Trick or Treat?

What tricks do you have in your bag of treats?

In my class, I don’t count smileys or stickers, give tickets, or do drawings for good behavior. I have found that by giving away a treat at any given moment (which is usually several times a day), it really keeps my kids on their toes.  This doesn’t work with every class, but so far so good this year. 

This is my “Star Jar”. Our school mascot is stars so I am often saying, “I am looking for a shining star!” and the class will quickly and quietly comply to get a chance to go to the Star Jar.

This is my Sweet Treat jar. It amazes me what a kid will do for an m&m or piece of candy corn.  I keep it filled with seasonal items usually, keeping in mind allergies of my students. If I ask the class to go to the carpet and sit criss cross applesauce and only two kids do while everyone else is talking, I will give those two students a sweet treat. I find it more effective to spotlight to good behavior rather than the students making poor choices.  

This is the famous treasure box filled with big stickers. I buy stickers from Oriental Trading, the big ones like you get at the doctor’s office, and the kids think it is so cool to pull out a Disney’s Cars or Princess sticker.  Same rules apply. Today I was asking questions for a math lesson on the carpet and no one was really answering my questions but as soon as I have away a trip to the sticker treasure box, they were all very involved. 

Ahhh, the marshmallow! Since I taught my kids to walk quietly in the hall using marshmallow toes (see earlier post), I will try and keep a bag of a few attached to my clipboard and when I see someone walking with marshmallow toes, they get ONE. Who knew something so small could make a class walk so well! 

Lastly, there is the good ole Swell Smell…aka smelly chapstick.  I carry this in my pocket especially in the hall and when I see a student doing well, they get a swell smell. I just rub the chapstick on the top of their hand and they get to smell it. Right now I am using sugar cookie, but soon I will change to chocolate or something fruity. This is a cheap and easy treat to give the entire class without having to take up a lot of time. I love that it is a silent treat too!

So, what tricks are in your bag??