Will Work for Food, Favorite Food That Is....Chips Anyone?
My students need a unique variety of snacks such as chips from Frito Lay, and Lays as a positive reinforcement reward for on task behavior not offered in the cafeteria.
This project is part of the Black History Month celebration because it supports a Black teacher or a school where the majority of the students are Black.
My Students
By the end of the day my students are often unmotivated, tired and hungry. However, a positive reinforcement incentive reward of their favorite snack would definitely boost their motivation to learn and participate. Love is all you need, but a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt.
I teach at an intervention alternative school where the students have a variety of behavioral problems and learning disabilities.
I am a social studies middle school teacher of all 6-8th grade students. My school is a Title I school where 70% of the students are on free or reduced lunch. Our high risk population of students are ones who need tough love and an introduction to a new outlook on academic success as well as life skills. Through my experience, I have found that students are apt to work for something they want. Students need outward motivators to keep them engaged and focused at the end of a long day. By providing these visual, tangible mouthwatering snacks for good behavior, progress and success,these students who cannot afford to buy their favorite snacks can look forward to reaching their goals and milestones and kick their internal drive into overdrive.
My Project
This resource of their favorite snacks have been gathered from a "Forced Choice Reinforcement Menu". They were to write down on index cards what they would like to see in their classroom store. This determined what sort of rewards my students want most and what they would work for. Unanimously it was snacks ranging from drinks, chips, candy etc. Attached to the reward is a set of expected behaviors that will be tracked through a "Behavior Buck" tracking system. Once the student displays the expected behavior they receive a buck. Different behaviors have different values. At the end of the week the students may use their "Behavior Bucks" to purchase an item of their choice from the classroom store which is stocked with the items of their choice. The more you earn the more you can get at the end of the week. This incentive system helps boost their self-esteem, self-concept and it helps to create a "buzz" among students to look forward to going to class.
This donation of the snacks of their dreams will bring excitement to want to participate to earn their "Behavior Bucks" in class.
It will also create a sort of competition among the students to stay engaged in the classroom, get the right answers and monitor their own behavior which is a continuous work in progress.
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Mrs. Banks and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.