Pickles and Ketchup

With the end of each marking period it seems that there is always a ton of work to get turned in, be finished, or to be graded. This year my class and I are working hard to stay on top of this so that it doesn't pile up.  

Every Friday we have Pickles and Ketchup time during the last half hour of the day. This is an awesome idea that I found on Pinterest and it has worked VERY well. 

The rules are simple, if you have finished and turned in all your work then you are a Pickle and can pick your activity. If you owe work then you are Ketchup and must use this time to catch up.  Every week we start over with everyone as a Pickle, so it is up to each student to stay that way.

In order to make it easy for everyone to keep track of where they stand I made an easy visual. The large ketchup and pickle graphics are easy to see and each small circle is actually a magnetic picture of my students' adorable little faces.  

To make the magnets I used clear-drying bead glue to secure pictures printed on card stock to the back of a flat florist's bead. Then I hot glued a craft magnet to the back. The magnets I used are super strong and great for holding posters to the board as well. 

Right now this set-up is on our white board, but it can easily be made portable by placing them on the back of a cookie sheet instead. 

At the end of the year I send the magnets home with students. They love having the momento of the time in our class.