Will start new year tomorrow. First time attempting to implement WBT. Nervous. Am having a hard time with the part about consequences. 4th graders are so used to consequences by now. Strict schoolwide discipline plan.

I can imagine students asking me, "What are we going to get?" (for good behavior) I'm having a hard time imagining any simple rewards beyond the extra minute of recess. So many ideas all floating in my head.

Don't feel the confidence I usually feel when rolling out my discipline. Know there are some defiant students and for them not to have any consequences for 3 months is not a pretty thought.

Oh sweet mama, here we go!

Congratulations on starting a new year with WBT! Ten finger woo! You will do fine. When you teach the scoreboard, try ping ponging back and forth to make them really understand the system, and to make them work for it. Once you got it going, there are so many other rewards out there. Besides recess, you can earn minutes for playing mind soccer or more or less homework. By fourth grade, less homework is a huge reward. It will work. If you do have challenging kids, you can use the practice cards sooner or throw in the guff counter. If you don't need it right away, save it because it will be a long year. However, it is your classroom and you can change the order to fit your needs. I hope this helps. Please feel free to ask questions and let us know how it goes! Have a great first day!

Rebecca Crooks
WBT Intern
2011-12

A favorite reward is playing mind soccer for three minutes. You can also use SuperSpeed 1000, or SuperSpeed Math as incentives. They are all quick to play, and the kids will work hard to earn them.

Thanks. I'm a VERY newbie so I don't know how to play those games yet. Need some other incentives till I get to that point.

The recess and more or less homework should be enough to get you through the first couple of weeks until you feel comfortable playing the games. You may also try an extra "recess" that gives them just 2-3 minutes of talk time with a friend. Kids love to talk. You can throw this in at a random time during the day. Just be careful not to over use it and change up the times you do it. Let them know what they are working towards though. Maybe when you start your day say, "we are working to stop two minutes earlier before lunch to talk with a friend." then after lunch you might change it up to more or less homework. Anything that is short, motivating and free can work.

Rebecca Crooks
WBT Intern
2011-12