Preparing for the New Year

While Summer '15 was certainly filled with laughter and joy, this is the final week. This is a short clip of what we did in week 2 (the Smartboard is now working and in daily use...).

Lately I've been preparing my mind, clearing my thoughts and thinking of things that worked and didn't work this year, and how I'll change them. This time, I want to create a classroom culture where more emphasis is placed on listening to whoever is talking, and somehow incorporate that into tokens. I also want to take Concept Constructions up a notch and incorporate it into tokens as well.

Because the tokens were so strong last year, I need to find ways that I can improve the system and make it more fun for the kids. This includes switching prizes from time to time, and added reinforcement to other positive behaviors that we need more of to run a successful math classroom.

Tokens Update!

I haven't spoken about these in a while. I wanted to share that this system is still running strong about 2 months into the school year. That's awesome! One thing that I have noticed....It seems as though if the entire class manages to get gold (i.e. 603).................................(for the most part) it stays that way. They have been like this for the past month and a half. It's like if an entire class is able to get 4 gold tokens weeks in a row, every group will repeat the same level of effort and collaboration for this to happen again.

I mention this because a student in 604 made an interesting observation, and mentioned today "Mr. E, everyone is starting to get gold now!" And he's right, as this is the 2nd week in a row in which that entire class has earned 4 golds. This class has seriously upped their game as of late. What I love about this class the most is their effort. While they are certainly not mathematically as strong as 603, their level of effort and participation with each lesson is certainly #1. They are so strong in MP #1, work together, and are focused on learning. That makes 2 out of 4 of my classes "all gold". There others are still a mix.

Note: I have changed the VSC Math Gold pencil prize to anime. I bring my laptop to the classroom and hook it up to the smartboard and have students watch Naruto and/or other cartoons. Seems to be a much more wanted prize so far!

Gold Mystery Photos - Week 2

Tokens - Week II Review

This week was the second round of VSC Math Tokens. I am happy to say that this system is still running strong and stable. I have to schedule a few lunches with students on Monday, but aside from that, it's still manageable. Class 603 is running strong, with the entire class obtaining 4 gold tokens for the week. Quite impressive! I am happy to say that all of the groups from the other classes have a high mixture of gold and silver tokens (i.e. 3 gold 1 silver, 2 gold 2 silver, 3 silver, 1 gold, etc.)

While my goal is for each group to earn 4 gold tokens, I have to be quite consistent with my expectations for what type of behavior/classroom performance earns a gold token. On Wednesday, I had to take ALL tokens away from class 602, and spend time practicing lining up outside of the room and entering the class. What was interesting to me when this occurred is that I did not seem to be affected by it at all. Last year, I would be very distressed about this type of situation, but now I know the answer to this situation. That is, we have to review and practice expectations before we proceed any further (with anything). We had a discussion at the end of class about what we needed to improve on and why I took tokens away. They were flawless the next day (Thursday, double period) and I was very impressed. Unfortunately, I did not return their lost tokens. I gave each group a fruit snack except 2 groups that actually met the expectations on Wednesday.

The life of this reward system is more about my consistency than their behavior. I am happy that in 1 month, I've only had to have 2 classroom discussions. Class discussions seem to be VERY effective. I am actually amazed that a mere dialogue about what we've done wrong, and what we need to do as a class can shift students to do the right thing and earn/reclaim their tokens. I want students to understand that tokens are just representations of what their group is capable of.

Gold Mystery Photos - Week 1

The VSC Math Time Bomb

The anxiousness of the process of students cashing in these tokens has seriously gotten to me. I have no idea what I'm going to do tomorrow. All I've come up with is:

A) I have 3/4 of the classes BEFORE lunch.
B) Perhaps I can bring up the reward page and give students about 2-3 minutes to discuss with their group what prizes they want. I'll remind them that if they have combinations such as 3 golds and 1 silver, they have to choose from silver prizes.
C) I'll record what each group wants on my clipboard.

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A) Fruit snacks/Bronze Mystery prize will be given out at the end of class
B) Silver prizes (Lunch with Mr. E will be Monday) and other silver prizes will be accounted for
C) Gold mystery prizes given at lunch Thursday.

Let's see how it works!