Classroom management......we have all been to the workshops. They give you all kinds of suggestions and statistics as to why this or that works but we all know that the real issue is the chemical make up of a class.
Add one kid and the room goes nuts.
Take away a particular kid and the room goes nuts.
In the end it is up to the teacher to figure out what makes her class tick and what they value.
In this little series are some suggestions that I have used, I have seen used and that just looked good to me. You can try one or all of them until you find out what works with your group of kids.
When I taught in the regular classroom I was always given "those kids" because I could handle them. One year I had a class that was out of control! I tried everything that I could think of. This particular class was very street smart and the stickers and other little goodies I had just weren't cutting it. I thought and thought and thought until it occurred to me that these kids weren't soft. They needed the cold hard facts and the cold hard cash to back it up.
Since I teach at Caldwood Elementary I created "Caldwood Cash" that the kids could earn. The idea was that just like their folks worked for a paycheck they would too. They could earn cash for any job they were assigned. Everyone was eligible unless they decided that they didn't want the cash by not doing the job or not following the directions.
The beauty of the system was that I was NEVER the bad guy! I was always there with the cash ready to give it to them if they did their job.
Friday was shopping day. Last period I would set out my store and they would count up their money. The kids with the most money would shop first.
My store consisted of little items from the dollar store, garage sales and any give aways that I could get. The prices were high. A pencil might cost five dollars but the beauty was that if they followed even the simplest directions and did the simplest jobs they could make lots of money!
I treated the cash as real money. If they lost it or destroyed it there was no replacing it. This also instilled some responsibility.
It was always interesting to see how the children handled their money. Some of the children would buy for themselves, their friends and family. Others would buy it all for themselves and still others would spend only a small amount and save the rest of it. I had one child save about $150 in a year and that is with spending some each week.
The amazing thing is that the kids who were in this particular class are in college now and when I come across them they STILL remember the Caldwood Cash! : )
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