It's one thing for us to reward students on an individual level, as I suggested with my classroom management apps. And, of course, the 100 chart encourages good choices for the class as a whole. But the table challenge is a great way to reward students for making good choices within their small groups. I feel this is important because peers have more influence over each other in small groups where there is more accountability.
Table Challenge Guidelines:
- Record each table number on a popsicle stick.
- Set a specific start time for the Challenge to begin.
- If any student is breaking the rule, remove that table's stick from the group.
- At the end of class, select a popsicle stick from the remaining table numbers and reward the entire table with a Brain Booster or other reward that you use in your classroom.
Anyone who works in a middle school can tell you the power of peer pressure, and I've already talked about how easily I can convince my students to do pretty much anything with a piece of candy. With this management tip, you get the benefit of positive peer pressure for a small reward.
I can tell you that when we started the table challenge yesterday, our noisy classroom became silent. Today, while we were cutting and pasting a foldable for the entire period, our students actually asked if we could do a challenge. They LOVE it!
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