Tips for Starting Your Patrol

Allow elections in the classroom to decide who goes on patrol this week.
Choose the quiet ones.
Have each homeroom elect two students that are not “serviced” by any other group – not special ed labeled, not GT, not athletically gifted.
Science club, honors group, student council, environmental club are all potential Watt Watchers!
Form a buddy team with a special ed student and a regular ed student.
Deal a group. Write everyone’s name on a note card and “deal” patrol groups each week by picking cards out of the pile.

You train the first ones and have them train the ones that follow.
Start with a small group and rotate turns every month or so until everyone gets a chance to participate.
Practice hall etiquette.

Find an exit map of your school. Separate patrol areas based on any logical method to you. Grade levels, hallways, subject areas, etc.
Patrol as you move from activity to activity within the school such as when you leave your room to go to the library, gym class or, the lunchroom.
Charge a fine after a certain number of tickets. The collected money could go towards a prize for the Zero Hero classroom.
The Principal’s office is fair game.
Make Watt Watcher clipboards. Tape a map of the patrol area to each one.
Tape instructions for each patrol on the other side of the clipboard.
Keep all supplies in a copy paper box decorated with light bulbs.
Laminate tickets. Write “please return to the Watt Watcher mailbox” on the backs.
Tie pencils to the clipboards.
Allow students to use extra class time to color thank you notes.

Have thank you days each month. Announce your thank you list on the daily announcements or at staff meetings.
Have an energy watcher of the day for each classroom- student wears a button and is responsible for turning off the light all day.
Display graphs of your energy usage and savings in prominent areas.
Do the Kick Off skit at the beginning of the year and change it to reflect your program at the end of the year.