Website of the Week

Posted on 30. Oct, 2008 by in All Posts, Clssrm Mgmt, Positive Reinforcement

Positive reinforcement is a classroom management strategy that I use as often as possible.  Recent research solidifies my reasons for using these techniques.

I have one particularly challenging class this year and all my tricks of the trade have not been working. As a result of my frustration, I developed the “Website of the Week” positive reinforcement program to motivate students to behave appropriately.

I started by gathering a list of fun websites appropriate for students to access independently.  I created a slip of paper for each site that included a compliment on their excellent behavior, the web address and an image from the site.  Since the “website of the week” is only given to students who demonstrate good classroom behavior, I needed to create a system that was easy to track, but also respectful to all students.

My tracking system involves keeping a sheet of paper with the homeroom teacher name on it on my desk.  If a student acts innaproiately (talks while I am talking, runs in the room, etc.) I quietly ask the student to write their name on the sheet of paper.  At the end of class, I only give the “website of the week” to students whose name did not appear on the list at my desk.

Additionally, I have a built-in consequence (loss of recess) if a student’s name appears more than once on the paper during a class period. 

Also at the beginning of each class, to generate excitement, I ask the students what they thought of the site from the previous week – knowing very well their answer would be positive. (Any child without computer access I allowed to come in for a few minutes during lunch to try it out.)

I went from about 10 students a month ago who did not receive the “website of the week” down to one last week.  This once challenging class has transformed into one of my easiest to manage while also using technology to learn and reinforce art content!

Here is a list of fun websites you might like to use for “Website of the Week.”

Learn how to shrink or customize any of these URL addresses with Tiny URL.

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One Response to “Website of the Week”

  1. James Metcalfe 31 October 2008 at 1:22 pm #

    Thank you for listing our website; it is always gratifying to find out that people appreciate and use it. I would like to suggest the National Galley of Art a great web site for kids, http://www.nga.gov/kids/kids.htm full of interactive creative art making programs.