Saturday, October 25, 2014

Five for Friday/Student Motivation: Quarterly Incentive

I am going to be linking up with both Doodle Bugs and Head over Heels!



As a fifth grade team, we came to the consensus to keep points for each students. At the end of each class period, we go around the room and the kids tell us how many points out of 3 they have earned.

1 for being prepared with EVERYTHING they need for class
1 for participating, not just sitting there like a bump on a log
1 for on task behavior that follows expectations

We, the teachers, can award an additional point to a student that we feel went above and beyond what was expected. That is few and far between. 
At the end of each 9 weeks, we calculate how many points they earned, what was possible accounting for days the student was absent, and then come up with a percentage.
Then we come together and take an average from their three classes (reading, math, & homeroom)
If they have an 85% overall, they qualify for the quarterly incentive. We do not tell them what it is before. It is a surprise! 
(If they don't have 85% then they go to a study hall room and have a packet of work to keep them busy.)

Our plan for this quarter was simple. We were going to watch Mr. Peabody & Sherman and have caramel apples. We found out about 20 mins before school that the movie was a no-go and all of us started thinking a million miles an hour. What were we going to do to fill an hour & a half with 60ish kids? Luckily we have our prep first thing in the morning and I hit Pinterest for "Halloween Crafts". I found a lot of idea but what could we do with whatever supplies we had in the school? 
After scrounging and begging from our fellow staff members: 
Ta Da!
The kids loved it and it turned out super cute!







This was probably the favorite of most kids…
They just got to be kids.
The grass was covered just enough with frost that they could slide down on their coats or shoes if they didn't have that great of traction.


I tried to take a picture with just a couple of kids… others noticed and wanted in on it too. 


Their yummy treat!



This wasn't part of the incentive. This has been a tradition as the advanced/on grade level reading classes use it to spring board into How To speeches. We decided to just make a day of the activities. 


Yes, his head is completely inside his pumpkin.

Most of the 5th grade team…missing one.


Hope you all have a fabulous Halloween week! I have conferences on Thursday and Friday so it's a short week. However, my school basically drips Halloween so I won't miss out on the chaos. 

Smiles!
*Steph*




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