A strong behavior modification system with consistent structure and positive reinforcement is just as important as the academics I teach in my class. After 15 years of teaching I bring with me each year a seasoned behavior system that will meet all students learning and behavioral needs. As the school year goes on I tweek, modify and add to the basic system to ensure that all my students individual needs are met and the very best is brought out of each of them. This year in addition to my basic behavior system I brought back my token ecomony Baughcum Bucks. Initially students were motivated by the positive reinforcement that receiving the bucks gave them. They loved earning the bucks, counting them up, depositing them and using them to purchase prefered incentives. By the beginning of the second quarter the fun, the motivation, the reinforcement behind the system began to fade. The connection between the bucks and the incentives were fading…even lost for some. The bucks simply were not working the way I needed them to any more.
It was time for a change.
I began to think back to 5….10 years ago when I used to use whole class, team based behavior systems…the memory of paper die cuts covering my classroom wall made me smile.
Suddenly I was filled with inspiration…finally after so many forced attempts at trying to come up with just the right idea to gamify my classroom. The reminder of a system I had used years and years ago made it all come together.
Starting Monday my students will enter the world of Mario (you have to say it with the accent) and Luigi.
I am so excited to start it with them I could bust. I can not wait for them to play and see it all come together!
In the words of Mario,
“Here we go!”
Be sure to check my Twitter and Instagram accounts for updates on how they are doing!
