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Using the Appreciation Station in a Classroom
September 14th, 2007 | Share this with a friend!
Dear Deb,
I am a teacher that would like to us the Appreciation Station in my classroom. Can you give me some suggestions on how I might use it? How do I handle the students who do not get tokens? Some of my students exhibit poor behavior week after week—how can I encourage them using the Appreciation Station if they never qualify for a token?
Signed,
Running Out of Tokens
Dear Running Out of Tokens,
Hello. I’m so pleased to hear that your are using The Appreciation Station in your classroom. We here at The Appreciation Station truly believe in the value of promoting and recognizing positive behavior in the classroom. Certainly, "behaving really badly" does not fall under the umbrella of positive behavior; so let’s try and address this.
I know that schoolteachers have very full classroom schedules. But, I would take 5 minutes (or less) and speak to the class as a whole about your expectations regarding how The Appreciation Station will be used in your classroom. Let them know that not everyone will be receiving tokens every day or even every week. You will be catching them doing good, being good, trying hard, etc. Let them know that you will do your best to "notice". I would let them know that it is not helpful to whine, nag or beg for tokens. They are in charge of their own behaviors and you are in charge of handing out tokens of appreciation.
The above is general, so now let’s be a bit more specific. You mentioned student(s) in your email. Are there several students who might find it impossible to receive a token? Perhaps a student might have attention difficulties or doesn’t play well with others. It might be a good idea to take them aside and let them know that you are going to pay special attention; that you are sure they will be able to sit during reading time and that you will appreciate it with a token. What I’m saying is that some students will need very specific tasks/expectations/etc. set before them and it is important that these be attainable goals for them. What is huge for one student to accomplish is a natural occurrence for another. Set them up for success.
No tokens for unacceptable behavior. Please let me know how things progress.
With appreciation,
Deb
