Rethinking the Prize Bin

My first few years of teaching, I was guilty of spending too much money on my classroom.  Most of it stemmed from having a real adult salary for the first time with minimal expenses, but I also wanted my students to feel loved and cared for. I was at a title 1 school so my students didn't come in with everything they needed.  I had a bit of a savior complex and that hurt, financially.  I spent more than I should have on more than one occasion. 

I visited the dollar store and target dollar section to stock up my prize bin.  I spent a lot on crayons, pencils, and various other trinkets.  I bought flavored lip glosses and stretchy bracelets.  Of course I wish my students were intrinsically motivated to make good choices, but let's be realistic.  They're ten.  They thrive on positive reinforcement and small goodies.  I picked up some freebies from various places.  My students look forward to the prize bin, but many of the "good" prizes are snatched up quickly.  Some of the original things I bought are still sitting in the treasure box.

So I changed up my strategy.  I didn't want to keep restocking the prize bin, especially when I was still funding some of their classroom supplies and paying for other classroom rewards.

So I switched to coupons.  Yes, coupons.  Some of them are for individual rewards and some of them are for class experiences.  I'm still in the process of updating them to post on TpT, but some of the coupons are:

-extra iPad time
-extra computer time
-extra recess time
-sit with a friend for the day
-sit in the teacher's rolling chair for the day

My students love these coupons.  My favorite part? The rewards are free!

Making students feel special

I'm a firm believer in making students feel special, valued and cared for in the classroom.  Whether it's notes home, a positive phone call, a high five or praise in front of the class, I believe in acknowledging the good in others.  As educators, we are so quick to point out the negative behavior without appreciating the good moments.

So I'm going to try to add more joy into my classroom by empowering students and creating a culture of success.  I found this idea on pinterest and am ready to go hit up some thrift stores to find my own special chair.

The original idea from the first blog had students add stickers, but I think just a fresh coat of paint and some pretty letters will do the trick.  I'm thinking a black chair with white letters.  Of course, the letters will either be sparkly or polka-dotted :)

I like the colors of the second blog's chair too :)

For perfect polka dots, use the end of a pencil's eraser :)  Works like a charm!

I think this chair will be reserved for students to share out their writing or as a reward in the prize bin.  I love the idea of me not having to buy things as a reward and using a coupon system instead!

Now, to find a chair that's sturdy enough for eleven year old boys but cheap enough on my teacher's salary :)

And for perhaps the cheapest of all: butcher paper, tape and smarties to create this:

Glittery pencil packs are often at the Dollar Tree :)