Thank you to those who contributed these great ideas! Congratulations to Rebekah! You were randomly selected to receive the gift card from this ShopTalk giveaway. Be sure to watch your email for that prize to arrive. Thank you again to each of you for taking time to share!
Although simple, I find having a Student of the Week is an effective motivation for my students. The reason I pick them is always connected to a character trait I've observed, which provides an opportunity to publically praise each child at least twice over the course of the year. Besides earning small treats, the child then becomes my helper for the week. They all seem to take pride in judging the straight, quiet statues as we wait in the hallway. Plus, their parents receive a certificate telling them why their child is so wonderful!
My students love the "Easy" button, one of those from Staples that talks to you. We don't use it daily so that it's a special event when we do use it. This week we used it when we reviewed our sight words. If they got the sight word they were shown right, they got to push the "Easy" button and hear, "That was easy!" It brings giggles every time it's pressed!
My class is working eliminating "talking explosions"--you know those "everyone-talking-at-once" type things that come whenever the teacher stops talking or we are in a transition, even if it's about the topic it stalls the classtime! We all decide on a privilege each day--outside worktime, pretzel snack, gold token for everyone, etc. and we write that word on the whiteboard. Every time there is a talking explosion, we lose a letter, but we gain points for our teams throughout the day as we choose not to explode with talking at the wrong time. They've loved it--sometimes made it and sometimes not, but it draws their attention to a class goal of progress!
This month, we are working completing our work with NOTHING skipped! Each night as I grade their papers, I choose one child to be our SEATWORK STAR for the next day. They get a certificate, their desk decorated with magnetic stars, and their photo put on our Seesaw account! It's a big deal, but you can only get it with complete and neat work!