Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Tried It Tuesday...but need to keep trying it?

Let me start by saying that my thoughts are with the families in Oklahoma.
I can't even begin to imagine what they are going through right now.
I feel so lucky and grateful for all that I have.
 
On a completely different note,
I'm linking up with Holly from Fourth Grade Flipper
for her weekly
Photobucket
 
Last week I tried a new behavior incentive that I read on another blog.
During each transition period, I would time the kids.
At the end of the day, we needed to add up all the lost time.
If it was less than the day before, everyone would get five minutes of game time.
 
It sounded great!
My kids love competition and playing games.
It would be a fun way to end the school year.
I knew it would work.
 
WRONG!
 
Here are the problems.
1. I don't always remember to time the kids.
2. In the six days we have been doing it, they only beat their score once.
3. The kids are starting to nag each other when I am timing them.
I keep hearing, "Johnny, come on!!"
We have had to remind each other about giving kind reminders.
 
So, I don't know if I'm going to keep going with this plan.
Does anyone have any suggestions?
 


4 comments:

  1. I just count down from 30 or 10 or whatever. Seems to light a fire under them ;)

    I would HATE the nagging too. At least you tried it though and spared me from having to :)

    Stephanie
    Teaching in Room 6

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  2. I do the countdown thing, too, like Stephanie. I am not dedicated enough to deal with always having a timer, always remembering to time them, all the nagging that would occur, and all the fighting because of the nagging! Clearly, I'm not that dedicated.

    If you wanted to keep doing this, because it's helping them, then maybe you could tell them they get 10 minutes of free time, minus how much time they waste at the end of the day or something.

    Good luck!

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  3. I can just picture the same issues in my classroom too with this method. There are so many transitions that it would be difficult to keep track of each one and time it. I like Erika's suggestion above if you did keep timing them though. Thanks for linking up!
    ~Holly
    Fourth Grade Flipper

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  4. I feel your pain. I've tried something similar in the past, and I just wasn't diligent enough to keep it up. I'm considering something I saw on Pinterest once. The teacher had magnetic wooden letters spelling the word "NOISE" on her board. When there is unnecessary talking, she removes the the E, then the S, and then the I. When NO is left, that means they lose a pre-determined amount of free/recess time.

    I use the countdown method, too. That gets them moving. But I've recently tried something more like a chant and my principal mentioned how effective she thought it was. When I'm ready to start the next lesson, I say loudly "3, 2, 1" and the class needs to chant back "Talking's Done!"

    Stacy
    Second Grade Signpot

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