Classroom Rewards without the Stress

Do you use classroom rewards?
Classroom rewards are 100% necessary in our classroom. I know we want to teach children with intrinsic motivation to do the right thing and work hard on their own. However, even I need a sweet treat or a little retail therapy as a reward for a long day of work. So, why should I withhold that from the kiddos in my classroom?

Dollars, Dojos, Stickers, Galore!
There are a million different ways to work out a reward system in your classroom, and I've tried tons of them.

My first year teaching I tried the regular classroom dollars. I copied them, laminated them, and cut them out for my kids to use. I taught 1st, and it worked perfectly fine. Well, except for the fact that on Fridays I would sometimes forget to open up our treasure chest shop. Sometimes my kids would bring them into the bathroom with them and bring them back...wet. GROSS. They would also pile up in their seat sacks or be brought home accidentally.

I switched to sight word dollars the next year. I really loved these in first grade. My kiddos had to read the word on the dollar to spend them in the treasure chest. It really helped a lot of my kids learn more words than even they thought they could learn. And, you better believe they were phoning every friend about an unknown word on a dollar and practicing it over and over when shopping day came around. If you teach first and you're interested in trying them out, I have a free set here. Or, you can buy the complete set here.

But, I still had the same problem as before. Dollars made their own trips to the bathroom, went missing, or started piling up on busy Fridays.

The next year, I moved to second grade so sight word memorization wasn't as important as first grade. I switched to stickers then - mainly because it was so easy. I gave my kids index cards and they stuck a sticker to it as rewards. I stuck the stickers on their clips at the end of the day if they moved up (1 sticker for first move, 2 stickers for two moves, 3 stickers for three moves). It worked better because they made less trips to the bathroom and less trips home. The cards fit nicely in their pencil boxes so no cards went missing. But, we still had the same spending issue. Fridays got busy, and we'd forget to open up our classroom store. Stickers would pile up on their cards. Blah, blah, blah.

So, I went back to brainstorming. First, I found these amazing coupons from Proud to be Primary and this QR Code Prize pack from Teach Create Motivate. I love these because my class wasn't so reliant on the treasure chest and me bringing it out every Friday. I can rotate in things like bring a cuddly friend, have lunch with a friend, extra tech time, etc. I keep them all in my coupon tub for easy access. 

But, I was still left with the awkward way to spend these dollars. I started using Class Dojo at this time so I knew I could just use Dojo points as dollars, but I needed some way to let my kids spend them. I knew I didn't want to prep dollars. I knew I wanted to make it easy for my kids to spend. 

This is when I started brainstorming a 

Dojo Credit Card.

How does it work? 

It took me a little while to get this idea figured out. But, now that I have all the kinks worked out - I absolutely love it. My kids each have a credit card with their name on it. On the back, I put a QR code for my kids to scan. When they scan it with an iPad, it shows each of them their current balance in their account. 

But the real magic is that I can automatically update their accounts from my computer. This is how I saved myself all the headache of printing, laminating, and cutting hundreds of dollars. 

When my kiddos scan their cards, it shows them a balance just like this.

It looks like this on my end. So it's super easy for me to go into each one of their accounts to change their amounts. I update their account every Friday with their weekly Dojo points. It also allows me to fine them (messy desks, missing dry erase markers, etc) or reward them (clean desks, classroom game winners, etc) extra dollars instead of linking everything to behavior. 

 

I also have my kids write their own receipts for spending dollars. They write down all the items they want to buy with the prices. They have to do all the math and leave it on my table. I simply check the math and leave the rewards on their desk the next morning. My kids know they have to wait until the afternoon, and I will leave all their rewards on their table. If the math is wrong or if they don't have enough money, I'll just put it back on their table with a note about it. Interested in trying this out in your own classroom? Leave me a comment or message me on Instagram. 

Easy peasey lemon squeezy. 

How to Lose the Review Week Blues

I don't know about you, but review weeks always feel so boring to me. Our review weeks are always during our end of unit test. We review previous skills for two days and then test for two days. We do a lot of review worksheets (as their study guides) and it all feels so boring. I mean, the groans of a review week are heard loud in my classroom so I really wanted to turn that around.

I know you've seen the classrooms on Instagram that completely transform their classroom into a crime scene and black out all their walls with garbage bags. I love those rooms. I wish I could be those rooms. But, here's the thing: I don't think I could handle that.

Now - I am here to say that I love my kids. I really do. And, I would do absolutely anything it if would help them learn. But, I am a terrible actor for classroom scenarios. I usually begin pretty well (cc: Elf on the Shelf and Quiet Critters), but I always have a difficult time keeping it up. When our "magic apple" broke that gave one child the power to pick up a quiet critter, I definitely didn't panic enough leading them all to doubt the real magical abilities of quiet critters (okay, they were probably doubting it before but...). So, I knew that pretending there was a murder or giant crime scene was out of the question. No way could I pretend for that long.

And, so this project was born.

First, I did a little classroom prep.

  

This slide is from Teach Create Motivate and her awesome pack of Classroom Timer Slides. I didn't find any secret agent slides, but this blank one worked pretty well. Also, the 20 minute timer was just until our first...roadblock. I found the caution tape in the party section in Hobby Lobby.

I have 21 students so I broke them up into 7 groups. This worked well for some of my kiddos that leave my room throughout the day so no one was left working alone.

To break them up into their groups, I taped a number somewhere on their desk for them to locate. Obviously, as their first mission as agents, it couldn't be an easy challenge.

They first had to decode their group. I really didn't tell them much except to find your group. I had some very confused faces, but most people found their number really quickly which sent my confused kiddos searching their desk for their number. Then, they had to tell me what group they were in. You'd be surprised at how many kiddos told me so confidently that they were in the "ruh foe" group (rfou --> four) or the "neo" group. Once the first few figured out they were numbers, most figured it out pretty quickly after that. 

After they figured out their team, they all met up at their numbers. 

  

Unfortunately, their team spot had no clues. So, they had to find their magnifying glass hidden at their center and find their packet. 

  

The team numbers were written pretty small. Some kids could still read it, but a lot needed the magnifying glass to figure it out. My goal was the have them all use a magnifying glass, but I didn't know how big size 6 font would be. And, once I'd made that long walk to the copier...I made it work.

After this fun, we got to the meat of the activity. This is also the first time I gave my kids any real instructions. Yes, they got through all the other parts through a process of elimination and looking at what others were doing! 

Instead of a crime scene or mystery, I had my kids solve riddles. My kids also love jokes so this was right up their alley.

  

My kids had 4 review items (two task cards and two worksheets) to complete so I broke up the answers into 4 clue cards. Some had jumbled words or I broke up a word into different letters to add in a little extra challenge. At the end of each question/task card, they checked in with me. I was also walking around the whole time and meeting with all my groups to correct an errors early on. If all their answers were correct, they received a clue. I jumbled up some of the words on the clue if it was a sentence. If it was one word, I just broke up the word. My kids are in third so the jumbled words worked well for them. If you have younger kiddos, you could probably just break up the words. 

   

Now, if we weren't listening to directions or started being too bossy with our team, our team received a negative. I was very clear about these negatives before we began so they knew they would be coming. My negatives really just meant I cut up one of your clues - some more than others mainly just depending on how many negatives a team had gotten. You can also see on the "bark" written on the top that it got cut up a little bit more. If you have younger kiddos, your negatives could definitely just be cutting up parts of a word that wasn't jumbled. 

I also waited until halfway through when some of my kids started getting tired of working or started getting a little *too* bossy with our friends to add a little roadblock. 

We lost power. 

Yep, I closed the curtains and cut off all the lights. A few of my groups just stared around the room saying, "Well, I can't read the words now!"

   

And, then the first group found their flashlight hidden around their group. 

What was so great about all of this was how much my kids started noticing their surroundings. I tell them thousands of times a day, "Take in your surroundings! What are the other kids doing?" Then today, I finally saw them utilizing that! This also added in a new positive element. If you were working well as a team or answered a few questions within a worksheet correctly, I rewarded their teams with another flashlight. 

A few suggestions: I wouldn't put all of their clue packets in the same place. A lot of my groups just met up at their clue packets so I had three groups crowded on the carpet and had to send them back to their task cards. You definitely could give them more instructions when they first began, but I really enjoyed the explorer element to the start of our activity. It definitely added a little more time to the start, but I enjoyed seeing my kids problem solving strategies in use. 

Final conclusions: I loved this activity. It really let me have individual time with each students on the skills we were working on. It really got my kids talking with their partners about topics. I definitely plan on repeating, but what I loved most was how easy it would be to incorporate this activity into another reading unit or math lesson. Also, it really amused me how much more interested my kids were in reading when they got to do it with a flashlight and with a magnifying glass. 10/10 would recommend. 

Interested in trying this in your classroom? Download a copy of my clues and riddles here.

GET TO KNOW YOU GAMES (with your curriculum)

Do you use a Reading Basal at your school? My first year of teaching started with a Basal (Reading Street). For my first year, it really was fantastic. All my lessons were laid out in front of me. On TPT and Pinterest, I could search "Reading Street First Grade" and find countless resources online. There were blogs devoted completed to this reading program! After a while though, I started to feel tied down to this curriculum. Honestly, I became a little lazy with it. I knew the ins and outs of it. I knew how the powerpoints went so I didn't have to study much before I taught a lesson.

After two years of teaching with a Basal, I moved to a school without one. I was so excited for this! My school used thematic units and the district had written their own "Basal" to go with it. After starting the year, the excitement started to wear off when I realized that I had to find or make most everything to go with this unit. So. Much. Work. But, this was truly to best thing to happen to me. I learned so much about myself as a teacher. I learned what I liked, what I didn't, what my kids liked, etc. Every Friday, I sat down and planned out my entire week. I found all my anchor charts, centers, and Guided Reading books. I read all my books beforehand and put sticky notes with questions to engage higher order thinking questions. It wasn't easy. It took a lot of time. But, I truly grew as a teacher during this time.

Now - I'm moving to a new school in a new district in a new state. So, I'm starting all over again. This time - with a Reading Basal. I'll be teaching 3rd Grade Wonders. Anybody out there using this!? If so, share your advice or favorite resources.

My first step was the head over to Pinterest, Google, and TPT. I wanted to find bloggers and packs that I liked! For about 3 weeks, I just Wish Listed all of these items. I met with my team to discuss their resources and what they knew about the program. I picked their brains on what they thought it was lacking. My first step was to try to organize a newsletter to my parents. I know that each week I want to send out a newsletter to my parents with details from our week. I finally settled on this newsletter design:

(Interested in this newsletter format? Leave a comment, and I'd love to send it to you! I created mine on Google Docs so it will automatically update to my classroom Weebly. Or, would you be interested in purchasing all the units already filled out for Wonders?)

My next step was to see what each week contained - what will I cut and what will I keep? Something that really stuck out to me about Wonders in 3rd is that they cut the day-to-day plan. This was honestly the hardest adjustment for me. I loved having my day laid out, and, while I enjoy the freedom of playing with my days, I am missing that built in structure.

I know the best way to get to know a program is always just to study and jump right in, but I like to have a little background info before I start ironing out all the kinks. What do you do when you're getting ready for a new curriculum?

BACK TO SCHOOL

My Teachers Pay Teachers cart is full of classroom posters, get to know me activities, and teacher binders galore. This year, I'm cutting down on my wasted time. I decided to narrow down my back to school time and prioritize what I really needed to do before the beginning of the year. Here's my list of the Top 4 of Back to School prep.

1) Get to know your curriculum and plan.

I think this applies for most any teaching position - whether you've been there none, one, or twenty years. For me? I'm starting at a brand new school with a brand new grade in a brand new state. So - you guessed it - everything is brand new. (*panic attack* any new teachers/teachers switching out there?) Here's something a retired teacher told me once that really stuck with me - your curriculum is the most important thing for you to learn as a teacher. When I first heard this, it crushed me. I LOVE my themes. But, if you don't know your curriculum and you don't plan well, it doesn't matter if your classroom is Disney World. But...I still keep themes on my list. :)  I'll divide this into 2 sections - the newbies and the experienced.

- Newbies:
The first question to ask after getting your job: Do you have a Basal or what reading/math curriculum do you use? This is so important! Study this. Learn this. Pin this. TPT this. I'm not kidding. The experienced teachers at school will take care of you. They will! They won't leave you to the wolves. But, I have always found that having a little bit of a foundation or background in the curriculum makes asking questions, getting advice, and organizing my classroom so much easier. Here's my challenge to all my newbies out there: survive and thrive!

- Experienced:
I don't know about you, but throughout the whole year I think, "I'm going to organize this over the summer," or "I wish I had _____ instead," or "I wish there was a pack that had _____." Take this time right now to do/find ALL of that! Take an hour - 30 minutes and think about your year last year. Was there anything that worked? Anything that didn't? I am a firm believer that there is always room for improvement. And, here's my challenge to you: change something up! Reorganize your classroom, update some centers, add a new group. I think this is so important because it's certain to make every year feel fresh.

My goal: Have newsletters with our standards and posters for the standards ready to go for each week. I know prepping centers will take up a lot of my time so I want to free up time to focus on that! I'm also planning on writing about each of my units at the end of my teaching lessons. I want to remember what I loved and what I hated.

2) Decide your classroom set up and theme (my favorite).

With this step, I really reflect on my curriculum and my goals for the year. If I'm wanting centers to drive my instruction, I know I need to have places to store centers, places for my kids to go, etc. I always plan my classroom so centers can flow seamlessly. I have all my kids line up with their groups, rotate at once, and go to their area quietly and quickly. When planning my classroom, I know I need easy places for them to line up and rotate. If I put a desk in the way, someone is going to run into the desk daily.

Pick your theme! And choose it well! After all, when your room is a wreck and you're stressed to the brim...make sure your theme and decorations will bring you joy! Is it the same? Are you changing it? Make sure you've got all your stuff laminated and cut out early! I try to add something new to my classroom each year. I find it helps to make the year feel brand new and exciting. Plan early and get it done! You're going to have so much on your mind getting ready for the first day and Meet the Teacher. I've also learned...recruit your friends! My first year my friends were SO SWEET to help me cut (shout out to Meg and Elyse!). I learned my husband is a terrible cutter... :/, but my mom loves cutting lamination and is an A+ cutter. I can send her with stacks on stacks and she'll be done within the hour.

My goal: Have places in my classroom for flexible seating for morning work. I love this new trend of flexible seating, but my orderly teacher nature panics a little bit. I want to try to incorporate some choice into seating without giving up my desks.

3) Plan out your first week and have copies/activities ready.

Every year, I spend weeks and weeks planning my room and my theme. And, every year...the first day always sneaks up on me. I am determined to have everything ready. You may already have this, but sit down and plan out your whole week. I don't know why, but over the summer I always forget how long is takes my kids to complete things. I think it also depends on your kids! I've had slowpokes and I've had early finishers. Sit down and plan out each day. Pick out books, activities, tours, etc.

My goal: I want to write on my schedule how long each activity takes. I'm also going to try to document if my kids enjoyed an activity or not. Why waste time on something they hate? I always forget this when the new year comes. I also am currently working on having all of my Brag Tags, Coupons, and Classroom Economy printed and laminated before the first day. And...I've never done any of this before! :/ I'll let you know how it goes!

4) Plan your parental involvement, correspondence, and interaction.

I say this because I always find it's important to set a standard with all parents. You want them to know from Meet the Teacher exactly how they can contact you, find out information, and get updates. Make sure you set your standard early! It's so hard to go back on something or change it later on in the year.

My goal: I want to have all my parents sign up for Remind. Usually, I get almost all, but this year I'm offering a reward for my kids and parents (I'm still working on it, but I'm thinking...homework pass?) for signing up. I also want to have many of our announcements scheduled out. Curriculum night? I can go ahead and schedule that. Holidays? I can schedule those to go out now. I'm going to try writing all of my scheduled announcements in my planner. Why? That way if a snow day comes out of the blue and we have to make up a day...I can cancel it before any confusion arises!

What do you find to be important? What are your Top 4?