The Clean Desk Fairy recently ran out of sparkly glitter pencils. I advised her to find a more economically responsible gift to leave for the six-year olds as a prize for their clean desks. She must have taken my advise to heart, because the next time she visited my class, she left Pixy Stix.
At first, I thought she was a genius. Pixy Stix are a great prize! Cheap and fun! After a few Clean Desk Fairy visits, however, I am not sure I still have a tender place in my heart for the Pixy Stix.
The six-year olds show symptoms of withdrawal after going without Stix for a day. They have trembles and are beginning to shout out things like "Wow, my desk is really clean. When is that Fairy coming back? I need a fix...or....whatever." It is disturbing.
I think the Stix are a gateway drug. Pretty soon they are going to be ripping open individual packages of Dixie Crystals sugar. It is only a matter of time before they move to the hard stuff. I am scared.
24 comments:
NO NOT TURBINADO SUGAR!!!!!!!! You forgot to mention the powdered stuff...they could always start with the powdered sugar too...
Sooooo, the Clean Desk Fairy needs something cheap but non-edible and at the same time long-lasting. Maybe you could turn it into a competition? The Fairy leaves on prize every night for the person with the the cleanest desk at the end of the next school day.
Do you think the kids would turn on her?
Hey, we'll cover ya...be at our house the day after trick-or-treating. The Clean Desk Fairy will have LOADS to give away - SERIOUSLY!
Have you ever shopped at Oriental Trading Company? You can get lots of cute stuff there cheap...especially stickers. I got a roll of 100 for Logan's fish party for hardly anything at all. Let me know if you're interested 'cause they emailed me a coupon code for 15% plus free shipping (if you spend $60 or more, of course). The next time I order something, I'll let you know in case you'd like to combine our total.
I always forget about Oriental Trading! I used to order from there a lot. I may take you up on that, Amanda!
I don't know, Becks, their withdrawal symptoms can be pretty scary, so they might turn. I could wean them gradually, though. I think one prize a night for one prize is a good idea. Right now she visits sporadically, but leaves lots of prizes.
Um, that should be one prize a night for one student...
Okay, it's all good now! Oriental trade is a great idea...they have grab bags full of randon junk that you can order, so the prizes would be different all the time. Do you think when you order one of those, some worker runs around the warehouse with a blindfold on--just grabbing stuff????
HA! The mental image of that is fantastic. And, that would be a great job.
Good one, Becky. That would be a COOL job. Great exercise, the randomness of it all.
Mandy, I have one of OT's current catalogs. I could probably manage to find something the boys MUST have to come up with the $60 minimum. We'll have to hurry though; the code expires October 20th (Friday)!!!
Hahahahahaha! So maybe I think it isn't such a good idea for the Clean Cubby Fairy to leave candy now that you mention that...
How about if they don't clean their desks no recess?
Cheep and effective
i had a good behavior fairy in the 4th grade. we got so many green worms (yes, green worms. construction paper with laminate. they had smiley faces) if we were good, and red ones if we were bad. if we collected 3 green worms during the week we got to pick a treasure from the treasure chest on fridays. i was so excited. but then it came my turn (maybe twice that year) and the treasure chest was stock full of. . . erasers. don't do that.
I am such a bleeding heart when it comes to kids. Taking away recess is so mean...they aren't Martha Stewart clones! For crying out loud they are 6 YEAR OLDS who need recess. Encourage them to keep their desks clean and orderly and the reward could be popcorn and juice for everyone on Friday afternoon. I used to do that in KG and the kids loved it.
Trust me Capt. B.--that's not the way to go. Then Mandy has to ENFORCE and it's just extra work for her. She's the one that gets punished, the kids don't care about losing recess for a day.
becky,
just for conversation sake....
It's ok for her to expend effort when it's giving them something, but when she is taking something away it's a not worth the effort?
Take the "privlage" of recess away, while the rest are on recess playing the ones with messy desks can clean their desks. A couple of times missing recess and all the fun, I am sure it will sink in that clean desk = fun time.
Mandy,
Are the kids with messy desks the ones that are at the mid to lower half of the class as far as acheievment?
No, no, no. Don't take recess. Because 1)you will pay. . .if they don't burn off some energy on the playground, they will do it in your classroom and 2)they are 6 years old. They NEED physical activity in order to learn.
Taking recess should be reserved for bad behavior. A messy desk is not bad behavior, it's a poor habit. Personality has a lot to do with it, and it is not a deliberate act of disobedience. Those things which are not truly behavioral/attitude issues should be rewarded when done, not punished when not done.
Stickers are good and cheap. One teacher at CCS has a jar on his deak that kids get to put marbles in when they do something good (like have a clean desk, pick up something they weren't responsible for, etc). When they accumulate X number of marbles, they get a "Popcorn Party".
capt. b.--I don't really feel like having this conversation, but whatever. Just so you know, I used to teach elem. kids. What if Mandy doesn't have recess duty? You think those kids are going to sit it out without her sitting there making them do it? It's not the other teachers' burden, so all that will end up happening is that Mandy will have to add it to her mental to-do list (which I'm sure is already quite long) until it actually gets done--which even with the best intentions, often takes too long. It's been rainy this week, so they probably haven't even been having recess. By the time it's nice enough to go out next Monday, you think a first grader is going to remember why they're sitting there?
Also, the messiest kids are also sometimes the smartest. You can't make those assumptions. Smart and neat don't go hand in hand. But Willa's right...recess has EVERYTHING to do with afternoon performance, especially in a six-year-old.
Becky,
If you did not feel like having the conversation then don't. I'm NOT trying to start something here. I just found it odd that it's ok for her to spend time and energy (and her hard earned $$) to do one thing but not another. I personaly belive the removal or loss of privlages can be as good or sometimes an even greater learning tool then constant rewards.
About my question; It was a question, I made no assumptions,it's been a very long time since I have delt with anyone under the age of 12, that is why I posed the question to a person who I belived to be quailified to answer. In this case the qualified person is someone who happens to be a current 1st grade teacher. I was not aware of your teaching creditials past or present otherwise I may have directed the question to you also.
For the record, I was one of the kids with a messy desk and locker all throguh school. I missed recesses, I didn't get stickers or anything else. I turned out OK. Now I'm amost obsessive compulsive about keeping some things clean and organized and others I could care less about.
also IMHO I think Willa was right on the target with her post.
And please excuse my spelling I have had a very rough day and fingers are not working well.
Well you know it's a good idea in theory--we've all considered it...or variations of it--but unfortunately it doesn't translate to reality.
Wow, this really got some conversation going.
For starters, let me say that the desks of the kids are their own domain, so technically, they can have them messy. I am just a neat freak who would prefer that they keep them clean, but I won't punish them for not. I am just trying to use incentive (or bribery...let's call it what it is...) to make my life a little straighter, neater, and more organized.
As for recess, it really does make my life better. The kids need it, and unless they have committed some heinous crime (e.g., written "piss" on their dry erase board...another story for another time) I won't take it away. Recess time is precious and valuable--for the kids, and for me!
Dear Ms. Katie,
I'm assure you I am chilled out and not worked up about anything. Please read my posts and tell me what is wrong with anything I've written or what would give you the impression that I am worked up and need to chill out. I was unaware that you were a teacher other wise I might have also directed my question your way also.
Capt. Bonez
(no "r")
Great- get the kids started on the powder. Sure. then I will be seeing them in rehab. sure.
yes, I did like the movie. it was hard to watch- I dont like seeing people get hurt. but it was good to make me think about things, the military, what we are going, and the sacrifices made. good stuff. just made me wanna get out there, though. sigh. maybe someday.
*giggle*
What a difference an "r" makes!
LMAOTROOMEOKC!!!!!!
That means "laughing my ass off tears rolling out of my eyes over Katie's comments".
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