Class Bank Accounts

My husband did some training with the Air Force for a few months and during that time I worked at an elementary school tutoring students in math. One of my favorite teachers to help was a 4th grade teacher who just loved her job. One of my favorite things that she did was she used money for a class incentive/behavior management. There are hundreds of different ways to do this but I liked how she incorporated it into her daily routine.

1. Find a money template and print your picture (the teacher's) on the money. With some quick googling I found this website where you can download money and add a picture. Scroll all the way to the bottom.
http://www.printablekidsplaymoneytemplates.com/

2. Give students a folder or envelope that they can use as their "bank".

3. Reward students with $1 rewards for things like giving a good answer, helping another student, walking well in the hall, turning in HW all week, getting a 100% etc.

4. Charge students for things like not having their name on their paper, talking during instruction, missing HW, using the bathroom etc.

5. At the end of the week have students trade in their dollars for bigger bills: $10, $20 etc. This way you can reuse the $1.

6. Students use the money earned to buy prizes or the whole class can earn a reward when they reach a certain class total like $500.

There are tons of ways to use this in the classroom. The teacher I saw use it would charge everyone in the class a dollar if they had issues in Music, PE etc or if they misbehaved when they had a substitute. At the end of the year the teacher holds an auction of prizes she has collected all year so that the students can use the money they have earned. As she collects good prizes she shows the students so they know what they are saving for. This incentive system would probably work best with upper elementary students.