Marbles!

I have several different ways to manage behavior in my classroom, but the one that excites the students the most is the marble jar. At the end of each day, the students pack up and join me on the carpet. During this time, we reflect on our day and discuss all of the positive things that happened as well as all of the things that we need to work on the next day. The students are wonderful at reflecting and we are usually on the same page with our thoughts. After we reflect, we take a vote on whether we think we earned a marble that day; the students are so good at judging their own day that I rarely have to sway the final decision. If we earn a marble, we select a marble from my collection of marbles - you can't believe how thrilling this process is for 2nd graders!! - and add it to our marble jar. Our goal is currently 25 marbles, so once we reach that goal we will have a "Marble Party" which the students will decide upon. We are at 17 marbles right now, but I'm really looking forward to reaching our goal because I LOVE a par-tay!!

Check out the HUGE marble - only the best days earn one that big :)