Ok, so now that the hard part is out of the way, here we are! I am a teacher that loves her clipart!
However, I must say, I don’t use it rigidly, expecting each child to adhere to it and if they don’t
they’ll be sorry. It’s very fluid, and students do move up and down during the day.
I’ve even had some students where I have learned that it was not in their best interest to make
them live by the behavior chart. Students are individuals, and we have to treat them as such.
It breaks my heart to see teachers who expect all of their students to be the same, because those
students will never be on green, pink or purple using the traditional way. For those students, I use
a modified version of the behavior chart, or if necessary, they have a totally different behavior
modification system.
At the end of each day, the students complete their behavior chart, which matches the one that is
hanging in our room. I’ve found that by having the students to color it, they take more ownership
over their behavior. You can find out more about our behavior calendars here.
I have tons of rewards and consequences in my classroom. I’ve found that in classroom where there
are no rewards and/or consequences, the students are running wild!
If a student is on pink for the day, at the end, they get some bubble gum from our bubble gum
machine. Each student has to put a coin in to get some gum (duh!). It’s also a great way to add in
some coin recognition.
If they are on purple at the end of the day, then they are able to get a sucker from my flowerpot of
sweet treats.
They also get to wear these awesome superhero capes the next day! I have a Superman and a
Wonder Woman cape. Hmmmm……come to think of it, I haven’t seen them this year…..
….which is why I don’t have any pictures……which means I need to get to digging in my cabinets!
Now, the next part applies to everyone. FUN FRIDAY!!! This is just all out fun, where I have play
centers such as play-doh, legos, blocks, and it will eventually expand to coloring humongous
coloring sheets with markets, foam sheets and glitter stickers, etc., etc.
In order to participate in fun friday, they have to have at least 3 greens and up and no reds for the
week. Yes, this means that if a students gets a yellow or an orange or 2, they can still participate.
There are so many different variables that can cause a student to have a bad day, and I think that
it is so unfair to expect them to be perfect!!
Next up is treasure box!! In order to get treasure box, a student has to have 4 greens and up, and no
reds at all. I’ve heard of teachers getting their treasure box treats from Wal-Mart, The Dollar Tree,
etc., but let me tell you the cheapest place to buy TONS of things for your treasure box…….
PARTY CITY!!!!!
Yup, that’s where I got all of these goodies from!!! They have 25 cent, 35 cent, 45 cent, 60 cent and
up sections, and let me tell you, I rack up!!!
Outside of all of this, I use a lot of praise and hugs and positive reinforcement. No matter what
behavior management system you use, it has to work for you as the classroom teacher.
I’ve tried to use things that other teachers love, and it hasn’t worked for my classroom, and it
took me a minute to realize that it was because it didn’t work for me.
Also, don’t be afraid to switch up your system for your new class. What worked last year may not
work with your new class. It’s a brand new year, and you will have to make adjustments and
allowances for who they are. I tweak it here and there when I need to, and for some kiddos,
it goes completely out of the window, because that is what is best for them!
I hope that your year is going extremely well, and I’ll talk to you later!
