Today marks Rimwe's first guest blog! This post is from Ms. Amonda Davis, a 3rd grade teacher at Emerson Elementary School in Amarillo, TX and one of Dr. Perdue's former students.
Enjoy!
Interested in writing a guest blog? Tell us!
Our school uses a PBS, positive behavior system, chart to motivate students into making good choices. Students begin each day starting on white. When making a good choice, students can move their clip up to green, then blue. Some even try to make it to double blue, which in my classroom also means that they get a bulldog buck. When bad choices are made, clips move down the chart. White is considered neutral, though yellow is a warning and red means going to the office. The beauty of this system is that even if the student is on yellow, they can always move back up if they try. Usually, when I move a student down I offer a line of encouragement like " I'm going to be watching you to see if we can move your clip back up." Rarely do students make it to red, which means that they are not missing valuable instruction time, preventing others from learning, or sitting in the office. When the end of the day rolls around, a spreadsheet with a class roster is opened and values are given for the color that the students ended up on are recorded. Blue is awarded five points, green four points, white three points, yellow and red do not earn points. Each point is awarded a bulldog buck, which I usually pay out on Fridays. Students can then use these bulldog bucks to purchase supplies, toys, clothing, games, etc. We usually shop at the Bulldog Flea Market once every two weeks. Occasionally, teachers offer their own prizes like watching a movie during lunch or extra recess. Very rarely, a student comes along that is not motivated by bulldog bucks. If that happens, I try to make an even bigger deal out of them and usually the student will become interested. Seeing the other students with toys and fun things can be very motivational. I have used this system for the last nine years and cannot imagine my classroom functioning without it.
One of my favorite motivators is what I call "Dollars on the Table". I teach about 19 students an SRA corrective reading program that lasts about an hour. It is not the most exciting thing in the world for any of us, though I have seen some gains. Many times the students are bored and need encouragement, that's where bulldog bucks come in. I choose how many dollars, usually 2-3, and set them on the table next to each student. Students know that they may not have these dollars until the end of the class period. Anytime a student is off task, one warning is given. If the behavior is not corrected then a dollar is removed. It seems that since the students can see their reward they are constantly reminded what they are working for. This has been amazing! I do not use this everyday, but usually once towards the end of the week when students seem to be unmotivated.
The Solver Blog
Author: Amonda Davis