You've earned a CONE!

CONES

          As the school year is beginning again, we all need something new in our classroom.  We all put up new boarders and use new colors to decorate our room. This year why not try a new technique to get those reluctant kiddos to contribute to the class discussions.  Several years ago I purchased three of these cones from the Dollar Tree to use in my class.
     
       I try to get reluctant students to raise their hands to contribute to the class discussion.  This was my answer.  I would give these cones out to students who had a good and thoughtful answer or comment to the class discussion.  It worked like a charm. 
    
          Every time a student gets a cone they actually don't get to keep it.  The cone gets to stay on the student's desk for the class period. At the end of the class the students return the cones so they can be distributed during the next class period. 
            
          As the years have gone by, my students have given me more as  Christmas gifts in a wide variety  of   colors.  My stack of cones has grown from three to more than two dozen. 

       The cones are well loved.  As you can  some of the lettering has worn off, and I have had to do some touch up with Sharpie marker.

     My kids love getting cones.  Some students actually have kept track of how many cones they have received during the year.  This has been a great positive reinforcement technique in my 5th Grade class. They are easliy disinfected with Clorox wipes to make your classroom a little more germ free.

 Head on over to Head Over heels for TEACHING and check out her great idea on classroom management. I have liked up with other teachers to this blog.
www.headoverheelsforteaching.blogspot.com 

   

Please leave a comment if you have a spare minute in your busy day.  I love reading your thoughts and ideas. 

Beti