I’m working on some creative new ways to encourage my students to become not only amazing scientists, but amazing people. As teachers, we have the important job of guiding students in daily decision making which with the help of parents can slowly craft a child’s character. Let’s face it…When all is said and done, the kids will probably not remember what I said about science but instead they will remember how I made them feel about learning, about collaboration, about life.
So, I’m working on these QR code trait tags for my 6th graders. (Very late on a summer night…yup…I’m officially CRAZY!)
I’d like to teach my middle school students more about how these character traits and impact their success:
Enthusiam
Attentiveness
Creativity
Patience
Endurance
Resourcefulness
Determination
Respectfulness
Orderliness
Consideration
Diligence
Joyfulness
Truthfulness
Responsibility
I’m thinking that it makes sense to teach them one at a time, using small group discussion, literary connections, and personal stories. After we have learned about the trait, then I will start rewarding students who display the trait in the classroom, using the corresponding QR Trait Tag.
Should students be able to recommend their peers earn a ticket if they witness genuine examples of the trait in action? Hmmm…I need to think on that one.
For each trait, I created two identical trait tags. One has a prize message, the other an inspirational message. Neither the student OR I will know if the tag is a “winner” until it is QR scanned.
(The prize messages match the classroom coupons that I already use) http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Classroom-Incentive-Coupons-Middle-Grades-350963
I’m on the fence about exactly how I want to implement this. (Maybe because it is JULY and I should be working on my tan and not my lesson plans…ERG!) One thing I know is that I don’t want to make students feel as though they should have all these traits already. They are kids! (To be honest, I don’t know any adults who aren’t working on improving a handful of these.) I’d like to emphasize the traits that individuals DO have so that they can learn by example from one another. Hmmm….Lots to think about. (Luckily I have 2 months to finalize this idea!)
Do you think you might use this in your upper elementary or middle school classroom? If so, grab the free file here to print on card stock. All I ask is that you leave me an idea/suggestion/success story from your classroom in exchange 🙂
Click the image to grab this document from Google Docs:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0By-BLeN-IAcgaGplNUpFeUZGams/edit?usp=sharing
Questions for all you talented teachers out there:
How do you feel about the element of luck with these reward tags (some have prizes others don’t)?
Do you think students should be encouraged toward earning a particular number of tags?
Do you think the tags could be laminated and recirculated?
What would be the best way for students to store the tags? (I have 140 students in 5 classes.)
Do you think students could be involved in distributing the tags to their peers?
I look forward to hearing your ideas on how you might use these in your classroom!!!
Happy Teaching…
