Back 2 School- Behavior Management

I'm linking up with Mrs. D's Corner and Miss V's Busy Bees to talk "Back 2 School".  There will be a lot of topics to discuss over the next few weeks, but this week's topic is Behavior Management.

Something that I've learned over the years is what works for one class, might not work for your next class.  I've also learned that you have to be willing to change your plans, even in the middle of the year.

Here's what my behavior management plan looks like:

1. Clip Chart

I've had this one for three years now, and as you can see it's looking a little very rough.  I started this past year using just the clip chart.  I like that this chart allows for students who are working hard and following the rules to be recognized by moving their clip up.  It also allows students who have moved their clips down, to work hard to move it back up again.  Each student kept a calendar in their take home folder, and would fill out their color for the day and have their parents sign.  If a student has made it up to "outstanding", they get a coupon.  Which brings me to number 2!

2. Reward Coupons

I love these coupons that I bought from the amazing Mel D from Seusstastic Classroom Inspirations.  You can find them at her TPT store here.  I love these rewards because they don't cost me a thing, but they are fun for the students.  To me, they are the perfect incentive for positive behavior.

3. "Marble Jar"

This is one that I kind of let slide during the year.  This was for whole class incentives.  When I caught the entire class working hard, or when they earned a compliment from another staff member, I put a marble on the jar.  Once we filled the jar, we got a whole class reward.  I let the students vote on what they wanted as their reward. Some things they chose this year: extra recess, bring a stuffed animal to school, and eat lunch in the classroom with an educational video playing.

4. Bucket Fillers

I categorize this under behavior management because I believe that when students respect each other, and show kindness to each other, they will be more motivated to behave in class.  During the first week of school we read "How Full is Your Bucket?" which explains the concept of Bucket Filling.  Each student decorated their own bucket, and we taped them on to the card envelopes.  In the green bucket that you can see in the picture, are blank bucket filling papers.  Students write short kind notes to each other, and then put the paper in their classmate's bucket.  At the end of the week we empty our buckets and read our notes. If I noticed a student's bucket was looking empty, I would fill out a note and put in their bucket.

5. Star Student

This is another one you might not always see under the "behavior management" category, but I feel it's important that each student get to know their classmates.  By knowing and respecting your classmates, you are going to be less likely to do something to upset them (acting up in class).  I'm working on revamping my Star Student program for next year, but basically each day of the week the Star Student brought in something from home to share with the class.

6. Class Dojo

I started using Class Dojo in the middle of the year, and to say I LOVE it, is an understatement!   If you have not tried it out, please do.  It's a free app that you can download. I just keep it up on my phone and iPad during the school day.  You can also project it from your computer on to an interactive whiteboard.

First you put all of your students' names in

I love the fun little avatars that you can choose!  Next, you choose positive behaviors you want your kiddos to work on and negative behaviors that you might see occur.

When a student is acting positive, you click on their name, choose a behavior from the list and it awards the student a point.

If a student is misbehaving, you do the same thing with the negative behaviors:

You can look at reports of individual students, or the whole class:

And my favorite part... you can communicate behaviors with the parents!!  They can log in and look at their child, or you can send messages to them.

For next year, I'm thinking about abandoning the clip chart, and just using Class Dojo.  I'm planning on still using the coupons as an incentive for earning a certain number of points in the day.  I'm also thinking when the class gets to a certain percentage of positive behavior, having a whole class reward.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today.  I'd love to hear what you do in your room.  If you use Class Dojo, do you use any other rewards or incentives?  Do you send home a daily behavior chart indicating the number of points your students earn?  I started in the middle of the year, but if you did it all year, do you feel it kept the students attention the whole year, or did they stop caring toward the end of the year?  I'd love to hear your thoughts!