I'm thrilled that we are using the punch cards, but not having students turn cards will be an adjustment. I'm ready for it, though, and I think it will be a good change.
When I had a card turning system, I gave students two punches each day that they remained on blue all day (the best), and one punch for green. No punches were given if the student was on yellow or red. I also have a heart shaped hole punch that I used when students were caught being extra good (or received a compliment from another student/teacher). So, students had an opportunity to earn a full punch card every other week (or sooner with hearts). I loved that this really focused on my students who always make the right decisions. I'm always afraid that they don't get enough credit for being sweet and helpful.
The first year I tried this, I had one page of rewards that students could choose from when their card was full. Last year, I had three pages and students could save up full punch cards to earn bigger prizes. I only had one student that managed to hold onto her cards long enough to get to the third page, so this year I decided to cut it down to two pages. Most of my rewards are things that don't cost a thing - which is great for us poor teachers, right???
You can get a copy of my punch card rewards for free by clicking here.
I have used Vistaprint in the past to make my punch cards. They usually (and I just checked and they do right now) have free business cards you can order. You just have to pay shipping on them. I tried to pick something with a pretty plain design to leave me plenty of room for 20 punches (4 rows of 5). This year I decided to change things up a little bit. I found some really cute little pockets at the Dollar Tree (and forgot to take a picture of them). They are black with bright colored stars on them and will match our other rockstar items awesomely (that's a word, right?). They are similar to library card pockets (which our Dollar Tree also had in neon colors). I don't think the business cards would be big enough to stick out of them, so I made my own. I am going to print them on card stock and store them in the pockets. There are 20 stars so when each of the stars has been punched, the card will be full.
Aren't these perfect, too???? Heading off to order them in just a minute! Star punches instead of the stars. Yay! It's the little things, you know? You can find them here.
What ways do you reward positive behavior in your classroom? I would love to hear others' ideas.
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