What Works: Positive Behavior Managment

I've tried a variety of classroom management ideas. Some worked better than others. The success often depended on the student needs in my class and on where or not I could be consistent with the chosen plan. Sometimes implementing the plans would take time away from teaching. (Isn't the goal to have more time teaching?)

Let me share what works for me.

I like to focus on rewarding the positive. This post will be about the incentives I use to promote positive choices. (I will post later with how I redirect students who are not demonstrating positive choices.) I have both individual and group incentives.

Individual Incentives

I came across this sticker board and behavior management idea on Fluttering Though First Grade's blog.
Here's how it works... If I notice a student making a good choice, I'll give them a sticker to put on their 10 frame. When they have 10 stickers they get a prize. Simple. Effective.

I love that it naturally reinforces math concepts. When they earn a sticker, I'll hear them say: "Now I have 8. I only need 2 more to get to 10!" When we get to our 10 frame unit in math... we catch on quickly.

Sticker boards are kept in chair pocket folders.

If I don't want to interrupt my teaching to get/give a sticker, I let them pick one out.
(They know to pull out 2 stickers. Choose one and put the other one back.)

"Sticker Station"

I have two prize options when "redeeming" sticker charts: trinkets from the treasure chest or privilege tickets.

One of the reasons I added privilege tickets is because they cost me NOTHING! Its' also interesting to see what privileges students choose. It tells me what is motivating to them!

This year I'm using Laura Martin's Classroom Coupons. She has a great variety of rewards that your students will want to work for. Click on the picture to check them out!

Click HERE to head on over to Fluttering Through First Grade's post about using sticker boards and to get your own FREEBIE of the boards.

Group Incentives

I also have a whole class incentive that is similar to the 10 frame boards. We work together to earn 10 stars.

 We earn class starts if EVERYONE is going above and beyond. (Everyone was participating. We got a double thumbs up in gym. The classroom was cleaned up and everything was even more organized than before play time....) Sometimes we earn them quickly. Sometimes we do not. There is one guaranteed way to earn a star ....*drum role*... by receiving a compliment from another staff member. "Your class is walking to nicely in the halls!" (You  should see their eyes light up as they mouth the word "star" to me.)

When we put that 10th star up we celebrate! It's very rare that everyone wants the same reward... so... we do things the democratic way - vote! Choices can be a short video with popcorn, extra recess, popsicle party, show-n-tell day... sometimes I let them come up with an idea. (Which usually involves some sort of sugary goodness - that's kids for ya!)

Don't forget... presentation is everything! I sometimes will do my teacher dance when my class earns a star. My kids think it's hilarious! I'm not sure how to describe it.... but you put one hand behind your head, one hand holding your ankle behind your back (so you are balancing on one foot).... and then you dance!

This was in a Christmas card from a student.

What type of behavior plan and incentive have you found to work for you and your class? I'd love to hear them. Leave a comment.

Smart Start: Visual Morning Job Reminders for Students

This year I'm trying something new. In an effort to not have to repeat myself ...

"Hang up your backpack."
"Turn in your folder."
"Did you check your folder to see if there is anything for me inside?"
"If you need a pencil, check the sharpened bucket."
"Get a drink now, because when we are on the rug my answer will be to wait."
"Please start your Welcome Work."

 ... to every student as they enter the classroom. Every. Day.

I created this PowerPoint slide to display on my projector the first several weeks of school. (Or until I feel they've got the morning procedures down pat.) Here's a picture:

I plan to simply point to the picture clues as a reminder of their morning jobs. Sounds like it will work. Right? *fingers crossed*

I've seen teachers make adorable posters with this information (along with pictures of the students doing each of the jobs), but my walls are overloaded already. Our IT guy would joke that my room drove his OCD tenancies crazy! So I'm making an effort to minimize. Hard to do in an elementary classroom!

How do you help reinforce morning procedures in your classroom? I'd love to hear your ideas!

Book Study: Worksheets Don't Grow Dendrites Chapters 1 & 2

I am stoked about joining this book study to learn how to better engage my students through reading Worksheets Don't Grow Dendrites by Marcia L. Tate.

I set the stage... highlighter, coffee, cupcake...check, check, check!

Thanks Elizabeth for Kickin' it off at Kickin' it in Kindergarten!

I've always been a huge advocate for hands-on learning (especially since my first 2 years of teaching were in PreK and worksheets are NOT an option). It's great to be reaffirmed that so much of what I do daily in my classroom is research based! Yet, after reading the first two chapters I have a growing list of other strategy ideas I can start implementing!

At the beginning of the year, I feel like I spend a lot of time setting the ground work for productive discussion. I teach/model when to talk, how to answer a question, what it means to stay on topic, and how to be a good listener when someone else is talking. Routines and expectations are the framework for effective discussion.

Here is my favorite "trick" for giving students wait time...while holding the "blurters" at bay (a difficult balance in Kindergarten)...

I give a question and tell students to "whisper the answer" in their hand. They keep the answer "trapped" until I see that everyone has had time to process the question (their fists are in the air). When I open my fist, they copy me and "let out" the answers by saying them out loud.

A growth area for me is asking questions at various levels on Bloom's Taxonomy. It takes time to develop quality questions that stimulate higher-order thinking. One action step I plan to take is to develop a variety of questions (at various levels) for some of my read-alouds. I will type them up and tape them inside the book's cover so I have them ready!

It's obvious - ART is in SMART! I have always loved integrating art into daily learning.  My love for art is a reason I have an well stocked Art Center in my classroom. This is a FAVORITE center ALL YEAR LONG! During play time, I often have students take supplies to their table spot because all of the seats at the center are full. I rotate supplies and add word walls correlating with our themes. I also add dictionaries, themed vocabulary binders, and bar graph templates to encourage writing.

Here's two recent example of how we've integrated math and art.We created our own stick structures after reading 6 Sticks by Molly Coxe.

Then we counted how many sticks we used in our design and wrote the sentence:

 "____ sticks make a _____."

Volcano!

Symmetrical Hearts: We decorated a backdrop for our Valentine's program. Each child painted one of their hearts with a symmetrical design.

Not going to lie... it takes time to prep art projects! But the active learning that happens as a result is SO worth it!

Tell me, I forget. 

Show me, I rmemeber.

Involve me, I understand!

- Old Chinese Proverb