their kiddo had last week.  MOST of the time parents tell me that their kiddos are super honest, and all they have to do is ask what color they ended their day on and they get a pretty good idea of how their behavior was.

Part 3: The Prize Binder

The Prize Binder was not always the Prize Binder.  Once upon a time I did have a "Treasure Chest" full of all sorts of odds and ends and random things that my kidlets always thought were cool.  But over time I felt like I was spending too much time and money keeping my treasure chest full and exciting.

Sooooo . . . Kerri and I created a Prize Binder! :)

This is the cover of my classroom Prize Binder - pretty darn cute if I do say so myself . . .

Inside the Prize Binder are also different prize choices for students to choose from when they get their 5th blue day (or 10th, 15th, etc.).  The beauty of the Prize Binder is that all of the prizes are absolutely free for the teacher to provide and usually pretty easy as well.  And there are so many choices!  Here are just a few  . . .

Ball Boss - a good choice for all those boys that ALWAYS want the ball first! :)

Stinky Feet - Kinda gross, but usually a kid favorite . . .

Swip Swap - Kiddos LOVE switching spots for the day in class.  So exciting, right?

And finally . . . Scout Out.  For whatever reason my class last year LOVED to help me scout out good behavior. We give out "Best on the Beach" certificates, and my little "scout" would be in charge of catching people showing our schoolwide character traits to get a Best on the Beach.  It was so sweet to watch - the biggest prize of all to them was to catch OTHERS doing nice things. 

 Sigh.  I love THOSE kind of teacher moments. :)

In order to make the prizes a bit more tangible for the kids (and to keep track of who picked what prize) we shrunk the prize choices down to be coupon-sized . . .

And this is what all of the different prize coupons look like in the front of the prize binder. Once a student makes their choice, they can take their coupon home to show mom and dad! :)



So there you have it folks!  All you need is a Behavior Chart, Behavior Log and a Prize Binder and you are set to go!!

Well, I am off to bed. Goodnight friends!

Lindsay