Last week I posted an Instagram Story (are you following me? @_missbehavior) showing our class’ picture rings, and I got tons of questions about them.
Honestly, they’re pretty simple! I use a standard binder ring, a hole punch, and my trusty laminator. I thank my lucky stars on a daily basis that my current school has unlimited copies and a wonderful color printer. In years past I have not had this luxury and have relied on crowd funding sites like DonorsChoose.
I think the most powerful part of these picture rings is student choice. When I have a spare moment (typically during free time), I have students come to my laptop with me and we find pictures they choose on Google Images. I’ve had kiddos pick pictures of Ninjago, Hello Kitty, skateboarding, Loud House, sticky hands (those horrible gummy toys in the shape of hands – haha!), and more. I print them, laminate them, cut them out, and hole punch them in the corner.
When do I hand them out? I choose times during the day when my students typically struggle. Transitions are huge (obviously – what sped class doesn’t struggle with transitions?!), a subject that students strongly dislike, etc. I let them know that they can choose a picture for their picture ring after _______ happens. This has been such a motivator for my class. I also let them look through the picture rings during the day. Many of my students want to cut paper, color pictures, play with toys, etc. during instruction, which I have found SO distracting. The picture rings have been a happy medium for us – they’re not too distracting.
Something to note on how I personally use the picture rings, is that I never take the pictures OFF of their rings. If they show negative behaviors, it’s worthy of a conversation – but I do not want to negate any positive behaviors that they showed previously that allowed them to earn the picture in the first place. This, I have found, has been really important for my ED class.
Think your kids wouldn’t be super motivated by pictures? I have thought about QR codes on a ring that lead to videos or websites that the students can access on iPads or computers (though I personally wouldn’t love my students having those out during instruction time), or earning puzzles or coloring pages in a folder.
What do you think? Could picture rings be useful in your classroom?