Are YOUR Students Fidgeting with Stuff at Their Seats??

Have I got a solution for that!!   Presenting..........Stuff Jail!

So in my classroom I have my desks in groups with a table bucket (more on those next post!) in the middle with all kinds of supplies in it. The kids also keep their personal supplies inside the desks so there is lots of "stuff" around. This means that little hands are always fiddling with things and by the end of last year I got fed up dealing with that nonsense. So before school started I found a good sized plastic bucket in my closet and literally spent all of 5 minutes spray painting stripes onto it and taping on a simple label. And I had (dun, dun, dun!) Stuff Jail!!

Here you can see it looking properly ominous amongst my stamps.

I introduced it during the first week of school and the kids often refer to it, especially when I gave them warnings about their "stuff". (For some reason this year, rulers are really popular...)

Below read an actual encounter:

Me: Put that pencil sharpener away please! I need to see attentive listening!

Student: (whispers, eyes wide) Or it will go in the stuff jail?

Me: Yes. Now put it away.

I've only had to use it a few times so far, but usually the stuff stays in there until the next morning or until the student reminds me that its still in there, haha.

If you want to make your own Stuff Jail, feel free to download my Stuff Jail freebie! It includes the little tag I used on the bucket and a poem to post with it!

Click the pic to grab it for yourself!