Positive/Negative Consequences:
This poster, known widely as the behavior clip chart, displays both my positive and negative consequences, all in one poster! The clip chart is a great and effective way to monitor student behavior, and I have seen it's effectiveness first hand in my practicum one experience. Each student in the class receives a clothespin on the first day of school with his/her name written on it. Each student's pin is placed on the "Ready to Learn" section of the poster. When students are doing a great job in class, whether it be following directions, helping out, doing great on an assignment, or any sort of positive behavior, the teacher can ask them to clip up, and they will go to the poster and move the clothespin with their name on it up a level. If a student is exhibiting negative behavior, the teacher can ask them to clip down. My favorite component of the clip chart is that students are able to move their pins up or down all throughout the day. So, if a student exhibits a negative behavior and is asked to clip down, they can always correct their behavior later in the day and clip back up. Students always start back and "Ready to Learn" at the beginning of the day.
Each level holds a different purpose throughout this chart. "Ready to Learn" is the starting point for all pins. This is when students are doing exactly what they are asked. Each level above "Ready to Learn" is for when students are doing are particularly nice job, and get to move up each time. Each time a student moves up, they receive a special ticket. At the end of the week, students can count their tickets and get a prize based on how many they have. At the beginning of the year, when behaviors are still being managed, I will have a container with 6 drawers, each drawer numbered, 1-6. I will find objects at the dollar store that I can place into the drawers, the most exciting prizes being in drawer six, and the less popular but still exciting prizes in drawer one. Students can save their tickets instead of cashing them in right at the end of the week, and if they get 7 or above points, they can look through the "Coupon Book" filled with coupons such as "Bring your favorite stuffed animal to school", "Eat lunch with the teacher", "Positive call home", etc, that they can choose from. Once students are clipping up daily and receiving six tickets by the end of every week, the amount of tickets needed to look through the coupon book can be made higher.
For each section below "Ready to Learn", consequences are much more negative and much less exciting (students will definitely notice this). The first level below this is "Think About It". This is a warning stage, where students know they must correct their behavior if they don't want to clip down again. The next level is "Teacher's Choice". I love the title of this section, because some different students need different types of consequences. Some students may just be having a bad day, and a talk with them about what they have done works great. Other students, however, especially students that constantly repeat the behavior, may need privileges taken away, may not be able to participate in fun activities, or might receive a phone call home. I will also have students fill out a reflection sheet on what caused them to clip down, and what they can do in the future. This doubles as documentation for parents if it is necessary to discuss their child's behavior with them. The next level down, "Parent Contact", is when parents are definitely involved, and often an office referral is made.
To keep parents involved in their children's behavior, students will each have a behavior log they keep with them in their take-home folders. Monday through Friday is listed, and students will write the date on the blank line by the day of the week. They will then color in the circle with the color they received, a different color for every section on the poster. What section each color stands for is listed on the bottom, so students and parents can remember. If a student clips down, I will write a note why for that parent explaining what happened.
Each level holds a different purpose throughout this chart. "Ready to Learn" is the starting point for all pins. This is when students are doing exactly what they are asked. Each level above "Ready to Learn" is for when students are doing are particularly nice job, and get to move up each time. Each time a student moves up, they receive a special ticket. At the end of the week, students can count their tickets and get a prize based on how many they have. At the beginning of the year, when behaviors are still being managed, I will have a container with 6 drawers, each drawer numbered, 1-6. I will find objects at the dollar store that I can place into the drawers, the most exciting prizes being in drawer six, and the less popular but still exciting prizes in drawer one. Students can save their tickets instead of cashing them in right at the end of the week, and if they get 7 or above points, they can look through the "Coupon Book" filled with coupons such as "Bring your favorite stuffed animal to school", "Eat lunch with the teacher", "Positive call home", etc, that they can choose from. Once students are clipping up daily and receiving six tickets by the end of every week, the amount of tickets needed to look through the coupon book can be made higher.
For each section below "Ready to Learn", consequences are much more negative and much less exciting (students will definitely notice this). The first level below this is "Think About It". This is a warning stage, where students know they must correct their behavior if they don't want to clip down again. The next level is "Teacher's Choice". I love the title of this section, because some different students need different types of consequences. Some students may just be having a bad day, and a talk with them about what they have done works great. Other students, however, especially students that constantly repeat the behavior, may need privileges taken away, may not be able to participate in fun activities, or might receive a phone call home. I will also have students fill out a reflection sheet on what caused them to clip down, and what they can do in the future. This doubles as documentation for parents if it is necessary to discuss their child's behavior with them. The next level down, "Parent Contact", is when parents are definitely involved, and often an office referral is made.
To keep parents involved in their children's behavior, students will each have a behavior log they keep with them in their take-home folders. Monday through Friday is listed, and students will write the date on the blank line by the day of the week. They will then color in the circle with the color they received, a different color for every section on the poster. What section each color stands for is listed on the bottom, so students and parents can remember. If a student clips down, I will write a note why for that parent explaining what happened.
The main reason I like this system and want to use it in my future classroom is because, as I mentioned above, is students are able to clip up or down throughout the day, nothing is set in stone. I also really like this system because of the exciting and appealing prizes students can receive for positive behavior. When students see their peers receiving awesome prizes, they will want to make sure they clip up so they too can get prizes. It is also a really simple and easy way to keep track of student behavior, and document negative student behavior. At the end of every single day, parents will know what level their student received for that day, so they are never out of the loop. Also, having documentation of student reflections is helpful for yourself and the parents of your students if things get out of control and a meeting with parents is to be set up. One of the hardest things I have noticed throughout my practicum experiences with the clip chart is making sure to acknowledge students who are doing a great job by telling them to clip up. This is one of the necessary components to the clip chart in order for other students to want to move theirs up as well. All in all, it is a truly effective and organized way to manage student behavior and positive/negative consequences in the classroom.
http://www.newmanagement.com/ebooks/pdf/clip-chart.pdf
http://www.acupcakefortheteacher.com/2013/05/my-new-behavior-reward-system.html
http://www.newmanagement.com/ebooks/pdf/clip-chart.pdf
http://www.acupcakefortheteacher.com/2013/05/my-new-behavior-reward-system.html