The Bucket Fillin' Classroom! Having fun with classroom management

Hello all!  I hope you're having a super day, and enjoying beautiful weather like we are here today :)

I am BURSTING with excitement to share my newly completed project with you...I guess the more appropriate term would be my latest "labor of love."  You know the type I'm talking about, the ideas that you tweak and obsess over until it's JUST right, reflecting just what you had imagined it to be?!  A Bucket Fillin' Classroom is my sweet little bundle of joy :)  I piloted this complete management and incentive program last year with my students and it was a HUGE success!  

Ok, so I'm sure that you've read or heard of the cutest story called "Have You Filled A Bucket Today?" by Carol McCloud.  If not, go order it now...no, RIGHT now...click here to do that immediately, hehe. This sweet story explains that we all have invisible buckets we carry around with us.  They are filled up with the kindness of others, and by us displaying kindness to those around us.  Cute, right? 

I first heard about this story when our school implemented it into our anti-bullying program.  I was in love...what a neat concept.  Top that off with finding these cutie-patootie mini buckets in the dollar bin at Target, and my story-turned-management system was born:

So, here's a little bit of how it works...I start off the year with all of the activities in my "Bucket Fillin' Classroom" mini-unit.  We discuss how we can be Bucket Fillers (or Bucket Dippers, booo) in the classroom, school, and at home.  They understand that ALL of their actions and responsibilities are now a part of this system.  That means, behavior, as well as school work/homework, are all managed in this program.

I set up a mini-bulletin board in the front of my room, complete with each student's bucket, and posters explaining the system (mind you, these are my OLD posters...before I gave them a facelift, which I'll show ya'll in a second, hehe):

You can use any item you'd like as the "bucket fillers" that students earn and drop in their mini buckets...I've used carnival tickets for YEARS.  I'm actually amazed to say I bought a large roll 3 years ago and I STILL have enough tickets to get me through this upcoming year...yowza!

Students have so many opportunities to earn bucket fillers.  If I catch them doing something kind for another student, for helping me with something in the classroom, for completing a classroom job, kind of like their pay...and my new mini-unit also includes forms that the parents can fill out and submit to me if their student did something at HOME to demonstrate being a "bucket filler"...so cool!  I don't have a separate Homework Club.  Instead, I have a leveled system, where students will earn a certain amount of bucket fillers if they complete the homework every day, a few less if they complete it a few days, or none if they do none of their homework :(  (side note: I actually use a Universal Homework system in my room...I'll be blogging on that VERY soon!).  

Then, every Friday, students "cash in" their tickets for non-monetary prizes!  You can take a peek at some of the coupons I included in my mini-unit, including "Lunch with the Teacher", "Choose-a-Job", of "Seat Switch", all worth a different amount of bucket fillers/tickets.  I do have a prize box, with small candies and the like, but that's completely up to you.  

Oh my word, it's my second year into this system, and I am in LOVE..and so are my kiddos.  Win-win :)  Here's a sneak peek at my mini-unit and all it has to offer:

If you love it, head on over to my TPT store to grab it for yourself!

Happy Bucket Fillin'!