My one true love is a well-run token economy. If a token economy is set up well it rocks my freaken world. It is amazing the power of some small strips of construction paper once properly conditioned. My kids are literally addicted to them. They are point hungry. They want more and more. It’s insatiable. And I love it. Let’s rewind a few years ago  and let me give you a small glimpse into a before and after shot of my morning group.

Before: the room is always loud, I am trying to teach a difficult, new skill to my group of active little preteens, and I spend half the time redirecting my group (sit down, pay attention, get started, participate…). Ugh – I am sick of my own voice. Plus I’m sick of hearing all my paras do the same in their groups.

Fast forward a few weeks and one flipping awesome token economy later –

After: we get started on our new lesson, the room is significantly quieter, when students’ attention start to drift, I quietly pass a small green paper to one student and the other heads literally whip to attention. One student offers to fill my water bottle for me. Another compliments my great choice in noun vs. verb activity. My one student who used to be the sloooowest worker ever – I now barely have enough work to keep busy. Seriously – this is no exaggeration. I wouldn’t do that to you. My students are obsessed. It is like  magic wand of awesomeness.

I love setting up a reinforced menu that you can change! Add items, remove items, make items more expensive or cheaper as needed. This system is all about flexibility!

The key to the success of the token economy are correct initial setup and implementation. Token economies are so often used incorrectly. Things like taking baseline data, specifically outlining how to earn/lose points, and visuals will MAKE your token economy the bomb. No lies.

My product on TpT – Token Economy Setup Kit will guide you through setting up a classroom token economy in an easy to implement step by step way. This product includes editable labels for storing tokens or points, baseline data sheet, direct rules for earning/losing points, visual token economy rules, and display for reinforcers available for purchase. All resources are included in both PDF & powerpoint versions. So all pages are editable and can be easily adapted to add your students’ names or specific behaviors your classroom is working on This packet includes detailed instructions including photos on how to set this up effectively.

The start of the year is crazy busy. It’s so important to teach our students to engage in positive behaviors, set clear expectations, and have consequences (both positive and negative) in place!