I don’t know about you, but late July is when I start to troll the Pinterest boards for ideas to make my classroom super cute. And having classroom decor that is on point is great, but sometimes it turns into a big hassle!
One thing that WILL help your year go much smoother is a good behavior management system. Two years ago I tried targeting out individuals and doing a drawing for prizes. But I didn’t like it because it created animosity between the well-behaved students and the less well-behaved students. And even if you were well behaved, there was no guarantee that your name would be picked. So some students stopped being motivated. So last year I tried something different. I started using whole class incentives. It has worked SO MUCH better. No students feel left out and the students in the class can encourage their peers to behave. I do add the rule that if you have gotten X amount of notes home/referrals/etc, you do not get to partake in the prize. Here is the chart that I used to keep track of things:
Another reason I like this system is because it is SUPER EASY, even when you have a million classes like I do (okay 36, to be more accurate). I have three, very simple rules they must meet to get their star for the day. Simple = good. When a class gets 5 stars, they get a prize. Prizes can be something as simple as letting them choose an instrument to play at the end of class (I love prizes that cost me no $$). I have a wall of world instruments, so kids love to get a chance to play them, since they are so exotic (plus it’s a good teaching moment). I do also work up to bigger prizes like drawing from my treasure chest, etc.
I put a little check over the 5th star when I give them the prize, so I can keep track of whose had gotten their prize or not. At the end of the year I just trash the chart and make a new one next year. The chart only costs about $5.00. So there’s my behavior system. Super easy and super effective.
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