Let us take a moment and give kudos to all of the amazing work that our students are and will be doing!
Sometimes we forget that students are learning about themselves, just as much as you are learning about them! As you establish your classroom rules, routines, and positive environment, let us give credit to our students for all of their hard work and effort. They absolutely deserve it!
There are many different methods in which you can acknowledge and support their hard earned efforts. As you continue reading, you will learn about different methods, although there are so many more! Please feel free to customize these methods to fit the needs of your classroom, all while putting your own teaching flare and philosophy to it! Your classroom deserves to be your own, allow your teaching style to influence every aspect of your classroom!
#1: ClassDojo: This application allows the teacher to acknowledge positive behaviors, as well as let students and parents know about the skills that they need to work on. I have incorporated this into my classroom by giving them Dojo Points for skills that they are doing well in, such as participation, thoughtful responses, kindness, organization, and many more! You can also take away dojo points away for skills that they need to work on! Another amazing feature about this app is that you can change the skills to fit your classroom! To help keep parents in the loop, I also print out their Dojo Report for the week every Friday and have their parents sign and return on Monday!
#2: Classroom Economy: This website serves as a classroom economy! I have used this in my classroom by having the kids earn money by completing homework assignments and for doing well on tests! They can also earn money by participating, being kind, or for any skill that you would like to acknowledge! You can customize this to be your own! Please note though, this does take a bit of pre-planning because you will need to print out physical copies of money to give to your students. Students will also need to keep track of their money, therefore keeping a wallet is highly recommended.
Both methods share the idea of earning points and money to accumulate and spend on prizes! These prizes can range from candy, to erasers, to snacks! You can even create a treasure chest!
