"Catch Them Being Good" Paul, 8th Grade Teacher: Boston, MA

"Have a variety of positive reinforcers available to give to students when they are "being good" and demonstrating appropriate behaviors. Remember, reinforcers are only positive if students think they are! You can get to know what students consider to be positive by just asking them or making observations about what your students seem to be motivated by. Some common reinforcers include: verbal praise, stickers, choosing a favorite activity, computer time, games."

"Early Driving Skills!" Don Louis, 5th Grade Teacher: St. Anisette Canada

"Give your students the gift of time to learn this basic driving skill, early! As students approach any corner, while walking through a hallway, instruct them to always follow these three simple steps!

1.) Stop 2.) Look left,right, and left again. 3.) If it is clear to go, continue walking. If not, wait until clear, and then continue. The students love the idea they are learning a grown up driving skill in elementary school!"

"Team Bucks" Daryle Grimstead, 6th Grade Language Arts Teacher

"Each 9 weeks, my team prints team money that we distribute throughout the quarter. We collect stuffed animals at garage sales, thrift stores, and family donations and we display them in our rooms. At the end of the 9 weeks, we hold a team auction and the students purchase the animals with the money they have earned. They earn money by helping the teacher, staying on task,or any positive behavior. We do not give this money based on grades. It is meant to be a behavior management tool. It works great! The kids love earning the money and the auctions provide an opportunity for team enrichment time."

"Tattle Test" Tricia, Special Education Resource/Middle School

"When I student taught 3rd grade, my students seemed to live to tattle. If I let them, I would only have time to deal with tattles. I came up with a two prong test for the students to gauge if they should be the one to tell me what happened.

Part one: Is anyone in danger?

Part two: Are you directly involved?

If the answer to either question was yes, then it was their business to tell me. If the answer to both questions was no, I informed them that it was not their place to be telling me and therefore they were to go back to the task at hand. It really helped with some of my biggest tattlers. They'd start to tell me something and I'd say "I have two questions for you". After a while, they knew what was coming and would answer them without my having to actually ask them."

"Barter Day" Jill Johnson, 5th Grade Teacher | Author's Website

"Barter Day is a motivating activity for students to earn "minibucks" to buy items from each other at the end of each grading period. Minibucks are earned by trading in 25 stamps. Stamps are earned through grades and responsibility. Each letter grade receives a different amount of stamps, and parent signatures on a variety of things earn stamps as well. When the student has 25 stamps, they turn them in for a minibuck. At the end of each nine week grading period, the students bring small snacks, toys, etc. to sell to the other students.

The students use their earned minibucks to buy items from the other students. They can only use the amount of minibucks earned during the 9-week grading period. Any profits earned can be used at the next Barter Day.

This activity motivates the children to work harder for higher grades, more stamps, and more minibucks, therefore more buying power. It also teaches them about profit, selling prices, and supply and demand! A major rule is that all bartering is done silently. Anyone interested in receiving a list of guidelines and a more detailed description can email me for a copy. The kids and the teachers love it!"