New Behavior System

Last week it was decided that our whole school would start using a new behavior system this week.  At first, I was a little overwhelmed by the thought of preparing myself and my 23 little kindergarten friends for this transition, but now I am very excited about it.

I had traditionally used a spotlight behavior chart where the students each had a stick with their number on it and they moved it first to green, then to yellow, then red.  It has worked out fine, but I felt like I was constantly writing in planners and sometimes it was hard to remember exactly why a particular student ended up on that color for the day.

(I got those number circles from A Cupcake for the Teacher)

Starting yesterday, this is what my behavior chart looks like.

Each student has a pocket with their number on it.  You can see at the bottom of the chart are cups with colored sticks.  Each stick represents one of our school-wide rules.  When a student breaks a rule, they will have to take a stick and put it in their pocket.  For example, if Johnny is talking out he will be told to move a talking stick (yellow).  If a student receives more than 3 sticks in their pocket, a note will be sent home in that child's planner.  The upper grades are having the students write which rules were broken.  In kindergarten I have made a note that lists all the rules and I will circle which rules were broken.


I also redid my rules so that each rule is surrounded by a particular color.  The color represents the rule and the stick that will be placed in the pocket should the student break that rule.  I cut them out right outside the border and placed the colored paper behind it.  I will post these later this week.  I need to fix a couple things first :)  I am also added a cut up pocket chart strip above each rules sign with just one word for the rule.  For example, above my yellow sign I will write the word "talking".  Just to help the kids remember which color is for which rule.

I really feel that this will be a positive change in our school.  It will help me as a teacher see which behaviors are the most problematic which will then guide some social skills lessons.  Stay tuned to see what happens!!