Positive Behavior Management
I am a big advocate of positive behavior management. In the school and in my classroom, this will come in many different forms. Our school has “Character Counts” which features the six pillars of character: citizenship, responsibility, fairness, caring, trustworthiness, and respect. When a child is caught doing good featuring one of the pillars of character, the student will get rewarded. The students will get a ticket and these tickets will be part of a raffle. Students can get treats or be rewarded in an assembly. At the end of the school year, these tickets are raffled and a student may get a chance to win a bicycle.
In my classroom, they also get tickets. They may keep these tickets but it is their responsibility to take good care of these tickets. At the end of the month, students have to calculate how many points they have accumulated using the math skills they are working on at that time. I may ask students to multiply their tickets with a specific number.
Students also get rewarded with candies or stickers. Just bear in mind some students may prefer a different token. Some kids do not care for candies. Some of my students prefer a sticker. I have to get to know your child so I know which one works. Students may get a ticket or a candy depending on what the whole class has agreed to work on. Another way a student gets rewarded is if the student has achieved their pre-determined goal. If a student’s goal is to improve their weekly fluency score by 5 more words, the student will try their best to achieve that goal.
I terms of motivating students to read, I have joined several programs. They may be from different companies but they all share the same goal, i.e. to encourage students to read by giving prizes. Here are some of the programs:
- Six Flags Read to Succeed: Students log their reading hours. Once they reach the required number of hours, the student will earn a free ticket to Six Flags Magic Mountain (Yes, the theme park!).
- Pizza Hut Book It!: BOOK IT! motivates children to read by rewarding their reading accomplishments with praise, recognition and pizza. The program is simple for the teacher to use, flexible because goals match reading ability, and fun because achieving
a goal is a great reason to celebrate!
So we have Character Counts tickets, red and blue tickets, candies and treats but we also have another system called ClassDojo.
What is ClassDojo?
As part of the positive behavior support in my classroom, I use ClassDojo. This is “a classroom tool that helps teachers improve behavior in their classrooms quickly and easily. It also captures and generates data on behavior that teachers can share with parents and administrators.”
How is it being used?
Using a tablet, a computer or a cell phone, students are rewarded points for good behavior. We can be inside the classroom or in the auditorium or in the cafeteria or in the assembly area and we can still give points to students. The points are stored online. Teachers, students, and parents can keep track of points earned for the day and what behaviors have been manifested. Although this system allows teachers to deduct points, I do not deduct or subtract points. By highlighting good behavior, students strive to repeat these behaviors. As a result, the misbehaviors are lessened.
What happens with the points?
Points earned for the whole month can be used several ways. Students may use points as “money” for shopping. I usually shop for things that students may want as a reward as this will motivate them to continue their best behavior. We may sometimes have a party like a McDonalds or ice cream party. At the beginning of the new month, we start our points from zero.
How can parents track these points?
I will be sending out letters with codes. You may sign up for parent notifications by clicking this link:
https://home.classdojo.com/#!/signup.
Videos:
Reinforcing school values with ClassDojo
Encouraging the right behaviors using ClassDojo