Student of the week

Every year I send home a letter for the Student of the week. The children are given a set week that they are the "SOTW". On the Monday of their week, they are to come to school with a poster. It should have the following on it: 3 Favorite books, 3 favorite sports/hobbies, 3 favorite animals, and something else which I can't remember. These are on the edges of the poster, while inside, there should be 4 - 6 pictures of the child, (their choice). Of course, their name is at the top and they are to decorate it in their own creative way. They present their posters to the class on Monday. Throughout the week they get to be at the front of the line, be my helper, if needed, eat lunch with me 1 day, and read/share their favorite story to/with the class on Friday. (I like if they read to the class, but if not, I read it...) The kids LOVE being student of the week and feel good about themselves. If I think of the last thing on the poster, I'll post again. But you can probably think of another.

I randomly choose students weekly. I am the 1st kid of the week. Each student fills out an "All About Me" sheet. My schedule is as follows:

Mon. - student puts up bulletin board
Tues. - student explains bb using a pointer and reads all about me sheet
Thursday - classmates fill out acrostic about the kid of the week
Example: John is fun to play with
Oh boy is he a fast runner
He is a great soccer player
Never treats people mean
The kid of the week picks their favorites from all of the examples and then I put the poem on a poster, and everyone in the class signs it.
Fri - the kid of the week has an activity that is a surprise for the rest of the class
Examples are extra recess, parents may bring in a snack, we have had a hot dog roast given by the parents, show a short video, play kickball, etc.

I stress to the parent that there should be no cost to the students, and no one is expected to spend money. This really works out well, and I have one special activity each week. My favorite last year was one girl wanted to have pajama day in our classroom and have each student bring in a stuffed animal. I had a 5th grader come up to me and say that they never got to do that with me. And I had to remind her that it was a kid of the week activity. Enough said. One last thing is that the kid of the week is the teacher helper all week. That way the student picks the helpers and each student is sure to have helped me with all my classroom jobs.

This year I plan to spotlight each student in my class with an area outside our classroom. In years past I sent home a backback and instructed students to put in things that helped us learn more about them. I model this by being the first "Student of the Week." I also have them tell me important things about them like: favorite foods, pets, what they want to be when they grow up, favorite T.V. show, favorite color, favorite book, favorite thing to do, favorite subject, etc. This is included on the bulletin board about them. I include a picture and their name in glitter. They bring their things on Monday and they tell us about it then. It stays up all week and then the bag is sent home with the new student on Friday to bring in the following Monday. I encourage them to only bring in 5 pictures. I tell parents about this in the letter I send home at the beginning of the year. It really works well, and the kids love being spotlighted.

I also do Student of the Week - On Monday they bring in their completed questionairre and pictures from home. The questionairre has the following on it:

Name
birthdate
who is in their family
what they like to do together
their pets
things they like to do
favorite food
favorite toy
favorite story
what they like to do after school
their special collection
what they want to be when they grow up

On Tuesday they share their picture and questionairre with the class. On Wednesday they can bring in a pet and on Thursday, the class creates a compliment book for them.

I have seen other teachers have a day where the student brings in a special guest or a collection to share with the class.

I enjoy doing Student of the Week - especially the compliment book.

I set up a bulletin board for my student of the week to bring 5 pictures with captions from home. I laminated two manilla envelopes. The first one is to send home to get the pictures,it has an explanation on the outside, and some post-its for captions. The second is one to send them back on Friday, on the outside I thank the parent for sending special memories to share with the class. This is simple, and my kids loved it. During free time many couldn't wait to look at the new pictures. The student of the week was so proud to display them. Also on Friday we have 5 minutes of fame. The student has 5 minutes to share anything. Trophie, medals etc. I leave this up to them whether they want to do it or not.

I do star of the week, and it goes in alphabetical order (regardless of behavior) that way everyone gets a chance to shine, and the "bad" kids aren't left wondering if they will ever get to be star of the week. I start with myself so they can get to know me, and so they will kinda know what to expect to bring/showcase. I teach 5th by the way. I have a bb in our room, and they are responsible for putting their things up on Monday, and for taking them down on Friday. I take as much work off me as possible. I don't let them bring in 3-d objects, just drawings or pictures that they have (we don't have room for 3-d objects to be displayed).

You could do this on your website also. Depending on the age of your students, you could have them fill out a form telling things about themselves that they want others to know, and you could post that info on the web. You could have them take the form home Friday and return it Monday- then you could do the website Monday night and it would stay up a full week until the next student returns their slip the following Monday.

If you go in abc order, then the students can plan out when they will be star of the week. You could also randomly draw numbers, do reverse abc order, or do boy/girl.

When my children were younger, some of their teachers did this. Students knew who were selected in advance. On Fridays, the "student" would bring in pictures..baby pics, xmas, sports...anything. They can also bring memorable things from their life, any little thing of interest..(like shells from the ocean because they vacation there). They are also first in line all week. Parents are invited to come in to spend time with the child on a particular day. An award certificate and some little gift (like a special pen/pencil).Finally, the parent/parents submit a special recipe (usually cookies) using a form and at the end of the year all the recipes are copied and put into a special booklet for mom. Most do this the friday before mother's day. You can also type up a form asking questions for the student to put on their bulletin board.

I don't think it's horrible if you don't have a Star Student (several of my colleagues don't), but I really think you could make it easier on yourself and still do it. Mine sure look forward to their week!

Since I have a jungle theme, I have a King/Queen of the Jungle. I'll attach the letter I send home to parents so you can see what privileges it gives the child. I'll also attach the form they fill out (at home) and put on a small bulletin board in our classroom library, so the other kids can read it throughout the week.

The whole thing doesn't take time away from learning, so it works for us! :)

For a personal note from classmates, I do that on birthdays. On the first week of school, I give the kids a birthday sheet (I'll attach that, too) and put it on their desk. Everyone walks around and writes one or 2 words about what they like about that child. Since we talk about classroom community at the beginning of the year, it ties right in with it. We talk about saying only positive messages, put some examples on the board, etc... They use different colored markers to make the sheet colorful. Then they go back to their seats and glue their own paper onto contruction paper. I laminate all of them and save them in my file cabinet. When it's the child's birthday, I have it waiting on their desk when they arrive that morning (along with a goodie bag). They love it! It only takes 30-45 min. of classtime - and that's for the whole year! :)

I used a bulletin board to highlight a Star of the Week last year. Rather than focus on achievement (some students would never make it), I used it to simply spotlight a student. The first week of school I gave each student a piece of posterboard. They were to take it home and make a poster about themselves. Some of them attached ribbons they had won, photos, family times, etc. I drew these posters at ramdom each week and placed the new one on the bulletin board. That student then was our line leader and my all around helper for the week. They also explained the different things on their poster and why they were important to them.

I post my SOW's picture on a bulletin board. For morning work (MON) each student is required to pick a positive character trait of that person and write it on a notecard along with proof of why they chose that trait for that person.

EX. Trustworthy
Casey is a very trustworthy friend. Last week when we were in lunch she found my money and returned it to me. I know that I can count on her....etc, etc.

I post the notecards all over the bulletin board.
At the end of the week I take them all down a punch a hole in each one and tie them together for the student to keep. THEY LOVE READING WHAT THE OTHERS WROTE! It is also something they can save.
Hope this can help you!

This is a great idea. I began using it this year. Each child is assigned a week. They may use any medium they wish. They bring pictures of themselves and their families, favorite sports figures, singing groups, favorite vacations. They are beginning to be more creative. They are writing little stories, making posters. It has been great. All the children come by and stop to read. Makes all children feel special. They have been great to help each other put the bullentin boards up. I teach 6th grade and they love it.

There is something else that I also do for real awards. I have a bullentin board that is entitled "Look to the Stars." I take pictures of all my students, then each month I have an awards ceremony. I award the winners certificates that I make myself, (I can put what I want too on them) and their pictures go on the bullentin board for the entire month. They all want a chance at this. My categories are best math, English, social studies, science, spelling and reading student, citizenship, accelerated reader, SRA,and most improved. There are enough of these that most of the children will win sometime during the year. They keep asking when the next ceremony is.