Junior Scientist...

For the past few years I had a "Scientist of the Week" that would really be my glorified helper. But after reading about the traveling scientist used in lower grades, I decided to mature it a little bit for use in my 6th grade class.  Thus was born my Junior Scientist.

I do teach 5 different classes throughout the day so I'll have 5 different Junior Scientists. The title will be held by those randomly-chosen students for the duration of the testing topic....which is roughly 6 days. They will each receive a bag that includes goggles, gloves, a pen, a lab notebook, science experiment books [no more than 2], and a suggested experiment....materials and all. The bag, lab book, and pen that I created and purchased for each are from my favorite site Vistaprint ....they look like this:

They will take these home and on day 6, which is dubbed "Test Review Day", the Junior Scientists will return the bags and contents. They will also have no more than 10 minutes to present their experiment to their class. This in turn will result in an extra grade. I am hoping that this small, quick experiment will encourage family time at home. My fingers are crossed!

Inside the log book cover will be these guidelines:

And this is my version of the letter kzoteacher shared on my favorite teacher site.... it will go home with the Junior Scientists when chosen:

Thank you back2learn, 1956BD, and others from my favorite teacher site for mentioning this and directing me to sites discussing this! This new addition to my classroom is definitely SCIENCE DIVA CERTIFIED!

REWARDS!

Please note that the following post is just my opinion only!

I am a firm believer in rewarding my students....behaviorally & academically. I love rewarding students who always follow rules and procedures, students who FINALLY do something correct for the first time then make a habit out of it, students who make A+s, and students who finally make a D after having made Fs for so long. I guess you can say that I reward achievements: individually and whole class. I love to celebrate, period! 

This year, I have a few incentives in mind. here is a breakdown:

Academically for individual students I plan to use the cards I posted a few days ago [Drops of Science Success]. Every student will receive a card. Every test, quiz, and interactive Science notebook check will earn them punches. A = 3, B = 2, and C =1. For every 10-12 punches, they will choose a prize. Prizes will range from small items like cool pens/pencils, erasers, and school supply-type items to bigger items if they "bank" their punches. The bigger items will be for things like earbuds, snack shop tickets, etc. 

Academically for classes I plan to use class thermometers as seen here: [not my room...found on the net....THANK YOU Mrs. Potter...click on the pic and it will take you to her blog!].

The way this works is I will add up a class' test scores [percentages] then shade up to the correct mark on the thermometer. I will do this for each class. At every 5,000 points reached, that particular class earns a reward [popcorn, nachos, cupcakes, etc... food ALWAYS works!]. This way, each class earns a reward for reaching the goal. The kicker is the first class to reach each 5,000 point increment wins an added bonus [drinks or something else that goes with the reward]. This allows each student to contribute even if it is a small percentage! I am hoping to encourage study buddies!

You can download my version of the thermometers here. If you want to edit them, download this one...it's free!

Also academically, I have a few other things up my sleeve. I created Facebook Like stamps/stickers to immediately reward students for various reasons.

Also I created stickers and stamps to reward students who have awesome ISN response pages. My friend Toni came up with and shared with me a H.O.T. ticket to reward higher order thinking and sharing of ideas. They will receive this randomly and redeem it for a prize. Mine looks like this:

As far as behavior is concerned, we are a PBiS school, so I have to follow our PBiS plan. Our plan rewards students with a Cougar Cash Card. If they receive no conduct marks in class, they receive my stamp on their card for that period. I do, however, reward good behavior with little things...sugar free candy, healthy snacks. etc...

Well, this is just some of what I am doing in my room this year as far as rewards are concerned. I'm sure I will post my reflections on how they are working out as the year progresses.

Go ahead and use these ideas if you like! They are, after all, SCIENCE DIVA CERTIFIED!

Drops of Science Success...

I really want to boost learning...well really my students' DESIRE to learn...so I created in Vistaprint [with a little help and inspiration from Pinterest...again!] a "Drops of Science Success" reward punch card. This card will reward students that make a C or higher on unit tests, quizzes, or ISN checks. 3 punches for each A, 2 punches for each B, and 1 punch for each C. What makes this a reward is for every 12 punches they earn, they get to choose from a list of reward options....which I really need to finalize! :) I do know that home-made gourmet cupcakes WILL be on that list! I wonder if my daughter will leave me her secret recipe when she goes off to Disney for a semester?!? Hmmmm....

Anyway...WHY reward a C you ask? Well....everybody has to start somewhere! I want students who have been so used to making Ds or Fs to WANT to earn a C....and we all know what results from that! Hopefully they will thirst for that B or even that A and try to do as best if not better than their best to earn those grades. My fingers are crossed!

Well....go ahead and use this idea if you like. I posted a picture of card I made above and by no means do I hold any kind of claim on it. I also created one called "Road to Science Success" that has a highway in the background [Yes...Vistaprint, too!]. Anyway you look at them, you know they are SCIENCE DIVA CERTIFIED!

OMG! I'm Vista'd Out!

Ok... when teachers jump on a bandwagon, they roll until their tires run flat...well in my case, rolling on the rims and making sparks! I had to PRY myself off of my computer at 3am this morning. Darn Vistaprint! Free shipping here, $1 shipping there. It was crazy! Well needless to say if you haven't heard about the great deals you can get at www.vistaprint.com then you are missing out! I created so many things for my classroom and family members that I really can't remember all I made! Oh, the BEST part is that I maybe paid a total of $10!!! Y'all I created and bought like $300 of stuff for only that $10...which is including shipping! Like what you ask? Well...

6 huge magnetic signs [for my homework board and other areas]
2 banners [one with rules, etc. and the other for over my door]
5 bumper stickers with my class website on them
5 personalized pens
5 personalized sticky notes
5 different sets of blank business cards [will use to write student names for use when calling on them]
1 set of business cards with my info on it for parents
5 sets of 10 blank note cards for use to identify groups, etc..
4 different rubber stamps
2 personalized mouse pads
2 sets of address labels [one with just my name and the other with name, website, email addy, and planning times to stick in test folders/agendas]
And...I'm probably leaving somethings off...but basically that's it...for now!

If you need "things" for your class, you have to check out what you can do there! After all, it is SCIENCE DIVA CERTIFIED!