This is what I did last year and will do again this year. I do like the idea of rounding the corners, so I am off to search through my scrapbooking stuff for my corner rounder... Also - I have a Neat Name Tag Award (one for a boy and one for a girl) at the end of each grading period. They can choose a prize or eat lunch with me in the classroom.
I laminate and then tape them down with packing tape- over the whole thing like one would do with contact paper. If they peel it, I peel off the old tape and put down new tape. I think contact paper peels easier and is more tempting. Plus, it is a lot more expensive!
What if you seal the nametag down - contact paper, tape, laminate - whatever. Then place a piece of clear plastic tape over the name part and write their name on top of the tape. Then, when you move seats, you just peel off that piece of tape over the name part. I don't know if it will work, but I sure hate having to take the whole name tag off idea.
I taped mine down with packing tape this year and they lasted all year, BUT the desks looked horrible when we pulled it up! =( My daughter's teacher just laid the nameplates on the desks and told the students that they could put them in the tray under under their desks when not in use if they wanted to, but that they would NOT be replaced if they messed them up. They needed some of the Math information on the tags all year long. Amazingly, they looked as good as mine at the end of the year- only a FEW crumpled corners!
Am I the only one who doesn't like the idea of bribing? Something about it just doesn't sit well with me. I guess, it's just not that important to me. You take care of your name tag, you still have one at the end of the year. You don't take care of your name tag, you don't have one. These are logical consequences instead. For my name tags, I buy cheap ones from the dollar store. I don't feel like sixth graders really use any of the extra info. I laminate them and then use packing tape. Loops on the back and on top of the front edges. They last.
I don't see the use of rewards as bribing. When you go to work you have an incentive to do your job...getting a weekly paycheck. If you didn't get paid you probably wouldn't go to work or try hard at it. Kids just like adults need incentives sometimes to keep them motivated. It is just another form (an a research proven one) of operant conditioning to help your students be their best. :woot:
I do offer rewards for things like consistent good behavior, but not for name tags, because they're really not that important to me as long as most of them are on. Usually, only a few kids are missing theirs by the end of the year, and it's usually the hyperactive/disorganized ones who fiddle with theirs until it comes off. I can tell their desks from a mile away with or without the nametag. For those teachers that need/really want/really like to have the name tags on all year, then telling the kids straight away that they need to leave them alone and giving a little reward at the end of the year if they do so doesn't seem so bad to me. If it's the tangible reward part you don't like, you can make it something like extra recess or lunch bunch.
