The House Cup Tournament Has Begun!

Ever since I saw Harry Potter, I started conspiring about "sorting" my kiddos into four houses. I loved the idea of having "houses" instead of just "teams" or "lab groups." I loved how this idea could bring kids together and give them common goals and motivate them to have good behaviors.

I knew I couldn't use the HP houses though. With my luck, some kid would go home crying when I sorted them into Slytherin House, so I brushed the idea off. Then, I started reading the monumental, life-changing, epic teaching book The End of Molasses Classes. In the book, Ron Clark explains how he had the same dream of having his kids in houses like HP, only he came up with new names for his houses based on words from the countries his school travels to in their school year. He also does a "sorting ceremony" where kids are randomly sorted into the different houses! They even get ties for their uniforms based on their houses color! I was hooked. I had to put this plan into action immediately!

First, I started by deciding the names for my four houses. I wanted the names to be "science-y" and equally awesome so that kids wouldn't think one house was favored in my eyes over another. I brainstormed with my work buddy Stephen, and decided on the following:

1. Alohomora House (named on Harry Potter, with the colors being silver and white and the mascot an owl).
2. Dagobah House (named for Star Wars, with the color black and the mascot the Millennium Falcon).
3. Newtonia House (named for Sir Isaac Newton, with the color red and the mascot the prism).
4. Imahara House (named for Grant Imahara from Mythbusters, with the color blue and the mascot a robot).

Then, I used Picassa to create some AWESOME crests for each house to hang above the house tables.

Next, I created a Power Point for the sorting ceremony day, detailing how my plan came to fruition and what each house symbolizes/represents.

To sort my kids, I had them reach into the "sorting bag" and draw out a bead. The bead's color matched their new house! The kids cheered on as the members of their house were initiated one by one! It was so exciting! And to answer the question every teacher is thinking: Why did I let the beads decide my kiddos' fate instead of me sorting them on my own? I wanted the experience to be random and exciting, and I didn't want my judgment to have an impact on which kids ended up in the houses. Plus, my "troublesome kiddos" actually were split up (for the most part) in each of my classes! The beads worked out fabulously!

Then, the kid signed the rosters for the house, and I explained how they would be earning/losing points for the ENTIRE YEAR as a HOUSE. Meaning, even though a kid belongs to Imahara house in, say second hour, the kids from Imahara house in first, fourth, fifth, and sixth can also earn and lose points. It's a genius way to get my kids to work together for a common goal. Middle school kids are so compartmentalized and don't even think about how other hours and other kids can affect them, and by working as a house they are beginning to realize the impact of other kids' choices and behaviors.

How am I keeping track of points? I am using the most brilliant website ever (besides Pinterest of course) called ClassDojo.com. This website allows you to add/subtract points in real time, and it saves your data from day to day. I display my houses on the board using my projector so that the kids can see where their house ranks, and I also notify my kids every time I deduct or add a point (plus the website makes a super cute little sound effect).  My kids can earn points for:

-Hard Work
-Great Presentation
-Participation
-Clean Work Area
-Teamwork

And they can lose points for:

-Being Disruptive
-Tardy
-Disrespectful
-Out of Chair
-Lack of Supplies

The screen kind of looks like this (only mine just has four avatars of my four house shields, since my kids are sitting with their houses for the remainder of the year). The green number shows the points.

Isn't it great? Classroom management technology at its finest.

Keeping with the Harry Potter theme, once my kids found out their houses they elected a Prefect for their house. The Prefects have to be super good, efficient kids who help keep their house in line (like reminding kids to bring their textbooks so they don't lose points), and if a Prefect earns a negative point it counts as DOUBLE (this is how I got my kids to vote on a GOOD kid, not necessarily a popular kid). The Prefects are responsible for changing their house's seating chart as necessary, and they meet with me on Mondays and Fridays to discuss problems in their house, rewards for houses who are in the lead, house spirit days, etc. There are five prefects per house in all (one per hour) for a total of 20 prefects.

I chose a Head Boy and a Head Girl for each house (not per hour), based on kids who I know make good leaders. They meet with me on Mondays and Fridays as well, and are responsible for helping guide their prefects and help their houses earn points. I chose kids who were great at helping their peers, and some of them are actually prefects who have "two" job titles. These kiddos will help me decide the "House Cup" prize at the end of the year-which will be BIG. I mean BIG. I'm talking an off-campus, super duper, exciting prize that I haven't even decided on yet! We will have smaller rewards for the house that is in the lead throughout the year of course, but the big prize is yet to be decided.

Did I mention that the prefects and HB and HG get to wear super awesome buttons so that they stand out? These are also their passes when they get to leave lunch.

So far the system is working GREAT! It's wonderful seeing my kids take responsibility and help each other. Today I saw a prefect standing outside my door reminding my kids to start on their warm up questions right away. In another hour one of my houses came up with a house chant to cheer when they did something great. My kids are working together. They are helping each other. And, best of all, they are excited about learning and about class. Merry Christmas to me!