Chapter 11 Assignment

From the 15+ variations of the Scoreboard in Chapter 11, pick five you will use in the school year. Explain why you picked each one and estimate how long you will use your selection before going on to the next.

I have been using the smiley and frowny face scoreboard for 2 months now and it has been a wonderful tool.  As a teacher of Kindergarten this is easily relatable to the children and it is a great motivator.  After a few months and I see boredom start to rise, I will move on to motivate them by using the gridboard. 

Gridboard: This should allow me to refocus those that are slow to be energetic and adding some fun and a different twist to the game. I will use this strategy for about 3 weeks and find fun ideas to add along the way.

Virtueboard: This will help my kinders learn about kindness of the heart and giving to others.  This could be my favorite, as it gives me many opportunities for teaching. I may keep this one around for a while and I may even keep it separate from the smiley/frowny scoreboard.  Teaching them these values will be life-long lessons. I can’t wait to try it.

Team Scoreboard: I may do this one on Fridays, for the last half of the day for a few weeks. Children love games and competition, so this should motivate them to really dig in and work as a team to gain points. Boys against the girls, Oh ya!  The children will gain a strong idea of learning what it means to have teams and leaders.  I will switch the leaders around so everyone can see how it feels to lead a group. This will also build self-confidence in my quiet students as well.

Boombox: My kids are going to love this one.  At this age music is an important part of learning and gaining an appreciation for different types.  I am looking forward to the reaction they will have when they realize the reward is music.  Even a minute or two will make them very excited to do this exercise.  I will do this one for about 2 weeks, that way when I come back to it, they will be excited to do it again.

Ultimately, I will go back to the smiley/frowny points. I own a school that teaches year round, so we will be changing things up soon and trying something new. I love that there are so many ways to change the scoreboard around to keep it fresh.