People, classroom management is hard. It's one of those things that changes day to day and year to year. It's something we never perfect but it can make or break our classrooms. And yet, I sure don't remember a college class that taught me anything about such an important topic! Just sayin...
In our classroom, we use a clip chart for our behavior system.
Yes, you heard right. A clip chart. Now, before you start heckling me and throwing things, let me explain why we use one.
1. Responsibility.
In our classroom the students are responsible for moving their own clips. If someone needs to clip up or down, I tell them to do so and THEY move their clips. I don't move clips. It's not my behavior so it's not my job to move the clips. Having the students move their clips helps them be responsible for their behavior.
2. Fluidity.
Our clip chart is very fluid, just like our behavior. How many of us have started off having a good day and something happens to turn the day into something not good? Or we woke up and our day started off terrible but then it turned around. Our student's behavior is the same. You see, we don't all start having a great day or a terrible day. We all start in the middle. Neutral. As we make good choices and bad choices, our clip can move up and down the chart. All day long. Until we dismiss. You COULD get to red but by the end of the day you could be back to the top of the chart! Because our behavior and choices change all day long. So our chart reflects that fluidity.
3. Communication/Accountability
The visual clip chart makes it easy for my students to self manage their behavior. With a quick glance students can see how their day is going and they know if they need to adjust behavior. The clip chart also makes communicating with parents simple and consistent. Parents understand the chart and the colors so they know with a glance how their child did at school
We use a behavior calendar to communicate with parents. Again, the students are responsible for coloring their calendars at the end of the day. It's their behavior so it's their responsibility to communicate their behavior to their parents! If a student is below green, I can add a simple note explaining why!
Also, when a child gets below green I have a quick, private chat with the child about what's going on and how we can change things around.
4. Teacher Accountability
The chart is also used as a reminder for Mr. Greg! How many times do the kids with the best behavior fall through the cracks? It's easy to focus on negative behaviors and forget the good behaviors. The chart helps me stay focused on the good. I VERY RARELY clip students down. I use the chart as a reminder for me to focus on the good choices my students make. It's an accountability piece for Mr. Greg as well. And if I notice that a student is repeatedly low on the chart, that's a red flag for me that something is going on and we need to get to the root of the issue.
Our chart is not a focal point of our classroom, In fact, it's in the back of the classroom where you have to search to see it! Why? Because that chart is not the focus of our classroom. The kids are the focus of our classroom.
And how does it work in our classroom: GREAT! In fact, a couple of weeks ago the chart fell and I didn't have time to put it back up (WAIT?! What?! A teacher was too busy to do something?! Never...). For 2 weeks my kids kept asking when I was going to put the chart up. They wanted the chart up. They like the structure and consistency. And for that 2 weeks, I noticed a change in our behavior. It wasn't a drastic terrible change but there was a change. Once the chart was back up, things went back to normal.
So, should you have a clip chart? That is up to you. You are the CEO of your classroom and you have to do what is best for your students and your classroom. If a clip chart works for you, GREAT! If it doesn't work for you GREAT! You have to find what works for you!
So with our clip chart, we have some behavior incentives:
If you are on top of the chart at the end of the day, you get to choose a pencil. (And trust me, they let you know if you forget the pencils....don't forget...it's bad news....)
And if you get "off the chart" you get to put your clip on Mr. Greg and you get a pencil!
Also, when someone gets on top of the chart or off the chart, we celebrate with our cheer for the day. Each day, our leader picks a cheer from our Cheer It Up bucket! When someone gets to the top or off the chart, we stop what we're doing and cheer for their success!
We also have a trampoline as an incentive in our classroom, we recently added a trampoline! Thanks to Bonnie Kathryn at Bonnie Kathryn Teaching for the amazing idea!
I purchased a mini trampoline on Amazon for about $30.
When I see a student working hard or making good choices, I tell them to get some bounces!
The students get to bounce on the trampoline!
I might say "Fred, great job reading those words! Get 10 bounces!"
Or "I love how hard you worked on that addition, Betty! Get 15 bounces!"
Or, "That was so nice of you to help your friend clean up! Get 20 bounces!"
The trampoline is just another incentive that we use in our classroom!
Our clip chart and calendars are available here:
