The power of the scoreboard was felt...and the tears fell, oh my. My first graders lost today. We counted the smilies and frownies and I won. The bet was a minute early out so a minute late is what we did. Standing behind our chairs hands over our eyes thinking how we could do better. I had stepped out the door to announce to mommies and daddies why we were late. When i came in I heard" Ms. Ladybug (they call me this) Katie is crying for real!
Once she started another little one started, so i walked the girls out and explained they took our score board real serious, theclass I think we win tomorrow:-)
Annette.

Oh my! I will be pulling for the class to have a winning day.

Susan Floyd
WBT Intern
2011-12

Lol those little cryin darlins!!! If I hadn't have done kinder I don't think I could have handled criers. But i learned. They stop. Sounds harsh but they really do!

Ps howd they do the next day:)?

My little cryin first graders did exceptional the next day and now all I have to say is "do I need to go to the scoreboard?" They give me the your out gesture and a loud no way. We have a little monkey under frownie star and he is holding practice tickets...he has not passed out on yet, guess we don't monkey around in first grade.
Annette.

Wow Annette!! That is so awesome!

Annette, I always smile at your posts! I am truly enjoying how powerful the scoreboard can be for so many students! I am preparing to get the students on board for practice cards. We have already been in school for 11 weeks. I think its time!!

Heather Hansen
Wbt Intern
2011/12

I wish my students would take the scoreboard game more seriously. They like one-second-parties, oh yeah! But the outcome doesn't seem to work for them. I am sure they will catch on later on in the semester. Practice makes perfect!

My experience with scoreboard is that my younger students (K-1) find just winning it a reward. I teach music and only have them 35 minutes at a time, so maybe that keeps it fresh, since their teachers generally don't use it. I did hear one Kinder teacher talking about points in reference to her own class.

One thing Coach B changed is that we should teach the children to make responses short. Children, especially the little boys, like the idea of "power". So I tell them that a short "woo" gives the child more power. Of course, I don't mean power in the cartoon sense the way they think of it, LOL! They give it because they want some of their own.

I've found that it doesn't do any good (even counterproductive) to advocate for WBT (isn't that sad?), but if you just do it and let them see, they start adopting at least parts of it. I started, "Put a bubble in your mouth" at my school and now all the teachers are saying it. Even the older students will pop a bubble in their mouths. It so much more effective than nagging them to be quiet in the line. When they see me in the hall or wherever, they put a bubble in and frame their faces at me (Keeping their dear teacher happy.) I occasionally snap a pic with my iPhone of an especially good bubble...very reinforcing. I use descriptive praise. They will poke me just to get me to look at their bubbles. I read a book many years ago..."Don't Shoot the Dog" by Karen Pryor...that taught me so much more about behavior modification than all my college courses. There is so much more to it than just reward and punishment.

I have found the ten-fingered woo much more reinforcing than tangibles, which I use very sparingly, usually for answering a particularly difficult question rather than for following the rules. The fact that they never know when it might be a "candy question" keeps them engaged and clamoring to answer. Our PBIS (school-wide behavior program) is totally oriented to tangibles, so I have to use them some. I will "pay" a gator buck to a child for leading the rules, showing a kindness (such as handing someone a tissue or picking up something someone drops), etc.

One thing I do a bit differently with Scoreboard (Coach B okayed it) is that I require my students to be three points ahead of me in order to "win". I use it to throw a little math in my music classes. They have to figure out how many more points they need to win. For instance, say the score is "Oh, Yeah" 4 and "Mighty Groan" 3. I might ask, "Who is winning?" They answer, "You are." "How many more points do you need to win?" I keep it competitive and with the younger ones, I usually manipulate it so that if they are winning it is ONLY by 3. Then I can say, "Who is winning?" We are! But if you don't leave my room quietly and I get another point, who will win? If they only lack one point, I can say, "How many points do you need to win?" (one) "If Mrs. So & So tells me that you made it all the way back to your room in a quiet line, I will give you a point." (This makes points with the classroom teachers.)

Cadenza!

I love the make a bubble in your mouth! Also, I think that using the 10 finger woo, sparingly is a great idea! I feel that it holds more meaning and students are working double time to get the 10 finger woo....not to mention the lightening, Sizzle, ZAP! Woo!!!


Heather Hansen
Wbt Intern
2011/12

We use the 5 finger woo, short but sweet. We use the 10 finger one piano style for biggies and we use a yea-haw to go with it. You are so right but I pick those kids who really need the the encouragement and give it to them big time.
Annette

Annette, I am not sure whether you are addressing my post or Heather's, but I definitely agree that it is especially important not to miss the opportunities to reward the students who need encouragement the most. When I say I use something "sparingly", I am just saying to be careful not to make something so common that the children habituate to it and thus, it is no longer effective. You are changing things up and that is what MUST be done to keep things effective.

Sometimes even I get confused about finger # one because I play piano (well, sort of, LOL!) and also teach guitar (Little Kids Rock). Finger one on the piano is the thumb, but on the guitar it is the pointer.

We do need to be careful not to totally leave out the ones who always have the right answers. But I tend to reinforce them more when it is a higher level thinking question/answer. I try to differentiate instruction and also differentiate rewards. A Sped child who answers a simple question may need more reinforcement than a Gateway (gifted) student who answers a more difficult question.