I got this FABULOUS idea from Rachel at The Tattooed Teacher. She has her own V.I.P. table and all kinds of cool things that she does with her kiddos. I was able to take her amazing idea and turn it in to one that worked for me in my classroom.
I don’t have the space to have an entire table for V.I.P. so I wanted to come up with a way I could incorporate this idea in to my classroom and the space that I have.
So, my kids get V.I.P. tool kits filled with all sorts of fun tools. Since this picture, I think I’ve put in ten more things that I’ve found on sale at the dwindling school section at Target.
Things like smelly markers, giant erasers, fun colored expo markers, mechanical pencils, smelly pencils/gel pens, different post-it notes…just anything that is different than what everyone else has and what they have in their day to day toolbox.
I have four V.I.P. boxes so that means I have 4 V.I.P. kiddos each day. I typically pick them in the morning and they get special treatment throughout the day. However…it is a privilege that can be taken away. If a student is caught not using a tool correctly or not making a choice that a V.I.P. would make…then they lose their privilege.
Not only do they get their own special tool box, but they also get to sit in a special chair. I bought 4 stadium seats for the V.I.P. kids to sit in while they do their work or while they’re on the carpet. They can sit in them whenever and wherever they want to.
These are the seats that I found on Amazon.
Since they fold up, they are easy to store. I found a laundry basket at Target that holds all four perfectly!
We talked a lot about what it means to be a V.I.P. and why you get chosen to be one. And this is the list that we came up with. Rachel had her own list that you could also look at if you needed more ideas. Mostly, being a V.I.P. means that you are being a leader and that others are looking to you for what the right thing is to do. It has been very powerful and the kids take it pretty seriously 🙂
I talked about this idea during one of my presentations this summer and I really wanted to find a way to make it work in my classroom and I think this has been the answer. If you need a little extra incentive for your kiddos, then I would highly suggest that you find a way to make V.I.P. happen in your room!
