Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Positive Behavior Management (Freebie)

Over the years, I've become pretty comfortable with classroom management. I say that, but I also believe that there is always room for improvement. Every group of students is different and something different challenges me every year. This year, it is the listening (or should I say lack of). Nice kids...not a lot of listening so far. It's a work in progress.

I do not use a clip system, a stop light or a pretty behavior chart. Lots of my favorite teachers use them. It's just not for me. I tried it during one of my first years in 1st grade. I felt like it drew attention to the children displaying negative behaviors (which some of them seem to enjoy). Goodbye pretty clothes pin chart.

My rules are simple. My expectations are clear. This year, I decided to add a positive behavior support system. I found the most adorable set of awards from Teacher to the Core on Tpt this summer.


I copied the awards that I wanted to use from the pack on different colored color copy paper.  
I put them in a medium sized index card file box.



When I give a student one of the awards, I take their picture with the award and add it to a book that we keep in the classroom called Check  Us Out. By the end of the year, the pages will be full of pictures of our students with their awards for good behavior/effort/problem solving.   I invite the students to read the book whenever they are finished with their work or have free time.  I also invite the parents to stop by and read the book when they visit the building.

Along the same lines, I also have a book called Our Best Work.  When I notice that a student works super hard on their work (and I'm super picky) and it looks like their very best work, I take their picture with it and put them in Our Best Work book.  My students and parents are invited to read this book as well.

If you'd like to download a copy of the covers I made and make your own books you can click on the image below.



Enjoy your day!

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5 comments:

  1. Great ideas and I'm sure very effective too. Thank you!

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  2. I love your books! What a wonderful way to celebrate the students! Do you use the 1/4 size awards? Do you laminate the pages and then just use the binding machine to add additional pages? I'd love to see one page from inside each book.
    Thanks!
    Lisa

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  3. Thank you sooo much! I have an extremely talkative class and 8 kids who really struggle with their behavior on a daily basis. When I write them a citation (disciplinary note to go home to parent, 3 of those 8 go totally berserk and are screaming and crying at the top of their lungs. This might be the trick. They will be reminded that they do know the right thing to do, Thanks again!
    Kelly
    I'm Not Your Grandpa, I'm Your Teacher

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