What Works Teacher Appreciation Linky and Giveaway

It's Teacher Appreciation Week, and I'm so excited to be joining Inspired Owl's Corner and Pawsitively Teaching along with a ton of other fabulous teacher bloggers for a huge linky and giveaway! Each teacher in the linky will be sharing their tried and true teacher secrets that help to make their classrooms successful!

Do you ever struggle with keeping your kids reading during IDR or reading workshop time? Do they always want to book shop instead of read? I found a great way to eliminate this problem! I have two book racks in my library where each student has at least one spot that is just for him/her. The students are expected to keep at least two books that they want to read on this rack at all times. That way if they finish a book during reading workshop, they can just go to their book rack and grab one of those books quickly. We designate some of reading workshop time on Friday as book browsing time so every Monday their book rack should be full for the week!

I am a bit of a neat freak...(I can hear my students saying, "A bit?!"). I don't understand how the classroom can look like a tornado blew through it thirty minutes after school starts. Throughout the day I will use transitions to get the students to clean up. For instance, I might say, "When I call your group for bathroom break, first find three things that need to be cleaned up or straightened."

At the end of the day we do Mystery Trash. I walk around the room and find three things that need to be cleaned up or straightened. It could be a pencil or piece of paper on the floor, a row of desks that is crooked, or maybe, heaven forbid, the kleenex box is not directly in the corner of the table. The students watch as I go around and assess the classroom and write on my sticky note the three offending items that must be fixed so we can all sleep that night. You must be sneaky, though! You can't look at the pencil on the floor and then immediately write it down. That's too easy. Once I have found my items, I release the students to go and clean, clean, clean! I try to discreetly watch so I see for myself who has taken care of each of my mystery clean up items. Sometimes I miss one and just have to say, "Who straightened the book on this shelf right here?" The lucky cleaners get a piece of gum and peace of mind!

Last but certainly not least, I have found that I have to have some kind of special behavior management system for the end of the year. I have seen all kinds of great ideas on Pinterest...balloons with special rewards inside, chains counting down the number of days left...I'm sure there are a million and one ideas out there to choose from.

My favorite thing to do at the end of the year is a monetary system. The students earn money by doing the things they should be doing anyway, such as turning in homework, getting their planner signed, and making good choices. They also have to pay for expenses such as rent, lunch, recess, and making poor choices. Once students have had time to save up a little money, I like to offer fun things that students can pay for. For example, you might take your students outside for an extra recess for $2. That does mean that if students don't have the money, they can't participate. On one of the last days of school, I hold a big auction where students can spend all the money that they have been saving. Here's a look at last year's auction items.

My Classroom Economy Set is found in my TPT Store, and it is normally priced at $2.50. To celebrate Teacher Appreciation week and all the hard work you do, I'm giving it away for free for a limited time! Just head over to my TPT Store and download it for free while you can. I would sure appreciate you taking the time to leave some feedback, and I'd love for you to follow my store!

Make sure you enter both of the giveaways below. Each prize bundle is worth more than $475! And check out all the other great teacher secrets in the linky!