BINGO Behavior

I came across this amazing idea my first year of teaching. We were required to visit another teacher's classroom to get tips before our first year began. This little gem caught my eye the minute I walked into this incredibly organized yet vibrant classroom. BINGO!

After talking with the owner of this brilliant idea, I came to realize that the BINGO board on her wall was a reward system for her students. Each afternoon, the students that have maintained good behavior throughout the day (determine by your behavior system... tickets, color cards, etc.) get to sign the BINGO board. On Friday afternoons, you can draw a letter and number from a bag and whichever student signed that line will win a prize. If the student has had good behavior all five days of the school week, then their name will be on the board 5 times and their chances of winning will be higher.

To create my BINGO board, I took a piece of gridded poster board and glued cut out letters for "B" "I" "N" "G" "O" across the top of each column. I then labeled each row with a number 1-25 (dependant upon how many students you have.) I then laminated the poster.

At the end of each school day as the students are packing up, I call student numbers to come up and sign the BINGO board. The student can sign any line under one letter and in one numbered row. I use a Visa-V marker on my board so that it can be erased each Monday morning to start anew. I also was given a BINGO wheel by a co-worker which actually has the labeled balls inside (ex: G12) but before I received it, I cut out small squares of paper and label one bag of squares with the letters B, I, N, G, and O. Then I labeled another bag of squares with the numbers 1-25. Each Friday I would pull one letter and one number. Voila!  

With Brilliant BINGO Behavior,
The Penny Pinching Teacher

Classroom Decor 101: Strategy Posters

My classroom is not overly decorate for the single reason that I hate clutter; but I have managed to create and borrow ideas for strategy posters to decorate my blank white wash walls. These posters not only look neat and nice on my classroom walls, but they are constant reminders to my students to use their strategies on a daily basis.
The reading strategy which I modge-podged last year is TURNS. The steps are: 1. Read the TITLE and make a prediction, 2. Read and UNDERLINE key words in the questions, 3. READ the entire passage and use strategies, 4. NUMBER in the passage where you found your answer, 5. SELECT the correct answer.

The math strategies in the following picture are borrowed from a co-worker.

I also created another math strategy for solving multiple choice questions. CUPS... short and sweet and to the point. The steps are: CIRCLE the numbers in the problem, 2. UNDERLINE code words, 3. PICK a strategy, 4. SOLVE.

What are some strategies that have made it to the walls of your classroom?

With Acronym Happy Walls,
The Penny Pinching Teacher

Give With Target

I know that many of you are educators and some of you are not. This one is for everyone. Target is working on their goal to give 1 billion dollars to education. One way that they are going about this is through a Facebook voting give away. Certain schools across the country are able to participate in this "vote-athon."
I'm asking you to help... how? you might ask... here are a few ways:

1. If you're an educator, go to the following link and search for your school. Then start voting and getting everyone you know to vote. You can vote once a day until September 8th or until $2.5 million have been given away.

https://givewith.target.com/schools/35346

2. Those that aren't educators... I have a school for you to support. Click the above link and vote for my school. This money will be put to great use with school supplies and more.

Happy Voting!

The Penny Pinching Teacher