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Dont let that horse Lawrence Ferlinghetti

Guest poem submitted by Dale Rosenberg:

(Poem #1836) Don't let that horse Don't let that horse eat that violin cried Chagall's mother But he kept right on painting And became famous And kept on painting The Horse With Violin In Mouth And when he finally finished it he jumped up upon the horse and rode away waving the violin And then with a low bow gave it to the first naked nude he ran across And there were no strings attached -- Lawrence Ferlinghetti

I was surprised to see that only two of Ferlinghetti's poems have made it to
minstrels. He's my favorite of the Beat poets, and this is one of my
favorite poems of his. I love his exuberance and the sheer *fun* of his
poems. In this one I admire his ability to use humor without snarkiness, to
convey the joy of creation of art. I saw him read this one when I was in
high school. I can still see his smile at the last line and hear the
audience's happy laughter.

Dale Rosenberg.

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Dont Let Them Push Your Buttons

Lets face it, most teachers have one thing that just pushes their button. Personally, pencils are it for me. A student not having a pencil or needing to sharpen a pencil in the middle of my lesson drives me a little crazy. A student has to have a sharpened pencil, so whats a teacher to do? My solution was a classroom economy.  Ive used many different types of classroom economies over the years. All of them were great but some a little too complicated to maintain.I couldnt juggle the ones that required me to write out checks, cash them, and deduct taxes. Dont get me wrong, if you can do all that, I applaud you. I just personally cant do it. Ive finally created the perfect classroom economy for the busy teacher and one that will eliminate the button pushing. Drum roll please..... Introducing the Easy Classroom Economy! (Click on the picture for your free copy)  I give the students $10 every Friday afternoon. Every Wednesday I charge $5 for desk rent. If a student doesnt have enough money to pay for their rent, they have to do math facts sheets instead of participating in extra recess. (I love having this extra 15 minutes a week for motivating students, but I know many teachers wouldnt be allowed to give an extra recess. You could use their regular recess time instead. Another option is to have learning games time as the extra "recess".) On Friday afternoons, before I pass out the money for the next week, I open my store for students to spend their money. I have three baskets with small toys and cards with things like chew gum in class, homework coupon, free time on the computer,  etc. The baskets are priced at $5, $15, and $25. Very simple and easy to maintain.
The best part of the system is that I use it as my behavior plan, too. I have a list of Fines and Fees that students must use their economy bucks on. This is where you stop letting them push your buttons. I made a list of all the things that drive me crazy and put a fine to the offense. My students are allowed to freely sharpen their pencil before 8:15 a.m. but after that its going to cost them a $1. Just like magic, no one EVER asks to sharpen their pencil anymore. Really!!! Rarely do I have to supply a child with a pencil either because they now cost $2. No name on paper.......$1. Repeating directions.....$1.  Going to the bathroom outside of bathroom breaks...........$1. Whining.......$2. Tattling for the pure pleasure of getting another student in trouble..........$2. Having a happy non-stressed out teacher...........Priceless!
Homework has its own separate reward and consequence. The one I use is very similar to the one Laura Candler recently blogged about.  Its a great post that you must check out. Click HERE to read it.
The bottom line is I try not take a students misbehavior or missing assignments personally. I charge them economy bucks for misbehavior and put them in study hall for missing assignments. Of course, there will be students that are not motivated by either of these methods, but it will work for most students. Id love to hear what works for you in your classroom.

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