Saturday, July 21, 2012

How To Catch A Wave!

My classroom is centered around a beach theme.  The beginning of school is fast approaching and I spend a lot of time thinking about how to structure my expectations for my students.  I found this idea last summer during my late night peeks at blogs.  I would love to give credit to the fabulous teacher that came up with this idea so please let me know if it was you.

We set up classroom rules and they are titled and referred to as "How To Catch A Wave."  They look like this.


My little surfers sign the bottom of the classroom expectations showing that they understand what is expected.  Now for the fun part.  I give each child a beach wallet to keep in their cubbies.


When I catch my surfers following these expectations or "Catching a Wave" as I call it, I reward them with penny(plastic penny).  My surfers keep their money in their wallets.  As they collect more money they begin to exchange money like 5 pennies for a nickel.  Each month and sometimes twice a month, I open the classroom store.  My surfers use their money to buy things.  I usually allow them to buy no more than 3 items a visit to the store.  Make sense?

I label all items like a real store!  The children learn expectations.  Positive behavior is recognized, and my surfers learn about money all at the same time.  So much fun.  My surfers get so excited when the store opens.



Just a day shopping at the surf shack!





No comments:

Post a Comment