I worked with a 2nd grade teacher this year that based her entire behavior plan on rewards. Her desks were in groups of 4, and each group came up with a name every month. She had the names of the groups up on the board, and when she noticed a group working well, or a particular person doing something very well, she gave the group a point or two. She also took them away if they were doing something they weren’t supposed to. On the last day of the week, the total number of points the class earned was converted into free time, one minute for each point. It worked beautifully. The kids were motivated by earning minutes for free time, and they monitored each other. One of the worst punishments for kids is having their classmates upset at them. The kids would remind other kids to be quiet so they wouldn’t get points taken away, and the kids were proud of the kids in their group that earned them points. The teacher never had any serious issues all year. I’ve worked in a lot of classrooms, and this was one of the best.

That’s what all my elementary school teachers did. Each day kids started at green. Yellow was a warning. One red card was stay in for 5 min of recess. Each additional red card was 5 more minutes. After 3, our teachers had a conference with the parents. That system worked for me. I was a good student and I barely even got one yellow card. But there’s always going to be kids who get red cards. They will learn though, since kids love recess. Anyway, hope this helps!

Some of the teachers in my district use the card system. What you do is have a pocket chart — one pocket for each student. There are 5 cards and they all have a different color. Every Monday you start everyone out with the same color. As kids break the rules, you change the cards. There are different consequences for each color. In the younger grades, they might tend to go through the cards quickly, so you use straws as well.You could do three straws and then a card. I think that the class determines my discipline system. i didn’t use the cards. Instead, they had to earn points. We had Fabulous Friday for students who earned enough points to go.

I teach 1st. grade and I use a similar system. I have 5 cards (blue, green, yellow, orange, and red) Each time I must speak to a student they must flip a card. At the end of the day anyone still on blue earns a sticker. In aug. 5 stickers goes to the prize box, in sept. they need 6 and so on. Green-no sticker Yellow-no sicker, only have of their recess Orange- no sticker and no recess at all and red- no recess, no sticker and I contact home. I love this system! I have a small piece of paper I can tape to students desks with 5 boxes and at the end of each day they color it in with the appropriate color. Then at the end of the week. I send them home so parents can monitor thier behavior.

I used to do that, but than i discover something better: when i kid is acting very bad, i demand the student to write down what he or she is doing so the parents will sign up and know what is going on…but that’s just when they are too bad in the classroom…though some refuse to do that!It’s hard to teach in our days!

When I was in 1st Grade, my teacher had a big apple tree on a bulletin board and each apple had the name of each of her students. First you receive a warning, Second warning, you would go and pull your apple to the bottom of the apple tree, in front of everyone (you would lose your candy for that day) and Third warning, after your apple had been pulled, she would call home.

She never really called on the principal unless it was absolutely necessary. I think she like being able to handle her own problems, without having to have another adult come handle minor situations.

Find out what the 1st grade teachers did that way you don’t have to completely restart the kids on a different type of behavior system.

I find that positive reinforcement (raffle tickets for bathroom passes, homework passes, prizes, etc.), calling parents at home/ work, and being consistent with punishments (don’t do your homework, you stay in during recess to finish it, talk in class, move them) work best for me.

That sounds like a good one.

I personally just used to get the kids to write their initials on the chalkboard as a warning. Everything else they did wrong earned them a cross. When lunchtime came, each cross meant the child had to stay in for five minutes (up to three crosses (15min) – the 4th cross was “send to the principal”).

First try to be “proactive” in your classroom management. In other words, the best classroom management plan is a strong instructional plan.

Use teaching strategies that keep all your students actively involved in all of your lessons…if you can decrease student boredom, decrease student confusion, and increase class participation you wont need to resort to these elaborate systems.

For more information on the proactive approach to classroom management you should visit this site: http://www.Classroom-Management-Tips.com

Also, I have been making many posts lately on my blog in regards to classroom management…feel free to visit my blog here: http://www.Teaching-Tips-Machine.com/blog

–Adam

i agree with piggy oinks, most kids LOVE recess buut insted i would use crayons. everytime is a kid isnt acting how you want them. say “go pull a crayon”. you put the crayons on a wall with the kids names above them.

Green-You had a good day (mabie reward them with candy at the end of the week)

Yellow-Warning

Orange-5 minutes of recess

Blue-Letter/Call Home

Red-All of Recess and Call home

Purple-Principal, Call home, and only half of recess for the day.

The reason i say only half of recess and not all of it is, a) why would you want to waste your lunch/recess time staying inside with the kid b) kids HATE the principal-i was sent there all the time and each time i cried and felt horribley guilty.