As a VIPKID teacher, choosing the perfect reward system for the next day can be daunting. You print and gather and soon have a messy classroom and feel no more prepared for the next day of class. It’s OK – we all started in the same place! After 3 years teaching ESL online I now have a full year of reward systems planned and ready to go. Today I’ll share my planning approach and share a free printable so that you can get organized for March.
SEASONAL BACKGROUND
To get ready for March, the first step for my classroom is a seasonal background. I use an oil drip pan like this one. I sprayed it with matte spray paint to avoid glare from my classroom lighting. I attached it to the wall using heavy duty velcro command strips. About once a year I touch up the paint but it has been a game changer.
The whiteboard, teacher name, and feedback sign stay in place all year. I add these easy seasonal letters to keep my background seasonal and I change them once a month. They can work as flashcards and props while keeping my classroom organized and seasonal.
Print your full-year set today. Cut, laminate, add magnets on the back and never be scrambling for a seasonal classroom decor solution again. I would love to see a picture of these letters in your classroom – tag me on Instagram@cookfamilyresources.
SEASONAL
Next, I choose a seasonal reward for each week of the month.
WEEK 1
Although St. Patrick’s Day is a holiday that is easy to skip because it isn’t a major celebration, I can’t tell you how much parents appreciate a quick nod to what is happening in my culture. Teaching students to say, “Happy St. Patrick’s Day”, telling them that some people like to wear green on this day, sharing a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow, or talking about trapping a leprechaun – these topics can become long extension topics or just bonus vocabulary words. I always appreciate having new rapport building topics so seasonal rewards make sense for my classroom needs. In this simple reward system we collect coins throughout the lesson and I use them to decorate around the seasonal picture.
WEEK 2
Next, I use this build a scene reward system and formally teach some seasonal vocabulary words. Building the scene one piece at a time allows me to look at the shamrock more closely and talk about the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
WEEK 3
If I have students many times during the week of the holiday, I may choose to use a find-a-star style reward system and see if they can remember the vocabulary words. I like that this one also shows the date for the holiday.
WEEK 4
I keep two of these in my March rewards box for students who are really enjoying talking about those leprechauns or students who really enjoy find-a-star style rewards since I don’t do them very often. My whiteboard comes off the oil drip pan, moves closer to the camera so they can enjoy the picture, and then attaches right back on the background. Thank you, magnets!
STAPLES
After I prepare a seasonal reward for each week, I choose a staple reward for each week. These are tried and true reward systems that work for all ages and genders. I can expand upon our conversation about them easily for the students who need that and I can add them to my whiteboard quickly for students who need to keep moving through the content slides.
WEEK 1
My students often share that they love basketball. Throwing stars and trying to get them to stick to the magnetic background is always a crowd favorite so with this reward I throw the basketballs over my head and try to get them to stick.
WEEK 2
If you have a house full of My Little Ponies and know the names of all of the characters like I do, then I invite you to share the ponies with your students and invite them to share the Chinese names for the same friendly characters. They love to be your teacher.
WEEK 3
My students need practice talking about the FARM and the FARMER. Sometimes I also talk about the names of the baby animals or sing Old MacDonald, depending on the student. One reward system can be used in many different ways within the same morning of teaching.
WEEK 4
The weather is so wacky in March. Sometimes we have several feet of snow and other times the birds are singing and the flowers are blooming. This reward system has many small pieces so I can use it for games where I want the student to think of a word that starts with ___ or has ___ vowel sound in it. Although best practice is to show your reward system for the full length of the class, I do use this one in March to keep things fresh visually for my students (and for me).
STRETCH
Finally, I add a type of reward system that I’ve never used before. Maybe I saw a great idea on Facebook or Instagram. I’m nervous, not knowing if it will work well in my classroom. Every month I choose one to try. Maybe I can practice it with a regular student who is ready for a twist or with an upper-level student who I know has enough English language that we can work through any bumps in the road with a bit of extra incidental language. Although using a stretch reward is harder for my mind as a teacher during class, sometimes it pays off and I find a new favorite to add to my rotation.
This month I am working with this travel Connect 4 board. I have seen so many ways to label the rows and columns with a simple marker but don’t have a favorite way just yet. Have you tried this with your students? Do they already know how to play? There are so many ways to teach sentence patterns so that they are practicing English during reward system time and I love it so much more than Tic-Tac-Toe on the screen.
I keep my March decor and rewards all in one box. Each week on my desk you will see my trial props and rewards (I never put them away), a seasonal reward, a staple reward, and a stretch reward. At the end of the weekend, I can put 3 rewards back into the box and take out the next 3. Print out your FREE March organizer and fill in your favorite rewards. Laminate the chart and write on it with a wet-erase marker so that you can change your plan over the years as needed. If you take 10 minutes once a month to make these boxes, your future self will thank you next year when you don’t have to print anything new or think what you will use for class tomorrow.
