Student Contributor: H. Potter
The Giving Tree is a helpful tool to praise your students and let students praise others. This tool helps bring the classroom together and create a positive atmosphere.
A laminated Tree is displayed in the back of the classroom where it is accessible and viewable to all students. Next to the tree is a stack of leaves. When a student recognizes another student is being kind or doing a great job on class work; whoever notices will write what was noticed on a leave and hang it on one of the branches of the tree. The teacher is also able to write on a leaf to praise the class or a specific student. Every Friday, the teacher will take down the leaves on the tree and read them aloud to the whole class. Reading the leaves makes the students happy and proud. It’s giving them praise, encouragement, and acknowledgment of life skills we see happening in our classroom. I love seeing my student’s reaction when they hear their name and an accomplishment they had. Not only is this tool effective, it also adds to classroom décor and the students love sitting under the tree during reading time.
This tool is used in the supportive phase. I believe this tool is best used in the supportive phase because it takes place during student learning and throughout the day. The teacher and students are complimenting each other for life skills that they are noticing throughout the day. This tool helps students make good choices and promotes decisions needed for their own benefit and peers. Students can recognize behaviors that are intended to help build the classroom community. This helps students want to learn and behave in a certain way because they know others are “watching” them. I think this tool is student-directed and collaborative because the responsibility of this tool is on the students and not all on the teacher.
More Information –
Tool Source: My Mentor
