For behavior management in my classroom, I use a classroom economy. Students earn classroom dollars for doing their job as a student and they use those dollars to buy privileges in class or to pay fines that they have incurred for improper behavior. Usually, if a student is misbehaving, I ask them to pay the fine, they do, and it is done. However, if a student is having a particularly trying day, I ask them to start writing the infractions down on labels so that I can have a future record of the behaviors for report cards and parent conferences. I then keep these in a tabbed record book that can be pulled out whenever I need to refer back to it.
Today, I wanted to share with you how I made the record book :) I am linking up with Tara at 4th Grade Frolics for her weekly Monday Made It linky for the first time this summer! Yay!!
I like to keep the labels in a spiral notebook. It just makes things easier for me. But finding one with 34 sections just isn't going to happen. So I make one myself. You will need:
A spiral notebook with about 120 pages
I place the first tab on the first page of the notebook. Then I count about 3 pages, and place the second tab. Count 3 more pages and place the third tab. Count 3 more pages, place the fourth tab.....you get it.
Now that I have a nice little book, all organized, I can easily flip to the student's section when I need to recall certain behaviors.
And how do I know what the behavior was? Well, if a student is behaving in an unacceptable way, I have them record their behavior on a little label. They write the date and what they did to incur a fine. This takes about 2 minutes of their own classtime. At the end of the day, one of my classroom monitors has the job of peeling off the labels and putting them in the book. Done and done.
(these labels are a few years old, so they have a space for the card color. I used to use a flip a card system. I don't any longer but I used this same label system for both the flip a card and the classroom economy.)
(these labels are a few years old, so they have a space for the card color. I used to use a flip a card system. I don't any longer but I used this same label system for both the flip a card and the classroom economy.)
So there you have it! My little behavior recorder. It cost me about $10 because I just *had* to have the fancy book. But the labels were $5 or so, and you can get a spiral notebook from the dollar store, which will cut down on the cost for sure.
How do you record the behaviors going on in your room? Please share your ideas!
How do you record the behaviors going on in your room? Please share your ideas!
So smart and easy! Thanks for sharing this great idea!
ReplyDeleteKelli
Tales of a Teacher
Thanks Kelli! It is really easy....which is what I LOVE about it! :)
DeleteI really love this idea and think I will use it this year! Thanks!!
ReplyDeleteI really, really like this idea. I am pinning it for later this summer. Thank you!
ReplyDelete~Amanda from His and Her Hobbies
Awesome idea! Pinning for later :)
ReplyDeleteI love this idea! I really need to work on my behavior management this year, and this is a great idea! I will have to try it! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteJamie
Thrills in Third Grade
Great idea - the fines are perfect to relate to the "real" world! I use a similar system but didn't have fines (silly me!)...I used paper rings to keep it visual for special needs kids. :)
ReplyDelete-Lisa
Mrs. Spangler in the Middle
Love this idea:) May be having to try it this year:) Thanks for linking up:)
ReplyDelete4th Grade Frolics
Wow I love the idea of labels and the book. I teach all students K-8 and I'd love to figure out how to make this work for all of them. That's a lot of notebooks though!
ReplyDeleteKristin
This Old Art Room
This makes so much sense! I usually print off a checklist (2 weeks per page) and then have to fill in everyone colors by day - which has morphed through the years into just writing down neg. behaviors... but then it's a matter of flipping through every page to track one student. I love that it's all in one spot, and so simple to maintain. Thanks so much!
ReplyDeleteThat's a really smart idea!
ReplyDeleteAnisa @ Creative Undertakings
Love this idea. It could be used for anecdotal records too! Very cool!
ReplyDeleteAlison
Rockin' and Lovin' Learnin'
What an awesome idea!!! Could you share those labels?
ReplyDeleteI teach 8th Graders and tried to use the same reward strategies I used as an Elementary teacher, but I never have the time to follow through. In elementary I had them all day so it was easy to give "Good Job" cards and have a store. But I only have my students now for 50 minutes and boy does that time fly. So I had to find a new strategy...
ReplyDeleteWhat I do now works and I found that I always have time for it. My new strategy is verbal praise and accolades. My students love shout outs, high-fives, and being dubbed a "Rockstar". I have a section on the board where I write accolades. Each period wants to outdo the other periods. So if "3rd Period Rocks", then 4th Period will "Rock" more.
I don't discipline much. I mostly give encouragement and praise. My discipline consists of the student staying after class and hearing my dreaded speech or an OTC. I haven't given an office referral in 2 years.
I have a some rockin new ideas for this year. I am excited to try them. I will be talking more about it on my blog. :o)
Your behavior notebook idea is fabulous. Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea, and so simple!!! I always get stuck on the time it takes to record each thing the students do, but the sticker solves that problem. Also, the ownership that the students write what happened. Thank you! Doreen from http://www.doreensrockin3rdgrade.com
ReplyDeleteLOVE LOVE LOVE!! Where could I find labels like this?
ReplyDeleteThanks for the great idea! I will start using this with my 4th grade class :)
ReplyDelete