INSPIRATION
*In September of 2016, I was lucky enough
to visit the Ron Clark Academy in Atlanta, Georgia. If you haven’t heard of
RCA, make sure you check out their website and videos; you’ll be INSPIRED to
say the least. RCA holds professional development days where teachers from all
over the country can come and watch their unique techniques and strategies for
creating respectful, knowledgeable, and strong, young leaders. I attended a
one-day workshop, and I left feeling excited, inspired, and motivated to make my
classroom and teaching methods the best they could be.
*One component of RCA that really
resonated with me was their house system. They sort their students into four
different houses, and the students can earn points for various things. The
pride and love these students (and teachers) have for their houses is unreal. I
knew I needed to incorporate it into my own classroom as soon as possible. But
how? When? I decided to wait until the following year, which is this year, to
implement it. I struggled trying to decide how to manage this new system; What
would they receive points for? Do I take points? Do I keep the houses the same
all year? Should I be rewarding them monthly, quarterly? I
didn’t know!... and I started to second guess my decision. Then I read The Engaging Station’s blog post, which you can find here. She confirmed just how
awesome this system could work when you put enough time and thought into it!
SORTING STUDENTS
*Students will be assigned to houses at
random through the help of this handy-dandy wheel.
Disclaimer: I painted it from turquoise to black, and I laminated a piece of
blue over the orange to go with my colors. When I placed the magnetic wheel on
my whiteboard, it slid straight down! However, when placed on my chalkboard, it
stayed extremely secure!
*I printed my house shields, laminated them, and then taped them to my wheel insert. The names of my houses just came from Google translate. I typed in the four words I wanted my houses to represent, and I just had them translated to Latin. The wheel insert actually had three colors similar to my shields, but it also had an orange section. I simply took a piece of green paper and laminated it right on top to cover the orange! BOOM!...IT MATCHES.
*I printed my house shields, laminated them, and then taped them to my wheel insert. The names of my houses just came from Google translate. I typed in the four words I wanted my houses to represent, and I just had them translated to Latin. The wheel insert actually had three colors similar to my shields, but it also had an orange section. I simply took a piece of green paper and laminated it right on top to cover the orange! BOOM!...IT MATCHES.
*I'm going to be sorting students on the very first day...or the second day if I don't think there will be enough time. I'll first start off by explaining the system so they're all jacked up about it! They will then come up to the wheel and spin!
*Once a student spins a house, their Class Dojo icon will immediately be changed to their house icon. (Instructions for this will be included in my TpT file.) Class Dojo will be pulled up on the SmartBoard for all to see. A quick note about Class Dojo: I’ve used this behavior management system for the past two years and I LOVE it. Although it’s great for managing behavior, my favorite component of the site is that it allows you to easily connect with parents. You can send messages back and forth, and you can also share what’s going on in your classroom in a quick way. (The story option is very similar to Facebook’s format, and I use it all of the time to share reminders, pictures, and videos of our classroom happenings.
*Once a student spins a house, their Class Dojo icon will immediately be changed to their house icon. (Instructions for this will be included in my TpT file.) Class Dojo will be pulled up on the SmartBoard for all to see. A quick note about Class Dojo: I’ve used this behavior management system for the past two years and I LOVE it. Although it’s great for managing behavior, my favorite component of the site is that it allows you to easily connect with parents. You can send messages back and forth, and you can also share what’s going on in your classroom in a quick way. (The story option is very similar to Facebook’s format, and I use it all of the time to share reminders, pictures, and videos of our classroom happenings.
*I have twenty-four students this year,
so I am limiting my houses to six students each. Once a house has six students
in it, no other student will be allowed to enter that house. The student will
just re-spin until they obtain an available house.
GIVING/TAKING POINTS
*When a student needs a point either
given or taken from them, it will be done on Class Dojo. For example, let’s say
Avery earned a point for demonstrating leadership. I would either award Avery
the point myself, or have her quickly award herself using my iPad. It’s
extremely quick and simple!
*The great thing about Dojo is that it
allows you to place students in groups as well. This means that you can award
your houses points directly to every student in that group without having to
actually click each individual student.
HOW IT WORKS- timeline, incentives, etc.
This is the part that I struggled with
most, and I’ll be honest, I’m still thinking about it! Here’s a quick rundown
of what I’m thinking:
*After students are placed into their
houses, I will ask them to “run” for house leader. They will write a letter
explaining why they think they would be a great house leader. I will select one
student from each house and reveal them at the end of the first week. Team
leaders will meet with me every few weeks for lunch to discuss motivation,
teamwork, ideas for house spirit days, and incentives they’d like to see.
*Points will be awarded throughout the
week to individual students for Dojo points (so they can cash them in at our class store) and groups.
*On Fridays (at the end of our class
meeting), the team’s points will be revealed, and we’ll determine current
totals and all-time totals. This will be laminated and we will updated the
numbers with a dry-erase marker.
I think I’ll do a few different
incentives for my students (monthly and then an overall winner). I’m only
thinking I need to do more than just a yearly winner because I want to keep it
fresh and exciting. I also want all of the teams to have a chance to experience
some success. These incentives will be decided on with the help of my team
leaders, so the incentives below are just EXAMPLES:
MONTH WINNER: This will change out
monthly! The first month, the team with the most points might get to have lunch
with me. The next month, they might get a homework pass or be allowed to bring in a drink/snack.
YEAR WINNER: Ice cream party!
*Choose incentives that work well for you
and your students!
DETERMINE BEHAVIORS/POINTS
*Go above and beyond explaining your
points to your kiddos. Give them examples! That first few weeks of school,
you’ll probably be giving out the most points. You want your students feeling
excited and motivated to be their absolute best.
*These are things in my classroom that
are non-negotiable. They’re expected to be respectful, on-task, tracking the
speaker, etc. Think of what’s non-negotiable in your room.
MONTHLY HOUSE SPIRIT DAY
*Either before or after class meeting (I
haven’t decided yet), we’ll have a little spirit session where the houses will
compete for extra points. I only plan on doing this at the end of each month right before the winning house is revealed, but you could absolutely do it weekly or quarterly.
*Each team will have something to show
the class. Either a fun dance, rap, poem, handshake, etc. that represents their
house. The entire house can present, or they can have different people every
time. I’m going to leave it up to them. Some of my students are not into things
like shaking it!...so I don’t want them to feel like they have to
do that. All houses will have a chance to spin the wheel for extra points...as long as they gave their best with their performance. The wheel
will have points on it ranging from 5-50. Whatever they land on, will be what
is added to their house. Those points will quickly be added to the totals, and the monthly house winner will be revealed.
It's going to be a learning process for sure, but I can't wait to get started! If you're interested in my shields and documents, click HERE!
***2018 UPDATE***
After a full year with the house system, I've decided to make some changes for the future.
1) I will be adding two more houses. There will be another class that I see for 80+ minutes every day, so I want them to be included in the house system. If you have my house shields from TpT, don't worry!...those new shield styles will be added to the file.
2) I won't be using Class Dojo. Our grade level team will all be using SeeSaw next year for parent communication and student portfolios, so I don't want to add Class Dojo to that mix as well.
3) A running score of points will be kept on the board instead of saving and sharing the points at the end of the week. I like having the students see their current totals, and I really like having the students be responsible for updating their points. My student assistant was the one who kept track of the points towards to end of the year. If I said, "Nice job, Quantum! 10 points!!"...she would jot it down quickly and update the points when she had time. You could also have your house leaders be the ones to update the current totals.
4) I'm no longer doing individual points for students. My students were way more concerned about receiving house points than individual points for their Dojos. If I awarded them individual points, they often asked me if I could make them house points instead. With that said, I won't be having a classroom store anymore.
***2018 UPDATE***
After a full year with the house system, I've decided to make some changes for the future.
1) I will be adding two more houses. There will be another class that I see for 80+ minutes every day, so I want them to be included in the house system. If you have my house shields from TpT, don't worry!...those new shield styles will be added to the file.
2) I won't be using Class Dojo. Our grade level team will all be using SeeSaw next year for parent communication and student portfolios, so I don't want to add Class Dojo to that mix as well.
3) A running score of points will be kept on the board instead of saving and sharing the points at the end of the week. I like having the students see their current totals, and I really like having the students be responsible for updating their points. My student assistant was the one who kept track of the points towards to end of the year. If I said, "Nice job, Quantum! 10 points!!"...she would jot it down quickly and update the points when she had time. You could also have your house leaders be the ones to update the current totals.
4) I'm no longer doing individual points for students. My students were way more concerned about receiving house points than individual points for their Dojos. If I awarded them individual points, they often asked me if I could make them house points instead. With that said, I won't be having a classroom store anymore.

Thanks for sticking with me through this long post! :)
--
B
Thank you! I've been trying to wrap my brain around this concept and you pointed me in the right direction.
ReplyDeleteI love this idea!! I am trying to find your shields on your tpt but can't! Is it up yet?
ReplyDeleteJust made it available! The link is ready to go! :)
DeleteThanks!!
DeleteI also use a house system as well as dojo points. I run mine a little differently but am always looking for new ways to revamp it. This has given me some food for thought to incorporate into the way I already do things.
ReplyDeleteI was planning to do something just like this!!! Thank you for giving me some awesome ideas!
ReplyDeleteLove this idea! Any advice on how this could work with multiple grade levels? I'm going to be teaching 4-6 social studies. No idea how many students I will have yet.
ReplyDeleteI think that would even be better!!! That's how it is at RCA...the kids are in all different classes, so in each class you have kids in each house...so it creates unity across the grade level.
DeleteThis is so clever! Do the students change houses at all through the year? Or are they at the same table all year?
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing all your marvelous ideas! I am pumped about the houses too!
ReplyDeleteWe have a house system between our school and the middle school across the street. We have 8 houses, 2400 kids. We also use Dojo, but just have the 8 houses as our students. When students earn points, it goes straight to their house, we don't track individual points. You can also share your class with other teachers to award points to students. They love it!
ReplyDeleteI teach 7th grade math and will have 5 classes so I like your idea of not tracking individual points!
DeleteHave been working on this idea all summer and so glad you put it all together for me! This is awesome!
ReplyDeleteI think of it sort of like the sorting hat with Harry Potter.
ReplyDeleteI am a hot mess! I am having no luck finding the editable shields. 😩 This is an amazing concept.! Over the summer I decided I wanted to utilize Class Dojo and this gives me some direction to begin! ☺️
ReplyDeletehttps://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/House-System-Shields-and-Documents-editable-included-3313075
DeleteI love this idea! I am doing a Harry Potter theme classroom this year and this would fit perfectly. Do students stay in their house for the entire year?
ReplyDeleteOMG! This system is amazing! This will be my first year teaching and when they told me I would do fifth grade the first thing that came to my mind was HOUSES! (I am a huge harry potter fan). I didn't want to do a harry potter theme though so I was concerned about how to do it, especially with it being my first year and trying to figure EVERYTHING else out. Thank you so much!
ReplyDeleteI do have a question, would you use this (house points and dojo) as your only management system? I was planning on doing this and still have a financial system for individual rewards and extra motivation. But I am afraid it could get confusing would love to hear your thoughts!
I am in the same boat as you!!!
DeleteHi! I purchased this immediately after seeing your post on instagram! Soo excited to try the house system with my first graders. I was wondering if it is possible at all to get the green shield you created recolored in orange to match the template that comes with the spinner? I saw an orange shield in the editable pack but it has a different design and I am wanting to use the house names you have set up but was thinking I could cut out the extra step of messing with the template for the spinner if there is any way to get the green shield just in orange with the writing and such on it. Thanks again for this amazing resource and blog post! :)
ReplyDelete~Amanda
I have a particularly challenging behavior problem. What ever group he is placed in will likely always struggle for points. How is this handled? Also if teams get too far apart in score, do they seem to give up? I want to troubleshoot before I get started. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI love all your ideas. I went to RCA in June...am still marveling at that place. I want to do this but teach 2nd grade and have a very small class...don't know if the class across the hall would want to do this!!! You are AWESOME!!!
ReplyDeleteWhere did you get the spinner?
ReplyDeleteWill this be paired with anything else? dojo dollars or anything like that...also, what are the consequences of poor behavior or low points (i.e. lose things, lunch detention etc) Thanks
ReplyDeletelove love love this and purchased immediately. I was just curious if there is a way to change the colors of the shields?
ReplyDeleteI'm doing this too! Well, my own kind of version. So excited!
ReplyDeleteDo you keep Dojo points for the week, or do you erase them daily?
ReplyDeleteYou are a genius and this is exactly what I needed! I love following you and I cannot wait to make this happen!! Thank you for sharing your amazing ideas and making my classroom a better place with all of your amazing ideas!
ReplyDeleteHi Brittney,
ReplyDeleteMy name is Anuj Agarwal. I'm Founder of Feedspot.
I would like to personally congratulate you as your blog Miss 5th has been selected by our panelist as one of the Top 30 Fifth Grade Teacher Blogs on the web.
http://blog.feedspot.com/fifth_grade_teacher_blogs/
I personally give you a high-five and want to thank you for your contribution to this world. This is the most comprehensive list of Top 30 Fifth Grade Teacher Blogs on the internet and I’m honored to have you as part of this!
Also, you have the honor of displaying the badge on your blog.
Best,
Anuj
What else do you use the spinner for, besides having it help assign kids to houses?
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like table points. How is it different?
ReplyDeleteHi! I love this idea! I like how you incorporated Class Dojo with the house points. I look forward to continuing to follow how your house system goes this year. I hope to implement next year. I think this is something my principal would also like and maybe even want to implement school wide eventually. You have so many great ideas
ReplyDeletefor building a positive classroom community. Thank you for sharing!
Hello!!
ReplyDeleteJust curious...how are you liking this so far?! I'm starting today...
Hi Brittney,
ReplyDeleteMy name is Anuj Agarwal. I'm Founder of Feedspot.
I would like to personally congratulate you as your blog Miss 5th has been selected by our panelist as one of the Top 100 Upper Elementary Blogs on the web.
https://blog.feedspot.com/upper_elementary_blogs/
I personally give you a high-five and want to thank you for your contribution to this world. This is the most comprehensive list of Top 100 Upper Elementary Blogs on the internet and I’m honored to have you as part of this!
Also, you have the honor of displaying the badge on your blog.
Best,
Anuj
Hello!
ReplyDeleteMy school is deciding on whether or not to send a few of our educators to the RCA. However, they have a few questions before doing so that are not answered on the RCA website. I would love to ask you a few questions in reference to the RCA as you have attended and had a wonderful experience. If you have the time, I would love to get in touch.
Thank you,
Caity
Lit Intervention
Nice blog provides many informative and helpful articles. Thanks for sharing the information. Looking for more updates in future.
ReplyDeleteClassroom Management Software
When do students work in their team groups? Do you just recognize individual students during work time and they get a point for their group? Thank you, amazing idea!!!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteIf your students don't sit in their House Groups, how do you have them identified within your classroom? Do they wear a wrist band or have special name tags with their house logo on it? I'm just trying to wrap my head around this because I really want to make this idea work in my classroom.
ReplyDeleteDo the other teachers do this as well? If so, how do you keep track of points between the 2?
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot for this information. I loves to read this blog. Keep it up
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Hi - I just shared this with my team for us to look at this summer. Our question is: Out of the 3 of us, I am self-contained, but the other two teachers will switch some students to accommodate for higher math/reading. If we each set up our houses with our homeroom/main class, how do the other two set up for the mixed? Do they have two sets of houses? one am, one pm...Thanks in advance
ReplyDeleteWhat about Amicus and Fidelitas??
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