Rewards & Consequences

I would like to use a reward system similar to a token economy. For this, I will buy multicolored play money and distribute a portion of it evenly throughout each class at the beginning of the school year. Each color will have a different value to be rewarded for accomplishing tasks at different levels, and I will expect the students to keep track of their coins in zip-lock bags with their names on them.

I will begin with rewarding the youngest students often so they become adjusted to the concept and gradually disperse the coins less often over time. By the time the students are in first grade, they will be on a regular routine and only be rewarded for large amounts of effort. If I have three colors of coins, the lowest level of coin you can earn will be for behaving well in a class all day. The second level of coin one can earn will be for participating in answering questions during class, and the third level will be when a student volunteers to play an instrument or sing by themselves. Answering questions and playing or singing by oneself earns the students a higher reward because they both can be scary and take courage. I will also keep in mind the level of accomplishment for specific students because doing something as simple as behaving well throughout class can be a great accomplishment for certain individuals.

If a student misbehaves during class, he or she will have to pay me back a certain amount of coins based on the level of behavior. If a student significantly misbehaves in class, he or she will not be allowed to play an instrument that day but can earn the right to play the next class. If a student is ever consistently misbehaving, I will check in on him or her to see if there is a deeper-rooted issue involved that I can understand.

At the end of each six weeks, the students will be allowed to use their coins to buy time on specific instruments during class, buy school supplies such as fun pencils or erasers, or have breakfast or lunch with me which I will provide. The students may also choose to save their coins for use at the end of the following six weeks.