This classroom management strategy for your middle school classroom is incredibly simple. The goal is to reach 15:00 by the end of each marking period (you could even utilize this strategy weekly and have students try to reach 1:00 or 5:00 for the week!).
Allow me to explain.
The 15:00 Classroom Management Strategy:
Whenever the entire class behaves themselves accordingly, or they all do their homework, or they all walk in a straight line to Science class, or they are perfect for a substitute teacher, (you get the idea) they get “seconds toward their time.”
For instance, I would give out 0:10 toward our goal of 15:00 if all students completed a challenging homework assignment. Or I might give out 0:05 if all students transition to the next subject or activity quickly and quietly.
If the class reaches the goal of 15:00 by the end of the designated marking period, the entire class gets a class party – we usually play Apples to Apples, Taboo, or another academic-related activity while we enjoy special treats that I make for them 🙂
So, How Do I Keep Track of this Classroom Management System?
Well, it’s actually quite easy! To keep track of this plan, I simply have a small spot, prominently placed on my front whiteboard where I add the seconds any time the class is rewarded with them.
Here’s a picture from my classroom – as you can see, absolutely nothing fancy about it. But it is an incredible classroom management strategy when it comes to middle school students.
I have to tell you, I’ve used this strategy with my high school seniors all the way down to my middle schoolers and even my 5th graders (for the one year I taught 5th grade), and they all LOVE this positive reinforcement plan! They will do anything for seconds toward their time, and they are always trying to make me happy in order to get more 🙂
It’s simple, easy to remember and keep track of, and it works wonders. Enjoy this piece of brilliance from my first-year mentor teacher 🙂
If you want to learn more about this strategy and the other idea I use for “table points” in middle school, you can check out my IGTV video by clicking here.
We also have more classroom management strategies to read about here!
12 Comments
Pretty! This was an extremely wonderful post.
Thanks for supplying these details.
I am a second year high school teacher and have a different room each period for all 7 of my classes. Do you know of an app or website that could utilise this method? We just got ViVi too so I can project this onto our whiteboards.
I just had a different time on the board for each class period! I wrote “A Block: 5:15” and then “B Block: 4:05” etc. Hope this helps!
Do you ever deduct time?
Hi Brittany! Nope! I keep the system totally positive. I found that the positive reinforcement works best.
How long do you go until this resets? Every day or until they get to 15? Does the reward last for 15 minutes or is it shorter?
Hey Madison! You can decide your time frame for the 15 minutes. Just do whatever works best for you. That may be a week, month, quarter, etc. Same for the reward. Depends on what you choose. Let us know how it goes!
Hey! I am listening to your podcast on the 15 minute strategy. I was wondering about the rewards student chose. For instance, if they chose a movie, did they only get 15 minutes to watch or their goal is just to get up to 15:00 and then you spend a whole class period on the reward?
Thanks! ❤️
Hey Chelsea! Great question. The goal is just to get to 15 minutes, and then you can decide on the reward and length of the reward that you want to give. Just choose whatever works for you! 😁
Hi! I just listened to your podcast on this strategy and I’m definitely interested! I wanted to know: is there a specific reason for the “fifteen minutes” as opposed to just making them earn points (like working up to 100 points to earn something)? I assumed the fifteen minutes was because that’s how long the reward lasted, but I see that’s not the case so I wasn’t sure if my students would be confused with this.
It’s the same concept as earning points. They are just earning time instead. I find that you explain it up front and make sure there are not questions, they are good with whatever you choose.