Hollywood Style Classroom!

Did you know Thursday is August 1st? As in the month most of us go back to work. That's a sad, sad, story, especially for those of us who have to set up classrooms, and aren't lucky ducks who got to keep theirs up from last school year! Needless to say, this mama has been working off and on (okay--a little more off than on) on her room! I went in today to finish painting, and managed to get a few other things done. Trust me.. I have a LONG way to go in this joint!

I painted that black up there with chalkboard paint. I considered painting the columns red, but put some stars (that I'm not done with) instead, because painting is not something I'm especially good at. Just ask my husband.. he'll tell ya. :)

 I also painted those cabinet doors, but think I'm going to add red ribbon around each frame to cover all my mistakes. It'd be perfect if I could find red ribbon with yellow stars... I painted that red back there, too. See the shelf there that is crooked? I fought with it for a while, but you can see who actually won.

Now onto "Monday" made it.. on Tuesday. I tried soooo very hard to get this post done last night, but then my husband wanted to go to the gym, and I couldn't pass that opportunity up. 

So, what is it that I made? Well--the changes in my new classroom, a classroom flag aaaaand....

 I'm super excited about this system, and not just because the behavior chart matches perfectly in my room! I think I have finally found a simple-enough behavior management system that I can actually keep up with. Students begin the day on ready to learn, and move up or down on the chart depending on their behavior. At the end of each day, I "pay out" students. For those students who are still on ready to learn, I give $1. Those students generally are the ones who actually moved down, but moved back up to be where they are. Each step up is worth another dollar, while steps down have consequences. I do carry money around with me such as in the hallway and lunch, because I like to "catch" students doing the right thing and immediately pay them out. It works wonders when you have a chatty line and pull out the, "Man! Sarah I LOVE the way you are being silent in the hallway!" card and whip out a dollar. Your line grows amazingly still and silent! :)

Here's a quick picture of the money that I use..

And the best part... the reward tickets! I'm so over having a treasure box that stresses me out by having to continually add prizes to it. I use these 25 reward tickets, hole punch them and use a binder around them, like this.

This way I don't waste ink printing full pages of each, and the ring fits in my bucket that I keep all the reward tickets in.

Each set of coupons has its own baggy, so they're easy to locate when a student decides which one they wish to buy.

Paying Out!

This is probably the best part of the system! Whenever I notice students acquiring a good bit of money, I have them grab their cash, count it, and have them get ready to shop! How much does each ticket cost, you ask? Well, that part is completely up to you and your class. When I introduce this system to my class, I have them name their top 3 choices of reward tickets. This gives me an idea of how to price them. The most popular of course cost the most, usually between $8 and $10. Not too expensive that they are out of the question, but enough to make the kiddies work towards it! Students come to the small group table ready with their money and what they want in mind, and the whole process tends to take around 15 minutes.

For those students who don't quite have enough money, I take the opportunity to conference about how their behavior needs improvement, and we figure out how much more money they need to get what item they want.

Does this look like a system that would work for you in your own classroom? If so, click here to view it in my TPT shop. Do you like the idea of classroom money and reward coupons, but don't have a Hollywood theme? No worries! I've created a separate file with the reward coupons and classroom money (for any class!) here.