Teacher Consultation: Helping Teachers Manage the Classroom with a Token Econonmy

Several years ago a teacher stopped by my room on a Friday afternoon.  She was clearly at the end of her rope and literally ready to pack her things and not return to teaching. We talked a long time about the challenges, issues, expectations, and frustrations she was experiencing in her classroom.  Having watched this group of students at my school for many years I knew it was not her.  This particular group had been separated and re-grouped into a variety of class combinations all with limited success. It was clear this veteran teacher really didn’t want to quit, but she was tearful and desperate.  She had reached a defining moment and was determined to make a change in her classroom.  We talked for a couple of hours about things she had tried what had and hadn’t work, the disruptions, rudeness, and overall “I don’t care” attitude of her students.  We discussed a variety of things she could try, the sign-in system and the level system, table points, clip charts, marble jars, and a token economy.  But, like I always say when consulting with teachers and parents, it doesn’t matter what I suggest, or what you choose to use.   What is important is you must know your students, be comfortable with your strategy, and be consistent in implementation.  Teachers and parents must be comfortable enough with their chosen strategy, intervention, or discipline technique to use it consistently and correctly. Otherwise, even the most amazing classroom management program will fail.  As we discussed the token economy she brightened.  She sat up straighter and you could actually see the change in her demeanor and the light in her eyes as she began to consider how this system could work for her. We talked a short while longer and then, with renewed energy, she thanked me for staying late on a Friday and excitedly left ready to put her ideas into a plan of action.

Fast Forward

Six weeks later.  It is late on a Friday afternoon.  We are both leaving campus headed home for the weekend.  As she approaches me I see a relaxed, smiling face and I comment on this.  And her response is what makes the extra time on Fridays all worthwhile.  She thanks me and hugs me.  She thanks me for staying with her late, and talking with her when she was in despair and giving her the ideas and encouragement to come back on Monday and try something new.  She told me of the success she was having and the amazing turn around with her class and how she was sharing my idea with other teachers who were also struggling.  Of course, I was flattered, but token economies are not new and certainly not my idea.  I thanked her for her kind words and reminded her it worked because she put in the time to plan the system, introduce it to her class, and reinforce it on a daily basis. More hugs, more thank-yous.

The Plan

To successfully introduce a token economy, a well thought out plan is required. Here is the method used by the teacher I mentioned above.

1)  Create your “money,” decide how it is earned and how much and how often it is given. My teacher decide to go with a rounded up version of minimum wage at 40 hours per week paid to every student on Monday. Each student was paid weekly for their job of being a student. If a student was absent they lost a day's pay.  Students who were tardy were fined.
2)  To introduce the idea, the teacher led a class meeting to discuss the top 5 reasons students were not able to learn in the classroom.  This started as a small group brainstorming activity.  The teacher then wrote the group responses on the board.  Several items were able to be combined and the class worked with the teacher to re-word each item into a precise and positive statement.  These were set as class standards and fines were determined by the students for violating a class standard.
3)  The class met every morning for the first 2 weeks for 15- 30 minutes and then once a week thereafter. Meetings were never to assess blame or punishment but to discuss class issues and to find a solution. The loss of instructional time due to meetings was not an issue as instructional time was gained by reduced student disruptions and improved class behavior and attention.
4)  Student ledgers were created for daily transactions and parents were asked to sign weekly.
5)  Students were charged a weekly rent on their desk and chair.
6)  Students were given 2 bathroom passes daily.  Additional bathroom passes were available for purchase.
7)  Students could earn a raise for consistently positive behavior. Examples of positive behavior and possible earnings were posted.
8)  Students could earn class cash bonuses for acts of kindness, following directions, work completion etc.  The teacher carried class cash in her pocket and randomly rewarded students for their positive actions.
9)  Extra free time or recess, sitting with a special friend, sitting in the teacher's rollie chair, etc. were items that could be purchased with class cash. This menu was posted with the purchase price.
10)  Rewards were offered at the end of the week for anyone with X amount of class cash. Again, a menu was posted with purchase prices.
11)  An auction was held at the end of the quarter.  The teacher brought in sodas, candy bars, dollar store, and garage sale items. Students were able to bid against one another using their class cash.  Future auctions allowed students to bring items (with parent permission) they wish to auction to their classmates.
12)  The teacher then took it to the next level to have students experience what it is like to be a small business owner.  She had them take an index card and make a business card.  They stated what they were good at, what they were willing to do and set a price.  For example: organizing desks, notebooks, back packs, spell checker, creating artwork, rent of special markers, or colored pencils, etc.

A token economy, done well, can be a wonderful classroom management system. It creates a microcosm of society and many real life learning opportunities.  This teacher consistently implemented all phases of her token economy plan and continued to hold regular class meetings to reinforce the structure and expectations she had for student success.  Anyone will tell you there is some work to be done on the start up, but the end result is students who feel empowered and are making better choices about their classroom performance and behavior.

3 Simple Ideas for Managing Classroom Behavior

As a new counselor I struggled with how to successfully manage a classroom of students and teach my lesson at the same time. Mostly, I would just keep teaching in spite of whatever foolishness was happening in the room while I was talking.  My goal was to teach my lesson and get to the end of it no matter what!   Students who were calling out, talking while I was talking, off task, disturbing, and distracting others were the norm in my classroom. I didn’t know what to do. Those early years were a frustrating and disheartening time. How was I going to discipline them in the classroom setting and then expect students to connect with me as their School Counselor?

Fortunately for me, I worked with some outstanding teachers who became my mentors, which was a very good thing, because they sure didn’t teach classroom management in my graduate program! In the beginning, I was more concerned with getting through the lesson, so I would let the misbehavior slide just so I could get to the end.  But, my mentors pointed out, if the students were misbehaving, the entire time I was “teaching,” what had my students really learned from my lesson?  And what had they really learned from me?  Sadly, all they had learned from me was what they could get away with when I did a class.  By my failure to stop and reinforce my positive expectations for their behavior, I was silently reinforcing their negative behavior.

Communicating your Procedures and Positive Expectations

 To help with learning to manage classroom behaviors, my mentors recommended I visit different teachers whose classroom management I admired.  In each classroom I observed, I saw different styles of teaching and management. Strict or laid back, dramatic or quiet, creative or by the book, in those classrooms where the students were well behaved and respectful there was a common theme. What I learned was simple, it’s all about clearly and consistently communicating your procedures and positive expectations.

1)     Have a clear idea of what your procedures and positive behavioral expectations are.  Before you can communicate your procedures and positive expectations you must think about what you want to see in behavioral terms in the classroom. When you are teaching your lesson do you want students to raise their hands? Listen when others are speaking?  How do you pass out and return supplies? Is it okay if they get up and walk to the trash can, sharpen a pencil, lean back in their chair, text, chew gum, eat, drink, brush their hair, apply make-up, or talk quietly with a neighbor while you are teaching?

So think. What is important to you?  What are you willing to consistently enforce?  What do you need from your students for teaching and learning to take place?  Remember, that will look different for each of us and that is okay.

2)     Teach, model, practice, repeat.  In order for students to know what you expect, you must teach your positive expectations. NEVER assume they should "just know" how to behave with you.  Spend some time teaching what your positive expectations look and sound like. Model it for them, then have the students practice your positive expectations.  Repeat as often as necessary.  At the beginning of my “Meet the Counselor” lessons each year, I always start with the procedures for my room and my positive expectations for their behavior.  We are a PBIS school and have four positive behavioral expectations we teach all around our campus; Perform Personal Best, Act Responsibly, Work and Play Safely, and Show Respect.  These are the foundation for my first lesson and I talk about what each one will look and sound like in our time together.

In doing this, I think it is important to understand there is absolutely nothing “un-counselor like” in clearly stating your procedures and positive expectations for student behavior when you are together.  As School Counselors, we talk about creating and teaching lessons on respect, responsibility, and social skills.  Teaching our students how to attend to the speaker, monitor their own behavior, and choose and demonstrate appropriate social skills required for a situation are the most basic of skills for success in life.  What better way to conduct your classes?

3)     Consistently reinforce your procedures and positive expectations in EVERY lesson.

In EVERY lesson, you must put consistently reinforcing your procedures and positive behavioral expectations above teaching that lesson.  No matter how hard you worked on creating the lesson or how fun the activity or awesome the story may be, there is no learning if students are involved in disruptive or disrespectful behavior.  You may have to stop your lesson multiple times, you may not get to the activity or story, but it is more important to consistently reinforce your procedures and positive expectations as often as is needed in order for your classes to learn your expectations for them.

So, if you expect them to raise their hand to speak, don't accept answers from those who call out.  Politely remind them by always restating the rule.  “You show respect to your classmates by raising your hand if you want to speak."  Then call on someone who has been sitting quietly with their hand up, thanking them for raising their hand.  If someone is being silly or talking to a neighbor, stop and remind them the rule is to show respect and we do that by having one person talk at a time. If someone is not participating appropriately in a group I might ask if they are acting responsibly and what they could be doing instead.  If materials are passed out and collected in a specific way and students are grabbing and arguing, remind them what the procedure is and how we work and play safely. And if necessary, stop and re-teach and practice that procedure.

Great classroom management = Being respected as an authority figure

I know there are some School Counselors who think having a well-mannered class means you have to have the teacher in the room with you or you have to be a negative authority figure the students then won’t be able to trust.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  It is possible to be both a figure of authority and a trusted and respected School Counselor. Think about a favorite authority figure; a teacher, coach or relative for whom you have a lot of respect.  If you stop to analyze why you have respect for them I would guess it is because of things like they were kind, fair, consistent, positive, had high expectations for you, and held you accountable for your actions.  My students know I love them, but I can go in the cafeteria of screaming students and give the quiet sign and they get quiet.  I can give a look in my classroom and restore order.  It’s not because I am a large, threatening presence or have any special power over them in terms of disciplinary actions.  It is because I have clearly communicated and consistently taught and reinforced my positive expectations.  Students need structure, they need boundaries, and they need to know what your positive behavioral expectations are too.

So there you have it.  My three simple ideas for managing classroom behavior.  It takes practice and you will have set backs.  But keep on giving it your best.  You, your students, and your school counseling program will be better for your efforts.

Classroom Management: Positive Behavior Cones

Managing classroom behavior is often a topic of concern for School Counselors.  Our training is geared more for the one-on-one interactions found in individual counseling, parent conferences, and teacher consultations. The managing of small groups is okay, but the classroom for many is daunting. Whether you are comfortable with classroom management or still looking for just the right tool, perhaps you will find the use of Positive Behavior Cones a  helpful idea.

Shortly before school started, I found these cute little cones with positive sayings on them at my local Dollar Tree.  I had no idea what I would do with them when I bought one of every color, but I was certain they were a "must have" and I would figure it out later.  Pre-planning began and I set up my classroom putting one on each table.  During pre-planning week ideas begin to form in my head and by the time school started I knew how I would use them.  Now, after 4 weeks, I am happy to share how I am using Positive Behavior Cones to assist with classroom management.

A Little Background
We are a PBIS school and our behavioral expectations spell "PAWS" (our mascot is a Bulldog). All of our students know Perform Personal Best, Act Responsibly, Work and Play Safely, and Show Respect.  Last year, we created  a school-wide behavior incentive program which involved classes earning a bone for good behavior. Each faculty and staff member was given 10 bone stickers each month to give away around campus to students or classes exhibiting PAWS behavior (but never to their own class).  Every classroom was given a paper dog bowl and were working towards earning bones. A menu was created listing rewards in 25 bone increments. When a class reached 25 bones they were able to exchange them for a class reward, which was provided by our administration. Once they turned in their dog bowl with bones, they would get a new one and start the collection again.

Cones and Bones
While unpacking my new room I found a lot of left over bone stickers.  Obviously, I had not been giving away my fair share of bones each month!  I decided the best way for me to participate in this school-wide incentive was to offer my classes the opportunity to earn bones during their lessons with me. So as I did my introductory "Meet the Counselor" lessons with each class, I talked about what PAWS looked like and sounded like during my classroom counseling lessons.  I explained to the students as long as everyone was following PAWS their cones would remain on their tables. At the end of class, if I had not removed the cones at anytime from any table they would earn a bone.  However, as I am teaching a lesson, if a member of their table is not following PAWS, I will give them a reminder one time then will remove their cone.  In order to promote continued compliance with PAWS, good will, and a "we can do it" attitude, I provided a way to earn their cone back.  I told the students in a very dramatic way they could pout and get mad because they lost their cone or they could decide to correct their behavior, follow PAWS, and I would return their cone for making a good choice.  As long as every table still had their cone at the end of class, even though they may have lost it at one point, I would award them a star. When a class had earned 3 stars they would receive a bone.  There is a list of classes posted on my door where I record their bones and stars. So far, the students are loving it and I have given away 4 bones and numerous stars. The first 2 weeks of school as I introduced the Positive Behavior Cones, I did not take cones off the tables, but told them, "If I had started the program today, you would have lost your cone for that."  I wanted them to get use to the idea of the cones and see and hear what I would remove cones for.  I always talk about  PAWS when removing a cone. "That's not showing respect to talk when a classmate is sharing.  So I will have to take your cone."  In the past 2 weeks, I've had 30 classes (I am in the Special Area rotation) and only 2 have left with no star or bone.  I am very pleased and so are my students!

So, how can this work for your classroom management?
Well, you may be thinking, that's just fine but we don't have a school-wide incentive program to use as a reward.  No matter, you can still make this work for you. Classes that keep their cones for following whatever rules or procedures (yours, classroom teacher's, school's) you choose to follow could earn a sticker. Three stickers (or whatever number you decide) could equal a popcorn party, or extra recess, or lunch in the classroom with a movie (inexpensive things you could provide).  Or if the classroom teacher has an incentive program with marbles in a jar or letters to spell a word like recess, playground, or whatever, classes could earn a couple of marbles or letters for keeping all their cones. If classes lost a cone, but earned them back maybe they earned half a sticker or just one marble or letter instead of 2.  Talk it over with the classroom teacher to see if they are willing to have you incorporate the use of Positive Behavior Cones in with their classroom incentive program.

Even if you didn't have a chance to get these Positive Behavior Cones at Dollar Tree, you could use any object to represent the cone. Maybe make and laminate table tents with positive sayings on them, or use those 3 sided clear acrylic photo holders. The choices are up to you and limited only by your imagination.  I'd love to hear your ideas for managing classroom behavior or a unique way you have used the Positive Behavior Cones! Please be sure to share below.

Do you use an incentive program when teaching classroom lessons?  What works for you and your school?