Submitted by: Angee Duvall,
Primary Last year, I got so tired of always disciplining the ?bad? kids and never giving enough attention to the ?good? kids so I came up with this plan. This has helped me reward those children who are always with me, who are always listening, who follow directions, etc. And it helped me motivate those children who struggle to try harder. I printed up some small, colorful 1-in x 1-in pieces of paper that are labeled ?I Caught Ya doing something great!? I keep a stack in my pocket all day long. Whenever I see someone doing something great, I give them a ?Caught Ya.? They put their name on the back and put it into the ?Caught Ya? basket. On Fridays, my helper of the day chooses one friend to stay in from recess and they count the ?Caught Ya?s.? They count how many each student has and put the numbers on a piece of paper for me. They then place all the ?Caught Ya?s? back in the basket for later. Knowing who has won, they have to keep it a secret until I reveal the winner to the class (I usually do that right after lunch). After lunch, I reveal who had the most and give a small prize (a coupon to the movies, a small toy, etc.). I then take the basket and we draw three papers out of the basket. These students get a piece of candy. If we draw out the same student two times, then that student gets two pieces of candy. It motivates the children to get as many as they can because they never know when they might win!!! I then dump out the basket, and we begin again. It has helped me so much with behavior in my classroom!
Behavior Management with the Spirit of the Olympics...
Submitted by: Jodi and Laura, 3rd Grade Since this is the year of the 2000 Olympics, my friend and I came up with an awesome idea to help you and your students maintain positive behavior. We cut letter size manilla folders into eighths and put each child's name at the bottom. These cards are then Velcro-ed onto the side of each child's desk for easy reference and privacy. We put a piece of Velcro in the center to hold gold, silver, and bronze medals. Each medal signifies a level of behavior. Gold represents a students who has stayed positive and on task. Each day a students has "Stayed Gold" they will receive a certificate. If they stay Gold all week, they earn extra recess or some other privilege. You can even reward students for staying gold all quarter or year. It gives those students who are less than perfect an opportunity to work towards something positive and it shows our appreciation to the students who are always well behaved. It's a great way to monitor student behaviors and for students to self check!
Behavior Management...
Submitted by: Chrisine Votel,
Invest in a copy of the Tough Kids Book by Dr. Bill Jenson. It is not expensive and it it filled with wonderful ideas for management at all levels. And best of all it is well written and funny and easy to read. It is available from Soprus West. Happy Reading. Behavior Management... Submitted by: Pennie, 5-6 Grade I use a vinyl pocket chart with a pocket for each child. It is called a "Start Chart". We use both good and bad marks in it. The idea is that each child is "reaching for the stars", so I use laminated stars for the good marks. I use brown buttons for the "ground," bad marks. Each time the child does something nice for someone else they receive a star. They also receive a star for an A on tests. If a child does something that could harm another student or is directly disobedient they receive a button or have a star removed. They can not have both stars and buttons in their pocket. They love to see how far up in the stars they can go and don't want to be caught "underground" at the end of the week. Each week we count the stars and the top boy and girl each get something out of my basket of goodies. The children learn to be thoughtful and kind to others in their desire to receive stars.
Check Emotional Attitudes while Taking Roll ..
Submitted by: Unknown,
Elementary Grades Have students take a circle and make a smiley face on one side and a frowny face on the other. Glue to a popsicle stick. Make a pocket chart with a pocket for each child. When the child comes in the classroom each day have the faces in a can. The child selects a face and places it in his/her pocket with the appropriate side facing out. Class Achievers.. Submitted by: Tisha Frasier, Grades 2-3 This technique works very well with second and third grade. I use a chart from any teacher's supply store. I put each student's full name on the chart. Students receive a check for transitioning smoothly from one activity to another, following directions the first time they are given, staying on task and completing classwork, etc. These are my classroom rules. There are approximately 24-26 boxes per student. The first student to reach the end of the chart is the first place class achiever. I award the four top achievers with a certificate of achievement and a bouquet of decorated pens, pencils and erasers. I make it into a mini award ceremony by inviting the principal or other staff members. The whole process includes pictures with me! They love it! Everybody wants to be a classroom achiever!
Class Court
Submitted by: Digna Artiles,
6+ The students in my classroom monitor their own behaviors with Class Court. We have the following roles.. Teacher role - judge Student roles 2 court recorders (either records or writes down nearly everything voiced in court) 6-12 jury members (records important info during testimonies, sentences, etc...) 6-12 officers (give out tickets) 1 chief officer (keeps track of tickets) 1 bailiff (swears people in, has court rise when judge enters) 2 prosecuting attorneys (defend rights of class to learn, etc...) 2 defending attorneys (defend those accused of crime) During court, officers are in audience monitoring to make sure audience is quiet; jury, attorneys, and recorders take notes. Tickets: In the beginning of the school year the kids had 3 chances, by end only had two. First two were warnings, third "See you in court." I created the forms on the computer with spaces for Defendant's Name, Officer's Name, Description of crime, time and date, and witnesses. Day of Court took place every other week, and was a "dress for success day" which meant everyone dressed up for that time. Jury, when deliberating for sentencing, had to make sure that punishments fit the crimes... no lunch detention. For example, if a person was talking during a silent time, the sentence was isolation for a week. Also, if a defendant plead guilty, thereby wasting less of the courts time, the sentence was reduced. In this case, it could have been, for example, three days instead of a week of isolation. Roles were determined by class election - new every quarter. Roles were lost if a student showed up in court more than 2 times. With roles, came the expectation of being above disruptive behavior. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me at [email protected]
Class Tickets
Submitted by: Patty, Grades 2-3
At the start of each day, each student is given 3 tickets. If a child misbehaves, isn't paying attention, or breaks a class/school rule, I take a ticket from that child. Students can have a ticket taken during lunch time, recess, or at specials. At the end of the day each child turns in the tickets they have left from the day. I record this information. At the end of the week students who have earned the required number of tickets can pick a prize from the treasure box. I also use these tickets as raffle tickets on occasion if I have extra prizes or treats. I have found with this system that I am rewarding good and appropriate behavior and not always focusing on the unacceptable behavior.
Classroom Behavior Management ...
Submitted by: Unknown, Grade 2-3
Cut out the letters for the word COMPLIMENT. Each time the class receives a compliment from faculty, parents, visitors, etc. they earn a letter. Once the class has received all the letters to the word, reward them with a special privilege. For example, popcorn/coke party, movie day, game day, or treats that they like. Community Bubble Gum Machine Submitted by: Regina T, Preschool I use tag board to create a giant bubble gum machine. I draw three lines representing the rewards that will come when the bubble gum is filled to each line. I use colorful dot stickers to represent the bubble gum. When I catch them doing a good deed or following direction, they recieve a gumball to place in the machine. They work together to achieve their reward. A reward could be popcorn and a movie, picnic, etc.
Compliments
Submitted by: Diana,
3rd Next to my desk, I keep a compliment jar (small glass fish bowl). I allow the students to put a marble in this jar for any compliment the class receives from another teacher, parent in the school, or the principal. When the jar is filled to the top they will be rewarded. I also allowed the class to pick there reward so they feel they really acomplished something. My class chose an ice cream sundae party. Dipping for Dollars... Submitted by: Trudy, Second Grade I've used a behavior technique called "Dipping for Dollars" for the last 3 years, and it really works! I have a large plastic jar filled with fake coins (make sure the kids can't see through it). Every child who has good behavior during a day gets to take a dip from the jar the next morning. I also give dips for random acts of kindness, showing responsibility, good citizenship and quality work. Each child has a small plastic box to store their money in. Every morning when they get their dips (if they deserve any) they also trade pennies for nickels, nickels for dimes etc... When a child has saved up $5.00 they can turn it in for one of these rewards: 20 minutes of free time, a pack of chewing gum, sit by a friend for a day, or sit at the teacher's desk for a day. Each day that the entire class gets a dip someone reaches into a container and draws out a poker chip that has a number 5 or 10 on it. When the class has accumulated 200 "Party Points" we plan a class party! Last year we had an ice cream party, a popcorn party, a Pokemon party, and a game day party. The kids really like this, it's inexpensive, and not a lot of work. Another great benefit is that when it comes time to teach a money unit in math it's a snap, because the kids have been counting and trading their money every day of the year!
Discipline...
Submitted by: S. Young,
Second Grade At the beginning of the year I go over my rules and expectations for behavior. I am very clear and give lots of examples. I even have a Top Ten David Letterman-style list of behaviors that bug me, (only it's more than 10), and I give a humorous test with one correct response and the other three choices kind of silly. Then I post a chart with the students' names. I tell them any behavior that takes my attention away from teaching will result in being given a "point" on the chart. When students do misbehave I just say, "so and so, that's a point." I have found this cuts down on nagging. If a student has less than 5 points at the end of the week that student gets a small treat like a jolly rancher and a special 10 minute recess at the end of the day on Friday. If a child hurts another child, that is an automatic 5 points. With really unruly classes I have taken away the rest of the week's recesses upon reaching 5 points. I guess for a more positive angle you could give the students 5 points and take away one when students demonstrate undesirable behavior. Even annoying behavior such as forgetting to put a name on a paper can be corrected. Three times and it's a point and so on.
For low maintenance, cooperative behavior..
Submitted by: Gigi Lax, Grade 2 Get rid of all the charts, rewards, gimmicks, etc. - start your daily routine with a brief meeting in which the students and you discuss community-building ideas, problems/solutions, and rules and guidelines for the class. Use that time to develop vocabulary and role-play about concepts such as respect, cooperation, and responsibility. Deal with individual discipline problems using a "plan" in which the child identifies and writes the problem and a plan for a solution. For specific ideas along these lines, read books by Barbara Coloroso and Ruth Charney.
Fun tip from a sub ...
Submitted by: Rebecca White,
substitute teacher My best idea for behavior management is positive, and effective. When a student misbehaves, I give a verbal warning to "settle down". If the undesired behavior continues, I walk over to the child, lean down on the desk, and start singing the National Anthem or Show Tunes! I have had amazing responses to this. First, the child is utterly embarassed. Second, the others are laughing, and hard. I tell the child that I can sing all day, albeit not well, and that I will do so until he/she decides to change the behavior. I used to threaten to sing in public when my own kids were acting up, and it always worked. As a sub Teacher, the kids will always test me. One or two songs usually settles the class into positive behaviors. And it is so shocking and funny to them, that they love it. It also makes me unpredictable to them, so they do shape up!
Here's a great brain-based technique...
Submitted by: April Hawkins,
Resource/Special Ed. K-5
I have used classical music in my class to keep my students quiet and my sanity intact. I have used "Tune Your Brain With Mozart" which works wonders. I have found that a combination of a morning review and music helps increase attention and learning. I find this very important when dealing with students who have special needs. There is a series of these CD's. I purchased mine through Amazon. Good luck to all with the new school year! Let Students KNOW What to Expect .. , Submitted by: Alice Phillips, Grades 7-12 Have a lengthy discussion on precise expectations of your classroom. There will be few surprises when children are forewarned about exactly how to do well in your particular classroom. Managing Classroom Jobs,
Behavior...
Submitted by: Susan Conrad,
Kindergarten
I have a pocket chart with five rows, and five columns. Each column is labeled a day of the week, to be used for daily helpers. Each row is labeled with moveable arrows attached to clothespins. The classroom chores, such as Leader, Messenger, Clean-up... are labeled and moved at the beginning of each week. Each pocket is labeled with a velcro tag with each child's name. Each morning, the children place a blue crayon to show they are present. I give out color changes for misbehavior. ( green - time out) (yellow - miss one activity) (red - miss two activities) (black - office or call home). I explain these colors like a traffic light: green - go; yellow - slow; red - stop Poker Chips Submitted by: Pam Lind, 4th Materials: Two small baskets-bowls-cups... Lable one container REMOVE and one container ADD 50 white poker chips I fill the REMOVE basket with 50 poker chips. The chips are each labled with one of the following class treats: candy bar, pop, extra recess, 30 minutes playtime, video, (english muffin)pizza, popcorn... (Use whatever motivations you area willing to give!) Each time our 4th graders come in from recess, they can "earn a chip" for being QUIET in the hallway, and can earn a chip for coming into the classroom and sitting quietly. Also- I give out chips for special behaviors- such as working orderly during an activity, or really paying attention during a difficult math lesson. Each earned chip is taken FROM the REMOVE basket, and put into the ADD basket. Of course- I SOMETIMES have to remove a chip or two- if the class is unruly!!!(Mean teacher!) When there are about 10 chips left, I let the kids know- just to add extra motivation. What ever is written on the final chip in the REMOVE basket, is the treat the whole class earned! Students love this! They really "remind" each other to be quiet in the hall, and come in quietly! The other 4th grade teacher and I will even stand in the hallway holding and waving the two chips!
Positive Reinforcement at the Library...
Submitted by: Evelyn Gilbert,
PreK-5
Each week as the students enter the library, I check the roll by giving each student his/her sticker card. During the lesson, the students can earn extra stickers. I give out different stickers based on the theme for my lessons. At the end of the year, the student from each class who has the most stickers will come to a special party. It's so special that students that didn't win get tired of hearing how much fun they missed. It really helps on positive reinforcement and I don't experience many discipline problems.
Preschoolers and Cleaning Up ...
Submitted by: posts from TeacherChat Discussion Forums,
Question: Hi Everyone! I love my 4 year olds, and they've been great with clean-up time the whole year, however, the last 2 weeks have been horrible! Some of the children will begin cleaning, then they'll notice others are not, and they'll stop. I have exhausted all my ideas! Anyone have any true, tried methods?? Thanks! --shawn I would suggest designating a clean up captian for each center each week. This way you can give the responsibility to the children and they can motivate the others to help them. Post their responsibilities and make sure their is a visual for the class jobs. Also make sure you are giving a signal for clean up time. This could be an oral warning of 5 to 10 minutes and an auditory warning by playing "clean up" music. This seems to work well with the 4 year old's I have worked with. --Mackie These are some ideas that I have used in my classroom-
-Unregistered 1. Count to 10 slowly. Let the children know that by the count of 10 all the toys should be put away. 2. Try giving out a small treat to each child that picks up. Once the other children catch on that they will be rewarded after they have picked up it will encourage them all to pitch in. 3. Sometimes I will say "Who is my fastest picker-upper today. Who can pick up the fastest?" The kids enjoy this because they think that it's a race. I am a pre-k Montessori teacher, I have a mixed class of 21 3 and 4 year olds. My children do not need to clean up all of their work, just put name tags on their lessons and they can finish it later. However, if we transition from our work time to our group time we use a song. Most teachers use and instrumental song (I use Enya's Tea-House Moon). When the song starts, it is a signal that it is time to stop working and either get their name tags, or clean up their lessons. The children know they must be seated in their places by the end of the song. This works very well. --
Unregistered Try making clean up into a game for them (a lesson for you). See if the children can find something blue to put away (or any other designated color), or see if they can pick up three blocks, etc. It becomes more challenging for them and you are reinforcing color and number skills. If advanced enough, see if they can find something that begins with a /b/ sound to put away. --Margo
Puzzling behavior
I take a small poster and cut it into ten jigsaw puzzle type pieces. I then put the pieces in a colorful folder pinned to a bulletin board. When the whole class has really great behavior (ie works hard in groups without any disagreements) they earn a piece. They may also earn a piece if they receive a compliment from an adult on the whole class behavior. To keep it honest I tell them that I need to hear the compliment from the adult. The aides in my building know I do this so they make a point of telling me when my class is really good in the cafeteria or outside. The music and PE teachers also drop me notes or e-mail me to let me know. When a puzzle is complete, the class earns a treat of some kind-candy, popcorn, longer recess, or free trips to the treasure chest for everyone. It also makes a great year around bulletin board since all I have to do is switch out the puzzle pieces in the folder. The caption reads "Good behavior puts it all together!" To add to the fun I never tell the kids what the poster is. They have fun guessing as I add pieces.
Quiet Classroom...
, grades 6+ Teaching with a block schedule means that each period must have several instructional activities with transitions between them. To ensure that the transitional times in my 7th grade science classroom are quick and efficient, I use this management technique: In our building students are considered "tardy" if they do not arrive to their next class by the end of the 4-minute passing period between classes. I call this 4-minute period the students' "Pass Time." To help manage student behavior during class, I write the words "Pass Time" on my chalk board. I explain to the class that each time I erase a letter from the words, they owe me 15 seconds of extra class time after the bell rings to switch classes. The first letter is a warning letter, but after that each letter counts 15 seconds. If they have to stay to much extra in my classroom, they will be tardy to their next class. Accumulating too many tardies will mean that they loose privileges in the school. I don't have to ever raise my voice to quiet a class using this method. Simply picking up my eraser from the chalk tray causes the students who notice to try to quiet the other students in the room. Very seldom do I keep a class more that 30 seconds, and this is just enough time to make it inconvenient for them to get to class on time!
Table of the week
I award a table of the week prize to the table that earns the most beads that week. I use beads from the crafts dept. and tupperware container for storage of the beads. Each time the tables are working quietly, staying on task, keeping a neat table, etc., I award that table a bead. At the end of the week the table with the most beads gets a prize. The prize may be 20 minutes in the library, a free coke at snack, a prize from the prize box, etc. It has made my class want to work together! The Helping Hands Can.... Submitted by: Rena, Kindergarten Teacher 1. Take an ordinary can (i.e., coffee, peanut, etc..) and decorate it to your taste. I use bright colors and huge writing for the younger children. 2. Fill the can with popsicle sticks. Be creative! 3. Have the children color or paint the sticks. Once the sticks are finished, label the sticks with the wonderful jobs the children like to help the teacher do (i.e., running errands, line leader, pick a movie, win small prizes-pencils, candy, erasers, pick a book of the day, etc..). 4. When an individual or team members are working quietly, complete seat work, finished all homework, shows kindness and respect to others, plays safely, etc.., a stick is drawn from the can and that child or children are rewarded with the job or prize indicated on the stick. 5. It is also a good idea to make a chart to keep track of the children and to post inside the classroom. This activity works great because everyone wants to lend a helping hand!
Token Economy System ...
, I have used this with my kindergartners. * Use different colored tickets to represent 1s, 5s, 10s (I used the tickets that you can get on a big roll.. They come in colors like blue, red and yellow.) * Blue tickets are equal to 1, red tickets are 5, and yellow tickets are 10 * Each morning when the students came in they were to count their tickets. The first day we did this they counted 0 tickets. I would ask, "What is 0 + 1?" as I gave them a blue ticket. The student would see that the answer is 1. I gave each child a tin can covered in contact paper in which to keep their tickets. Each day they would dump out the can and count the tickets. To earn 1 more, they had to recite the math problem telling how many they have plus the one they would earn. 2 + 1 = 3. As they progressed, they could trade in 5 blue tickets for 1 red ticket, or 10 blue tickets for 1 yellow ticket, etc. This gave them lots of practice with counting, one to one correspondence, simple addition, etc. * They could also earn extra tickets at other times of the day (but they didn't count them until the next morning.) * I had an assortment of inexpensive toys in boxes labeled with how much they cost. For instance, stickers cost 1 ticket, little plastic dinosaurs were 10, etc. For 50 tickets, they could be "kid teacher." That meant they could help me lead calendar time, point to words, keep the kids quiet, etc. The kids really liked this. The more intangible items the better for you (saves $).. for instance, getting a bean bag to lay on at rest time was 25 tickets That was another popular one! I hope this helps. If you want any clarifications, just ask!
Why do students act so terribly when a sub is in????...
Science Teacher This year, I told my students that the sub would have "Awesome Behavior" coupons to give to deserving students. When I return from being out, those student who earned coupons are waiting to get to the Treasure Box. (Yes, the treasure box still works in the 6th grade!)
Working Together for Classroom Behavior...
Submitted by: Claudia,
n order to motivate the entire class to work together for great classroom behavior, I am designing a race track with several pit rows on poster board. Whenever the class gets a compliment from the principal, a parent, an assistant, or teacher, the race car will be advanced one space. If group misbehavior continues after a warning, the race car is moved back to the nearest pit row. The race may only continue when the class has earned the privilege back. When the class has completed the race, everyone receives a reward. This really inspires kids to be quiet in the halls and enrichment classes because they are seeking a compliment. You can even divide into teams and have more than one race car. I have done a much simpler version of this reward system in the past. Using a large blank hundred board on poster board, I fill in empty squares with stickers as the class receives praise. Stars are placed at different points on the chart. When each star is reached, it's time to celebrate. A big celebration is due when all 100 squares are filled with stickers. However as class activities get loud, the stars are moved further away. Pretty soon the class gets quiet if the think you are going to the star chart!
