I am often asked how I managed behaviour in my classroom. The marble jar was always a go-to every year, to manage most behaviour in my classroom.
I would often have a separate individual reward system, however, this was always a fantastic whole class effort!
In this whole class behaviour management incentive program, I would reward desirable behaviour within the class by adding marbles to the jar. Individuals could achieve marbles for the jar as well as the whole class!
What you need:
- Glass jar
- Marbles
- Laminated sheet to display chosen rewards.
Explain to your students your expectations – what type of behaviour will warrant getting marbles in the jar. Then, explain that there will be two lines on the jar – these are little reward stations. Once the class receives enough marbles to hit the first line, the whole class will receive a chosen reward.
The class will continue to add marbles to the jar until they reach the second line – which will be another chosen reward. The big ‘whole class party’ comes once the jar has been completely filled.
In my class, we brainstormed ideas for the two lined rewards, such as 15 minutes of free play, a game outside, etc.
The filling of the jar was always a class party, which the kids loved! We often had fruit rockets, some party games, and a little disco the Friday afternoon of the week that we filled the marble jar. Obviously, depending on timetables we had to postpone the party to the following week.
We would love to hear from you…do you use this in your class? Do you do anything differently? Let us know in the comment section of this blog.
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