Classroom Rules - Coin sheet discipline

by Kathy Ehinger
(Fort Wayne, IN)

I have 4 rules in my classroom.

1. Cooperate
2. Respect People
3. Return Work
4. Respect Property

At the beginning of the school year, the students and I discuss what each rule means. I use chart paper and put the rule at the top. Under each heading, the students give me their suggestions and I write them with their help.

Each student is given a coin sheet that they keep in their binder for the week. (you can e-mail me at k-ehinger (at) hotmail.com for a copy if needed) If no rules are broken, the students receive a penny coin stamp in each box at the end of the day.

If they break a rule during the day, they put an X in the box of the rule they have broken. One of my classroom jobs is Coin Stamper. They can earn 20 cents per week. At the end of the week, they count up the total of coins they have earned and turn their coin sheet in to me.

On Monday, I pay them. I start out with pennies and we work our way up to dimes. This really makes my money unit easy to teach. The students can also trade their coins in, for example 5 pennies for a nickel. Every two weeks we have a store where the students can purchase items with their money.

Parents donate items throughout the year. I also have a parent volunteer run my store.

I have used this program for several years. It works great, because their binders go home daily and parents can see if their child is having discipline issues.