Teacher Week - Creative Ideas

So I'm still a day behind for teacher week but I won't be able to participate in the classroom tour since I don't have my own classroom, and won't meet my coaching teacher until tomorrow. So to get caught up...Creative Ideas:

I decided to post a behavior management tool that I used when I taught at the after school program. Our program was VERY structured and we were even periodically observed by the Department of Education so in many ways it was just an extension to the school day, not time to play and goof off. The exception to this rule was Fridays. Friday's the children did not have homework and we would have a "fun" day with team building activities. The other second grade teacher and I decided we would plan a special activity for each Friday that the students would have to earn throughout the week. It normally consisted of two parts.

1) A craft or special game that involved prep work (in other words something that we would not normally play during structured recreation time). Some of the things included a Dr. Seuss party, a flying objects day with kites and foam airplanes, making play dough, a st Patrick's day party with Irish food etc... (you get the idea, plan something that fits into your day or curriculum) sometimes it was simply freezer pops and extra play time outside.

2) A special prize for the Students who had the best behavior during the week. Normally this would relate to the activity. On the day that we brought in "flying objects" these students got to pick a kite or airplane to keep. If it was a day with freezer pops these kids might get a larger type of popsicle.

Here is how they earned their "Fun Fridays":

Each student received a business card size behavior card. They would write their names in the center box. I normally printed them on card stock but you can print them on the business card sheets too. This was my back to school one, we used these in September. The pictures would change each month.

Each day Monday-Thursday the kids had the chance to get three of the apples punched. One for behaving during snack time, one for good behavior during homework and lesson time, and one for over all (this would include being in the hallway and structured rec time.)

If you are following me, this means that the students could potentially have all 12 pictures punched by Friday. To earn "Fun Friday" they had to have at least 7 punched (about two a day) normally about 95% of the class earned this. To earn the "extra" prize they had to have at least 10 punched this was normally about 4 students.

So, I'm sure you're wondering what happened to the students that didn't earn 7 punches.This was normally only one or two students out of 25. Normally they would spend some quiet time in the classroom for about 15 minutes(I was lucky enough to have an assistant who could sit with them) they could read or just sit quietly. Then, depending on the activity for they could join us or play a game in the classroom until we were finished.

Other uses:

• Instead of punching holes, put stickers over the apples
• Instead of doing an activity each week it could be each month (you could add more pictures or only punch one a day.
• Instead of having a time limit, give a student a prize when they fill their card (choose from the prize box or maybe a homework pass?)

I hope this is easy to follow but if you have any questions or if you want the PDF just let me know.

-JoAnne