Thread: token economy

I use a type of token economy in my fourth grade class. Students are rewarded with ink stamps for various behaviors like walking in line quietly, having neat desks, and doing homeworks. The stamps are redeemable for grab jar treats. The current rate of exchange in my room is five stamps per one treat.

The students seem to enjoy receiving stamps. Some of the students have even organized their stamp books so that wizard stamps go on one page and zebra stamps go on the other. The girls tend to be more particular about this than the boys.

One thing I like about the use of stamp books is the sense that I'm rewarding positive behavior. If Jeremey isn't walking in line or Stephanie is off task and talking, all I have to do is remind the students of my expectations.

"I like the way MOST of you are walking in line. Today everyone who was walking in line will get double stamps."

"I like the way most people are working quietly. If you think you were working quietly, take out your stamp books and the class stamper will give you a stamp."

The students who aren't behaving appropriately quickly realize that they're being left out - and most of them will make an effort to amend their behavior.

Regards,

David

Okay, I'll bite. <g> What's the difference between wizard stamps and zebra stamps? Did they make their stamp books? Do you give stamps everytime the behavior is exhibited? For instance, do you give stamps for walking in line correctly everytime they walk in line?

I have a large collection of ink stamps. Wizard stamps are used exclusively for completed homework assignments. Zebras are used exclusively for line behavior.

At the beginning of the year, I am extremely consistent with using ink stamps ... but as the year progresses and students become accustomed to my expectations, reinforcement in some areas like line behavior - becomes intermittent.

I continue to be extremely consistent with giving stamps to children for praise from other adults. When an adult compliments the class, the entire class gets a world stamp.

All students have a basic "stamp folder" which is just a large sheet of construction paper folded in half. Most of the girls and a few of the boys have created their own folders using notebooks from home. Some of them are extremely meticulous about collecting wizard stamps on the "wizard" page and "zebra" stamps on the zebra page.

Others are more practical - organizing places to be stamped in groups of five - since five stamps are redeemable for one grab jar treat.

The grab jar treat itself consists of a large plastic container.

The container currently holds:

book marks
erasers
pencils
hard candies
chewy candies
toy soldiers
toy racing cars
toy dinosaurs
tops
bracelets
mini-candy bars
pencil sharpeners
scratch and sniff stickers
American flag stickers
glitter glue
mystery surprises - papers marked with a question mark. (When students unfold the paper they get a "surprise" perk like "Be line leader for the day" or "Trade seats with one student for the day" etc).

The grab jar is "open" on Tuesdays and Thursdays during the last 15 minutes of the day. During this time students who want treats bring me their stamp books. They tell me how many treats they want and I cross off the requisite number of stamps using a permanent red marker. (I used to use a red pencil until I found that some of my boys were carefully erasing the marks).

The students have until the count of five to get their treat. If a student wants more than one treat then I multiply by a factor of five i.e. if a student wants four treats, I cross off 20 ink stamps and I count to twenty. The student has until the end of my count to get his/her treat otherwise they have to take whatever I give.

Counting serves two purposes.

It reduces line congestion since some students would otherwise take forever to make up their mind.

It also helps to preserve some of my better treats - most of which (somehow) wind up in the bottom of my jar.

My students CLAIM that I put the best treats in the bottom on PURPOSE. I tell them that amazingly enough gravity pulls the best treats to the bottom. (Heh-heh-heh)

David