Tag: Positivity

Positive Incentive Chart

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Positive Incentive Chart (2)

In preparation for Day One of our emergency school closure due to COVID-19, I created a simple behavior chart to encourage and motivate my personal children to complete learning tasks and chores in order to earn game, screen, and toy time. I didn’t want them to start the day begging for my phone or vegged out in front of the TV… I was hopeful they would be happy to complete some learning activities with me. Both of my kids were REALLY excited when I showed them this chart (ages 8 and 4) and… we are mid-way through day one… and it is working great for us so far!

Positive Incentive Chart

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From Thanksgiving to Christmas: Positive Incentives and Templates that WORK!

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From Christmas - graphic

I can’t believe it’s here already, but here we are: that span of time that can sometimes feel like one of the longest stretches of the school year – the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas. We’ve had a taste of break. Those days off felt great! We’re refreshed and rejuvenated (well, I am anyway 😉)! The first week back feels great! But then, the closer we get to Christmas break, the more excited about Christmas the students get and the more stressed we tend to get. Why? I say the culprit is… presents! Kids are excited about them and we’re stressed because we’ve got to get them all (and clean our houses for guests, and prepare meals… so much to do before the big day)! Continue reading →

Fail Fast, Fail Forward

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Fail Fast, Fail Forward

A pottery teacher split her class into two halves. To the first half she said, “You will spend the semester studying pottery, planning, designing, and creating your perfect pot. At the end of the semester, there will be a competition to see whose pot is the best”.

To the students in the other half of the class she said, “You will spend your semester making lots of pots. Your grade will be based on the number of completed pots you finish. At the end of the semester, you’ll also have the opportunity to enter your best pot into a competition.” Continue reading →

Fun with Feedback

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Fun with Feedback (1)

I just finished reading The New Pillars of Modern Teaching by Gayle Allen as a part of an awesome online book study facilitated by Region 10 in Texas. In the book, Allen compares the amount of feedback teachers typically get in a year to the amount of feedback Uber drivers get with this table: Continue reading →

Use Your Desktop to Reinforce Positive Behaviors

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desktop header

Every minute we have with our students has value. I am always looking for ways to get the most out of every moment. As an elementary school administrator, I walk through numerous classrooms each and every day. Something that inevitably occurs in every class, even with the best planning and execution, is the teacher’s desktop from his or her computer is occasionally projected big and upfront for all to see. Even if it is only seen for a couple seconds while switching between programs, often all students see this image (or something similar) multiple times per day: Continue reading →

5 Quick Ways to Share Positive Feedback

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5 Quick Ways to Share Positive Feedback (1)

I love creating and sending quick notes of encouragement to teachers and friends. My favorite go-to for creating these was an eCard type app (it was called Red Stamp), but it is no longer available in the app store, and it stopped working (boo). I haven’t found any other ecard app that compares and have been looking for creative ways to pass on positivity and praise. Whether you are experiencing the same sadness over this particular app, or you just want some fresh ideas for sharing feedback, read on for 5 ways to quickly and easily provide positive feedback. Continue reading →

Personalized Scatch-offs Templates

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Scratch-off graphic

I’ve seen it all over Pinterest… a crazy concoction that teachers can whip up to create

their own scratch off cards… too much work for me… until NOW! Have you seen these stickers?

Now you can create your own personalized scratch-off cards in just a simple peel and stick? YES! That’s what I’m talking about!!!

Valentines is just around the corner, so I’m using this idea to create these Valentine Lotto tickets for my staff:

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Super Bowl Squares Choice Board

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Copy of Super Bowl Squares Choice Board - GRAPHIC

The past few years we have enjoyed playing Super Bowl Squares with our staff. If you don’t know about this game, you can check out the full rules here and get some helpful templates. On our campus, we don’t sell the squares, instead, teachers earn them by completing tasks or being caught implementing a specific initiative. Here’s the basic overview of how we’ve adapted for our staff: Continue reading →