1) Mrs.

Hankins utilized an effective reward system that promoted student

involvement as well as school wide etiquette.
2) Mrs. Hankins managed classroom time efficiently and effectively.
One of Mrs. Hankins positive reinforcement strategies included an effective
reward system that was both implemented in the classroom and school wide. One of
the tools she used was specific to her classroom. When a student was on task or
gave an accurate answer to class probing, they would receive a raffle ticket.
Students would write their name on the ticket and place it in their designated class
period jar, which was color coded for convenience. At the end of the school week,
Mrs. Hankins would pull three names from their jar at random, which entitled those
students to pick a candy from her treasure chest. There was also a school wide
system in place where, on Fridays, teachers could hand out Whirl-One tickets.
These were used as currency for the students at the school store and in individual
classrooms (including Mrs. Hankins) to buy candy and prizes. Mrs. Hankins
explained that this was also a form of school wide teaching for students, primarily
on money management.
She used these systems to support a variety of positive behaviors. On 10/20,
our second day of observation, she used them in her first period class by giving
them out to students who were on task and working, which subsequently inspired
students to focus more on their individual work. She used them in her second period
by handing them out to students who willingly raised their hands to respond to
questions presented to the class. This strategy was specific to the academic level as
well, encouraging her first period honors class to focus and work harder on their
studies, while during the regular period 2 life science, it was more used as
encouragement for general participation. On our first day observing, we had an
interesting interaction with a student, Portia, in her first period honors course. She
stated, I dont like the raffle system. Why do they need to reward behavior we
should already be doing? this could potentially be a drawback to this system,
though Portia was definitely more mature than her age may have suggested.
Mrs. Hankins also organized a PBS day, Positive Behavior Support, where
student with spotless school records were able to participate in a field-day-like
scenario. Students could choose an activity to participate in on a school wide fun
day due to their positive behavior. This would likely be a half-day, where part of it
would be schoolwork and the other part reward. Still, Mrs. Hankins was instrumental
to the planning process and organization behind this specific student reward
system.
Mrs. Hankins was very skilled in keeping the students engaged with bell to
bell work, demonstrating her proficiency in managing classroom time effectively.
Her immediate attention grabbing system that we previously stated was her use of
a bell ringer activity, which instantly engaged students in a minds-on manner. Not

only did she use this as a springboard to the overall lesson, but every week she
designated a particular student to collect the bell ringer books and put them in the
class bin. This ensured that only one student would be distracted by the task rather
than a stampede of students standing up and delivering their books to the basket.
She was also very precise about giving explicit timing because of a class
timer she had purchased on Amazon. It way a clock with a red slide that she could
immediately move to however long the students had to complete the required
activity. She used this on 10/21 when she gave students 5 minutes to study before
their mini assessment. Within 3 seconds she walked over to her time keeper and set
it, which gave them a visual representation (a red dial like a pie chart shading
pointing to how many minutes were left) of how much time they had as well as an
audible beep when their time was up. This was especially useful when we were
teaching, giving us the same means of accountability for our explicit timing.
Mrs. Hankins also incorporated a weekly planner that she periodically
checked. This would tell the students what bell ringer number would be designated
to a specific date along with the content that would be discussed that day. The
planner was to be filled out on Monday to give the students ample time to look over
the information. This planner was also signed by their parents, giving the families a
heads up on what was required of their children and informing them what they
should be learning in class.
She also had a real gift for pre-correction. At the beginning of class she would
stand at the door, greet the children, and remind them to work on their bell ringer
activities so the students wouldnt waste time. This also allowed her to maintain
classroom management from an area where she could keep an eye on all of her
students. She also made sure, before moving to the lab tables, to instruct students
on what to bring with them so that they didnt have to return to their desks for
something they had forgotten. On our last day of teaching in the computer lab, she
wrote the instructions on how to reach a learning website on the whiteboard, clearly
visible to all students. Students merely had to read the board for instruction, rather
than create issues for the teachers who would otherwise have to explain it to all of
the students.
Mrs. Hankins had an excellent strategy for reigning in student attention as
well. On a number of occasions she would say, I need your attention in 5, 4, 3, 2,
1. This allowed her to, within 5 seconds, gather the attention of the entire class.
Because this strategy was so frequently used, the students usually had put down
what they were doing and became attentive by count 3. This strategy was well
implemented alongside her consideration for the attention span of 7 th grade
students. She smattered her lessons with group work and discussions that served as
energizers for their minds, allowing them to take a break from the sometimes
strenuous curriculum. This was usually utilized ever ten to fifteen minutes. Giving

the students these minor mental breaks made it easier for her to gather their
attention when she needed it most.