The Effect of the Tokens

As with any system, it's important to note the pros and cons. I've made a list of pros and cons from Friday (Day 1) of the tokens and here is a write-up from what I've seen:

PROS

• Increased collaboration - Students are more motivated to work with one another, share their thinking and discussions are focused on the topic or question at hand.
• Students holding each other accountable - In an ideal world, we'd want students to correct or re-direct their own peers. I've seen students remind their teammates that they need to stay on task. For me, this is huge as this takes the responsibility off of my shoulders (and this is the goal, is it not? A classroom where the teacher just has to guide, but not completely take over). Not having to deal with behavioral issues and being able to teach is a dream to many current teachers.
• Feedback - The tokens are also a form of direct feedback on classroom and group performance.
• Tangible - Having something concrete and tangible makes things a lot more "real". Students are also responsible/accountable to their group for carrying these home and bringing them in.
• Students praise each other for their effort - I saw one of the groups of students cheer each other at the end of class when they got a gold token. Complimenting them goes a long way towards increasing their motivation. They will actually be happy to work with another and be excited to work as a team next class. 

CONS

• As mentioned in an earlier post, I still need a way to manage all of the students redeeming tokens all on one day.
• I saw one student upset at another student for earning silver instead of gold. The question becomes "What happens when students in a group aren't doing what they're supposed to? Will I be penalized?" I think acknowledging students who did contribute to the group is the right approach here. However, this is also an opportunity for the group members to have a conversation and be accountable for one another.

 

Side notes:  I saw some students deciding to split the work and coordinate what problems they will share! I was very happy that they were working together on a level that even I function on with my cohort and fellow classmates in college. I will remember to reinforce the teamwork aspect of this system at the end of each period, perhaps with a handshake or a 3 minute discussion where students can reflect on how they worked together that day. I think this will go a long way.

VSC Math Recognition

Here's how it works: Each day, groups can earn 1 token (gold, silver or bronze) depending on factors such as coming prepared, classroom behavior, participation, and working together with their group. The week starts on Friday and ends on Wednesday. Students can earn tokens on Friday, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Thursday is the day where students redeem 4 of their tokens for a prize. I give them out at the end of class and the students coordinate which member of their group will take them home and hold onto them.

The following are the prizes:

Each tier of prizes contains a mystery prize. The students will have to figure out what these prizes are. I modeled it after RPG/MMOs. I think leaving it up to the students to figure out what the mystery prizes are contains some kind of value that I can't quite put my finger on yet. Students have a choice to pick whatever prize they want. Each member of the group will get a prize, and each member gets the same prize.

Gold mystery prizes: Playing Nintendo Wii U during lunch period on Thursday (once a week). Nintendo has tons of kid-friendly games that even adults enjoy and they are all multiplayer. I won't purchase all of the games upfront. Students can earn more games over time (I'll buy them and add to our collection). These include fun competitive multiplayer games like Mario Kart 8 and Super Mario 3d World.

I told students about this blog earlier this week. Thankfully, they are very excited about it! The other gold mystery prize is a feature on the blog! Silver mystery prize is 10 minutes of free time (thinking of 15 but I want to start small first). The bronze mystery prize is a plush toy. If students earn 4 gold tokens for 4 weeks in a row, they'll be added to a Hall of Fame section of this blog that I'll create. These are all subject to change depending on the kinks that need to be ironed out (as with any system).

So far, students have been holding up their end of things, so I hope things will run smoothly on Thursday. One of my challenges will be the actual process of students redeeming these as I can't have so many students in front of my room! I'm thinking of distributing bronze prizes in the lunch room, and take the students who will play or spend lunch with me upstairs.

VSC Math Token

I wasted no time to get these done at staples. They cost about 40 dollars for 20 of each. While they may not look as perfect as the original image does, they do look great and they're quite durable. I introduced the system to the students on Thursday and we began on Friday.