pizza party points, originally uploaded by quemarropa.

Classroom displays can be a vital part of a behaviour management strategy. Lots of teachers are trying out visual incentives to improve behaviour but it can be hard to keep them positive. This is a fun idea which can easily be adapted to suit your classroom.

each table group is assigned a color, which corresponds to a colored pizza topping. the table group that gets the most points each day (for behavior, responsibility, cooperation, respect, etc) puts their topping on the pizza. once we have 30 toppings total -with each table contributing at least 4- we have a pizza party!

The toppings etc. are stored in the pizza box. I think it’s a lot more fun than traffic lights!

I think you would need to have the criteria for points clearly set out so that pupils knew what to aim for. Sometimes we assume they know what we want and really they don’t. Concepts like respect and responsibility need to be explained. The pupils need to know what that concept looks like, what it sounds like. The ones who really need to won’t catch this stuff by osmosis.

Update: Quemarropa adds:

NOTE: the first week of school, i modeled some of the ways students can get points. sometimes, i’ll do an end-of-day “what did we learn?” quiz and award points to tables. sometimes, the first table that has followed instructions completely gets a point. sometimes, if a table member helps another student with a difficult concept, i’ll give the whole table a point. but i’m quick to point out that i’m looking for a variety of things and not every good act gets a point… because i EXPECT good acts from every table. at this point, they know i’m looking for exceptional behavior and classwork. if i notice one table is slacking, i’ll subtly add tallies to the other tables that are on task and usually the kids pick up on this and get back to work. today i had a meeting and another teacher administered a quiz. my kids were absolutely WONDERFUL… respectful and 100% on-task, so every table added a topping to the pizza for showing exemplary behavior with a guest teacher. it’s working beautifully so far!

Great description of the system in action

homeworkopoly, originally uploaded by quemarropa.

Everyone, it seems, is searching Classroom Displays for instant displays and bulletin boards this week. This one looks like a really useful one, combining a display with a visible record of homework returns.
Noreen says:

It’s available for free download. I attached magnetic tape along the back so it could stick to the side of my rolling shelves when students need to play. the rest of the time it hangs from my accordion wall from the book rings at the top

The site suggests:

In order for a student to play the game, he or she must complete their homework from the night before and hand it in to the teacher. This is how the student moves around the game board. If the student does not have their homework finished, they don’t get their chance to shake the die and move for the day (with exceptions, of course). Throughout the year, day by day you keep the game going. By starting at the beginning of the year everyone gets into it and by the end of the year everyone is doing their homework regularly.

Find it free to download and print out with full instructions at TeacherNet

Originally uploaded by Vikellis

A collage designed and made by a Yr8 form, from used plastic bags. It was part of an environmental issues unit, and was displayed in the Hall, in an attempt to raise awareness of “the plastic bag problem”.

It can be hard to make meaningful displays in shared areas - especially in High School. There’s a tendency to go for the “Wow!” factor rather than to engage with the pupils. They are often seen as spaces for the school to showcase work to visitors rather than somewhere for classes to share learning and connect with the wider school community.

This one however, is a really good example of using the space to tackle a topical issue. The display itself may be a little messy but that suits the subject and it is obviously the work of the students rather than that of a TA. I think that’s one of it’s major strengths. This display sets out to engage and educate the school community rather than to impress visitors.

It’s good to see that there’s a regular flow of senior school work starting to appear in the Classroom Displays Group and I hope to feature it more regularly on the blog.

Literacy wall word search, originally uploaded by loulrc.

Here’s an interesting idea for a corridor - a word search. This one is in a High School but I could see this working in Primary too. You could adapt this for other purposes as well. How about a series of Sudoku outside a maths room? (Plastic covered means the solutions can be rubbed off )
Lots of people enjoy word and number puzzles and whilst they may not encourage deep learning they do provide interest to a dull waiting area. There is some evidence that using them regularly enhances brain function.
One drawback with plastic covered corridor displays though can be the temptation to pick at them. Lou, who designed this one says:

Trouble with working in a secondary school though…we have to cover everythng with heavy duty plastic, and now the rotters have been picking out staples from that…best thing is to do the display, record it in its glory and send pics to the depts for CPD folders etc and OFSTED…

I wonder if anyone can suggest solutions to this or the reasons for it?

Today I Learned…, originally uploaded by shimelle.

I found this great idea on a new photo on the Classroom Displays Group on Flickr and followed the link to an interesting blog:

But I love this. I’m big on the And what have you learned today? (like that wasn’t already obvious) so the other day instead of asking, I handed out post-it notes. They all wrote something and posted it on the door as they left. All but one post-it was academic I learned to say “I did” and not “I done”. I learned about exposition and resolution for story writing. and the non-academic one has caused more than a few laughs from people stopping by my classroom I learned not to feed the dog next door at break time. Well, he asked why the dog was barking. So I had to explain, didn’t I?

From
Shimelle’s blog