Compliments Anyone?

Part of the classroom management system I use in my classroom involves compliments.  Lots and lots of compliments.  They're worth a lot!

Current compliment rewards.  I might let the kids
pick one more of their choice....

Each time my class earns a compliment, they used to get a tally.  Once they got so many tallies, they could "cash them in" from our compliment menu, therefore picking their reward (or so they thought!)  The system worked well for about four years.  Now it's time for a few tweaks.

This year, I'm sticking to compliments, but doing something a little different.  I'd like to give credit to the person from where the idea came, but I don't remember if it was a pinterest, twitter, or Facebook brainstorm, so my appreciation to the originator, wherever they are.

I could not find Scrabble tiles to save my life!
I created my own for under $10 using
magnetic tape and scrapbooking stickers!

Anyway.  This year, each time the Thinkers earn a compliment, they'll get to pick a letter out of a bag of letter tiles.  The letter will go on the board, covering the corresponding letter (think hangman, only you already know the word?)  Once they earn enough tiles that spell a complete reward, they get that reward!

Here's the catch.  (There is almost always a catch, right?)

The compliments can NOT come from me.  The Thinkers must earn the compliments based on their behavior everywhere in the school except for the classroom.  This means they need to be on their best behavior in the hallway, in the lunch line, in art, music, p.e., Spanish, media center..... even visiting parents!  Guest teachers are particurlaly valuable in the compliment department, motivating the Thinkers to be on their best behavior even then!  It works pretty darn well, if I do say so, to keep them on their toes!