Classroom Economy and Other Classroom Management Tips

Classroom management is a high priority in any classroom. I am a true believer that if a classroom does not have strong management, the class will be chaotic.  During the first few days of the school year we will be creating the culture of our classroom and this includes instilling great procedures as well as developing and implementing effective classroom management.

I have used several techniques but after a really tough year, I sought to find a management system that did not make me have to correct behavior all day.  After a google search I found the Classroom Economy website.  This website is AMAZING and it put a whole new spin on classroom management.

Last year (and this year) I taught fifth graders. I did not want to do a clip system or a color chart as I have done in the past so I worked with the material on this website.  The classroom economy assigns jobs to each student so that the management of the classroom becomes somewhat the responsibility of the students. Here is how I started:

I began during the summer researching.  Without research this program will fail. As with any management system you have to be clear, consistent, and show follow through. So after researching, I knew this was the program for me. I went through the jobs that I would want in my classroom. There are stock jobs listed on the website but I wanted to make them more tailored to what I would need. I developed the following jobs and descriptions along with the pay rate for each job.  This is important because students work to earn money to pay "rent" for their desks along with being able to earn bonuses and extra money for the student store.  See descriptions below:

Classroom Economy Classifieds

Job Descriptions

Jobs	Description	Monthly Salary
Banker (5)	Keep banking records for 4-6 students. Accept money for deposits. Pay out money for withdrawals. Keep some cash ready to meet requests. Deposit remaining cash in the Central Classroom Bank.	$700
Police Officer (5)	Check for violations of class rules. Hand out tickets to fine students who break the rules. Keep a record of fines and payments. Deposit money from fines in the Fine Folder.	$650
Clerk (3)	Hand out papers to students. Hand out materials such as art supplies. Collect papers or homework from students when asked. Organize the class supplies.	$600
Messenger (2)	Deliver written or spoken messages to people throughout the building. Answer the class phone.	$550
Custodian (4)	Keep the writing boards and countertops clean. Tidy up classroom area when they need it. Make sure recycling items are placed where they should be	$600
Librarian (2)	Keep a record of books checked out of the class library. Remind students to return the books if they are late. Keep the class library organized.	$550
Attendance Monitor (1)	Take daily attendance and record absences. Report absences to Mrs. Hill. Provide students with make-up materials when they return to class.	$600
Homework Monitor (2)	Keep daily record of students’ completed homework assignments. Inform Police Officers about incomplete or missing homework so they can write fine tickets.	$550
Substitute (2)	Perform the job of any absent student. Must know all jobs.	$400
Tech Supervisor (2)	Turn the lights and computers on or off at appropriate times. Assist with technology tasks such as setting up projectors, preparing cameras, or using audio equipment.	$550
Store Clerk (2)	Manage school store and treasure box. Keep record of inventory. Let Mrs. Hill know when items are low.	$500

 I only had about 19 students this year ( I know dream number) so I did not need as many people per job, but depending on the amount of students you have, you can adjust the numbers of people per job.  I set rent at $850, this is basically rent for their desk and chair and becomes the amount the need each month to continue to participate in the economy system.  As you can see, none of the jobs pay $850 so it is mandatory to include bonuses and incentives.  Here is the bonus system I used:

Rent, Fines, and Bonuses

Your obligation is to pay rent each month.  You are renting your desk and classroom supplies. Your monthly salary does not quite cover your rent, but you may earn bonus money. 

v  If you have money left over after paying rent, you may visit the student store.

v  Those who have not saved money do not get to participate in the student store and must forfeit the money they have earned that month for a good-faith payment of rent.

Monthly rent is: $850

Bonuses

Activity	Bonus Amount
Earn 100% on a small test or quiz	$50
Earn 100% on a major test	$200
Earn 90% to 99% on any assignment	$100
Complete an outside reading assignment	$100
Get a compliment from another teacher	$200
Show a positive character trait in or out of class	$100

Fines

Rule	Ticket Amount
Dishonesty	$250
Rudeness	$100
Messy desk	$50
Missing Homework	$100
Missing in-class assignment	$50
Off-Task Behavior/Interrupting learning	$100
Tardiness	$25

  

Students were able to earn and lose money based on their daily actions. The police officers were the people that kept track of the bad behavior and if I saw something that required a fine I would just say,  "Billy's police officer, he needs a fine for being dishonest" and boom it was noted by the police officer. Each week, the bankers would tally fines and bonuses for the week and sit down with their clients to do the banking.  At the end of the month, after $850 was taken out of their accounts, they were allowed to participate in the student store.  The student store always contained fun things along with academic fun stuff.  Fifth graders love mechanical pencils and notebooks.  The boys loved mechanical pencils as well but also they loved those Pokemon cards to trade.  Novelty items per season such as holiday erasers were always a hit as well.

This system was AMAZING. I did little to no constant reminders for students.  There was no clip down system or color chart system because in my opinion students become jaded by them.  This system stayed relevant all year.  One day my administrator came in my room in the morning while I stepped out.  When I was gone I guess a student came in tardy and would not give her the tardy slip because it is the police officer's job to take them. My administrator was amazed with the amount of dedication students had in the program and the buy-in that was present. If you have any questions on how to set up your classroom economy please contact me! I'm here to help: kortneyahill@gmail.com

I taught third grade for two years and the second year was one of THOSE groups.I thought I was going to go crazy and did not know how I was going to make it through. One of the lessons I learned from this group was that it is not fair to punish the whole group for one or 10 naughties :-) I have turned this around and now create levels of management:

1. Classroom Economy-This classroom economy is a way to track positive traits and consequences in students.  The students are responsible for their own money making and nothing anyone else does negatively can affect them.

2. Classroom Marbles- I started this after seeing it several times in schools but for fifth graders I was not sure how it would work.  I would give students marbles every time they were working as a group peacefully and doing what they needed to do. The marble jar had to be full to get a cupcake party.  I'll tell you, kids LOVED the cupcake parties and would actively work to gain marbles.  They would try to sit perfectly and participate and work together just to get marbles.  The good behavior at first was forced and then became second nature so when I dropped marbles in for something they should have been doing, they were surprised.  The cupcake incentive never got old.

3.  Finally, I did table points.  In my last post I showed how I name the tables.  Tables gain points each week for good behavior and fast transitions.  This was super important because my last classroom did not have desks just cubbies on the other side of the room, so fast transitions definitely earned table points  At the end of the week, the table with the most points went to the treasure box.  The treasure box had small items such as erasers, bracelets, pencils, pencil sharpeners, etc.

Moving forward, if you are teaching older than third grade-DO AWAY WITH THE COLOR CHART. It is not effective.  Children need to be a part of what they are doing and moving a card is not effective for older students. The economy system is great because is completely objective.  If I'm having a bad day, everyone could be clipped down or moved on red with other systems.  With this, it is simply having students following guidelines.  If they are not following guidelines, they must have a consequence.

What management system do you use? Have you found an effective way to use the color chart? Need more information? Email me: kortneyahill@gmail.com