Any teachers? Best classroom tips?

[jayisforjessica]

I'm not even sure if this is in the right place D:

Basically, I'm asking on behalf of my sister, who is a primary school teacher. I saw something in another thread about an alternative/complement to the house points system, which is a Kindness Jar: acts of kindness get a token to put in the jar, the class works together to fill the jar, a full jar nets a reward for the entire class.

She (and I) were wondering if there are any teachers on here who have implemented other neat schemes like this one or who have any other classroom tips and tricks she may not have heard of/come across.

Rockets to the moon, climb to the top of the tree and climb the ladder. Children can be moved up or down. Prize at the end of a week.

Many schools are moving away from extrinsic reward systems: Kohn is an interesting read imo.
www.alfiekohn.org/article/risks-rewards/

I think House Points should be for good work and other rewards should be for good behaviour and good learning behaviour, ie having all the right equipment, moving quietly to the next classroom, getting changed quickly for PE, listening to the teacher when requited to do so, etc . The school should have a Behaviour Policy with something like Golden Rules in it and if this needs to be reviewed, it should be reviewed for the whole school, not just one class. Often a reward system is in place for good behaviours and sanctions for poor behaviour. Teachers often use praise and their own classroom methods for rewarding children, but kindness is often part of the Behaviour Policy. Some children are so squeaky clean, kindness becomes the preserve of the few who learn how to manipulate the system. I personally think children should be thanked for kindness, not rewarded for it.

Staffroom might be a good place to post. I understand the downsides to extrinsic rewards, but DS school hand out "Good Behaviour" certificates willy nilly. All it costs them is a piece of paper and DS is as proud as you like e.g. certificates for sitting still in assembly. Easy way for kids to feel noticed for quietly getting on with what they're meant to be doing, without getting too competitive and who has more points than who about it.

Oh and teacher shared Golden Rules with parents, we have them at home too. Teacher blogs on the school website, photos of what the class have been doing and suggested links to educational website on related theme, helps you chat to DC about what they did at school.

Ds is terrible at getting changed after gym, teacher gives them a few minutes to change then puts a short video on that's connected to their current project, if you haven't finished getting changed you go into the corridor until you are, missing the video. Works like a dream, apparently.