The Super Improver Wall Photo Level

In an earlier post I shared with you how much I love my Super Improver Wall and explained how to put one up. (If you are not familiar with the Super Improver Wall, I would encourage you to read my earlier post on the subject.) Nothing has changed.   I still love my Super Improver Wall.  It still never ceases to amaze me how hard a student will work for a little star colored in on a piece of paper.  Just recently we had parent teacher conferences.  Most of my students came with their parents to the conferences, and without fail, they all showed their parents where they were on the wall and talked about the number of stars that they needed to "level up".  This is the term that we use in my classroom for moving up to the next level on the wall.

The current buzz in my classroom is making it to MVK (Most Valuable Kid).  This is level five on our wall.  What makes this level so special is that it is the "photograph level".  (I will explain what I mean by this in a moment.)  It is common practice to attach rewards to certain levels on the wall.  Not every level has a reward attached to it, but the teacher chooses specific levels at which to reward students, as well as the rewards that go with these levels.  I do not tell my students in advance which levels have rewards attached to them or what the rewards are.  They find out when the first student reaches that level.  There is, however, one exception to this practice.  The MVK level has had a small picture of a camera next to it since the beginning of the year.  I did not tell the students what the camera meant.  I only told them that something special would happen when they reached this level.  Just recently my first student did, and it has been so much fun.

Alright, it is time to reveal the secret of this level.  When a student gets to this level he gets to choose two of his friends to take a silly picture with.  When my first student reached this level I told her to choose two friends that she would like to do something special with, but I did not tell her what they would be doing.  She picked them just as the students were heading out to lunch recess.  The three of them came back to the classroom with me, still having no idea what was going to happen.  When we got back to the room I revealed the surprise, and they took their silly picture together.  I then swore them all to secrecy, which they thought was very cool.  They liked knowing something that the rest of the class didn't know.  That night I printed the picture and the next day I hung it face down on my Super Improver Wall.  The rest of the class was very curious about this.  I told them that when Dawn (not her real name) earned her ten stars, I would turn the paper over and they could all see what was on the back.  Of course, Dawn and her two friends knew, but they were not about to tell anyone.  

This created quite a stir, because now everyone wants to make it to MVK and find out what all of the excitement is about.  Students are really stepping up.  What amazes me is how students will look for ways that they can personally improve, knowing that when I see this, they will earn a star.  Here is one example.  We have been talking for quite some time about "answering the question that is being asked".  My kids are real good about using complete sentences, but with many of them being ELL, they often struggle with understanding what the question is really asking.  They will give a great answer, but it often does not match the question.  Recently we took a reading test on reading diagrams.  The questions were a little tricky, and I assumed that many of my students would have the same struggle.  To my surprise a majority of my students actually answered the questions being asked.  A few of them had the wrong answers, but at least they showed that they understood the questions.  It was a huge breakthrough and very exciting.  In the past I had given out stars for improvements on reading tests, and the students knew that this would be a definite improvement and would earn them a star.  I did not disappoint them.  As soon as I had graded the test, I handed out the stars, emphasizing how proud I was of them for answering the questions being asked.  

I can't wait to see the students' reactions when Dawn gets her card turned over.  Here is how that works.  I simply draw her next ten stars on the back of her photograph.  As soon as she earns all ten, the photograph gets turned over for all of the class to see.  The photo will hang by the Super Improver Wall until the end of the year.  Then Dawn will get to take it home.

Below is a picture of what the wall currently looks like.  You will notice Dawn's card on the left side.  She currently has one star drawn on the back of it.  If you look carefully, you will also see the camera next to the MVK level.

If you have not yet started a Super Improver Wall in your room, I would encourage you to do so.  It would be an awesome thing to set up over Christmas break and start when the students return to school in January.  It is very easy to do, and I promise you that the payoff is well worth the effort.