Behavior is a very important aspect in my room. I love my classroom to be full of energy, collaboration, and discovery. However, this cannot be accomplished without strict behavior guidelines. Below you will find a breakdown of how behavior will be dealt with in my class.
Behavior
Behavior is dealt with very simply in my room to minimize grey areas, confusion, and any other problems that can arise from complex behavior systems. My behavior program is broken down into two sections; good behavior and poor behavior.
Good Behavior
In my room, I try to make as many real-world connections as possible. With that being said, a huge thing I teach my students is that rewards are not given out for doing things you are already suppose to do in the real world. I give my students this example; if you are driving the speed limit on a road, a police officer doesn't pull you over and provide you with a reward because driving the speed limit is what you are suppose to do. I give this example to explain that in my room, my students are expected to follow directions, pay attention, not talk when instructed, work hard, and any other things implemented by the rules. Following these rules will not result in points, treats, prizes, etc. because that is simply what my students are expected to do everyday. I do, however, believe that when students go above and beyond the rules, they should be rewarded to promote continued behaviors. When my students are going above and beyond with positive behaviors, I will reward them with treats, free time, classroom choices, and the opportunity to have me contact home to share their positive behaviors. This is done in efforts to make my students the model students for behavior in the school and to better prepare them for the real world.
Poor Behavior
On the other hand, poor behavior is unacceptable in my room and, much like the real world, there are non-negotiable consequences for poor behavior. We establish a basis of rules in my classroom that must be followed at all times. I tell my students that no matter how unorthodox the rules may seem, whether they agree with them or not, and whether it's a rule that seems very serious or not, all rules not followed will have consequences, no matter how big or small.
My consequences are broken down into a warning and 4 consequences to make it very simple and easy to follow and understand.
Warning: If a student is showing poor behavior or breaks a rule, any rule, that student's name goes on the board. I tell my students that once their name goes on the board, it cannot come off the rest of the day. I believe in students improving their behaviors, but like the real world, when you break a law, a consequence happens no matter how good you are after. I give my students this example; if you are speeding on a road, a police officer will pull you over and write you a ticket. Even if, after the ticket, you drive like a model driver, you still have that ticket to take care of. With that being said, any rule broken results in his/her name on the board. This is nothing more than a warning to correct said behaviors.
Consequence 1: If a student continues to show poor behavior or breaks a rule again, the student will receive a check next to his/her name. A check means that the student will have silent lunch that day, or the next day if lunch already passed. Like the warning, once the check is given, it cannot be earned back.
Consequence 2: If, after the silent lunch check is given, the student continues to display poor behavior or breaks another rule, the student will receive a second check. This means the student will have silent lunch (for the first consequence) and no recess (for the second consequence). I recommend to my students that lose recess, that they walk laps if they would like so they are getting some exercise. It is their choice however.
Consequence 3: If, after the silent lunch and no recess checks are given, the same behaviors continue, the student will receive a third check. This means the student will have silent lunch (for the first consequence), no recess (for the second consequence), and I will contact home either by email or phone call instructing that the student must attend morning study hall with me the next morning at 7:10. Depending on the severity of the behaviors, I will either call/email right away or wait till the end of the school day. This morning study hall is to allow the student to work with me one-on-one to make up any work he/she might have missed due to behavior as well as to have a meeting about his/her behaviors. If the student does not arrive to morning study hall at 7:10 the next day, I will continue to contact home for 2 more days. If the student is still a no show after 3 days, I will contact administration to attend a behavior meeting with myself, the student, and the student's guardian to discuss the importance of behaviors in my classroom.
Consequence 4: If, after all the previous consequences are given out and the behavior is still continuing, the last and final consequence is that I will contact the front office to come and remove the student from the room, so further disruption is prevented. The student will still have to serve all previous consequences including being removed. This is a very rare consequence to reach and I don't expect my students to ever get there so that I can have them in my room, learning, as much as possible.
If a certain behavior is severe enough, a student may receive multiple checks and multiple consequences, even if the student hasn't received a warning. These are things like stealing, hitting, bullying, leaving the room/ area without permission, arguing with the teacher, using bad language, etc.
Also, being absent does not erase consequences. When the student returns to school, he/she will still have to serve all consequences.
Please know that I will not be using agendas to record behaviors on a daily basis. The only time I will send home behavior notifications will be if the student reaches the third consequence, which will be done by email or phone call, or if the student receives a reward for exceptional behavior.
This behavior program is very thought out and has been proven to work time and time again by numerous teachers. One teacher that headlined this behavior program is Ron Clark who was the Disney National Teacher of the Year. If you have any questions or concerns about behavior, please feel free to contact me by email.
Behavior
Behavior is dealt with very simply in my room to minimize grey areas, confusion, and any other problems that can arise from complex behavior systems. My behavior program is broken down into two sections; good behavior and poor behavior.
Good Behavior
In my room, I try to make as many real-world connections as possible. With that being said, a huge thing I teach my students is that rewards are not given out for doing things you are already suppose to do in the real world. I give my students this example; if you are driving the speed limit on a road, a police officer doesn't pull you over and provide you with a reward because driving the speed limit is what you are suppose to do. I give this example to explain that in my room, my students are expected to follow directions, pay attention, not talk when instructed, work hard, and any other things implemented by the rules. Following these rules will not result in points, treats, prizes, etc. because that is simply what my students are expected to do everyday. I do, however, believe that when students go above and beyond the rules, they should be rewarded to promote continued behaviors. When my students are going above and beyond with positive behaviors, I will reward them with treats, free time, classroom choices, and the opportunity to have me contact home to share their positive behaviors. This is done in efforts to make my students the model students for behavior in the school and to better prepare them for the real world.
Poor Behavior
On the other hand, poor behavior is unacceptable in my room and, much like the real world, there are non-negotiable consequences for poor behavior. We establish a basis of rules in my classroom that must be followed at all times. I tell my students that no matter how unorthodox the rules may seem, whether they agree with them or not, and whether it's a rule that seems very serious or not, all rules not followed will have consequences, no matter how big or small.
My consequences are broken down into a warning and 4 consequences to make it very simple and easy to follow and understand.
Warning: If a student is showing poor behavior or breaks a rule, any rule, that student's name goes on the board. I tell my students that once their name goes on the board, it cannot come off the rest of the day. I believe in students improving their behaviors, but like the real world, when you break a law, a consequence happens no matter how good you are after. I give my students this example; if you are speeding on a road, a police officer will pull you over and write you a ticket. Even if, after the ticket, you drive like a model driver, you still have that ticket to take care of. With that being said, any rule broken results in his/her name on the board. This is nothing more than a warning to correct said behaviors.
Consequence 1: If a student continues to show poor behavior or breaks a rule again, the student will receive a check next to his/her name. A check means that the student will have silent lunch that day, or the next day if lunch already passed. Like the warning, once the check is given, it cannot be earned back.
Consequence 2: If, after the silent lunch check is given, the student continues to display poor behavior or breaks another rule, the student will receive a second check. This means the student will have silent lunch (for the first consequence) and no recess (for the second consequence). I recommend to my students that lose recess, that they walk laps if they would like so they are getting some exercise. It is their choice however.
Consequence 3: If, after the silent lunch and no recess checks are given, the same behaviors continue, the student will receive a third check. This means the student will have silent lunch (for the first consequence), no recess (for the second consequence), and I will contact home either by email or phone call instructing that the student must attend morning study hall with me the next morning at 7:10. Depending on the severity of the behaviors, I will either call/email right away or wait till the end of the school day. This morning study hall is to allow the student to work with me one-on-one to make up any work he/she might have missed due to behavior as well as to have a meeting about his/her behaviors. If the student does not arrive to morning study hall at 7:10 the next day, I will continue to contact home for 2 more days. If the student is still a no show after 3 days, I will contact administration to attend a behavior meeting with myself, the student, and the student's guardian to discuss the importance of behaviors in my classroom.
Consequence 4: If, after all the previous consequences are given out and the behavior is still continuing, the last and final consequence is that I will contact the front office to come and remove the student from the room, so further disruption is prevented. The student will still have to serve all previous consequences including being removed. This is a very rare consequence to reach and I don't expect my students to ever get there so that I can have them in my room, learning, as much as possible.
If a certain behavior is severe enough, a student may receive multiple checks and multiple consequences, even if the student hasn't received a warning. These are things like stealing, hitting, bullying, leaving the room/ area without permission, arguing with the teacher, using bad language, etc.
Also, being absent does not erase consequences. When the student returns to school, he/she will still have to serve all consequences.
Please know that I will not be using agendas to record behaviors on a daily basis. The only time I will send home behavior notifications will be if the student reaches the third consequence, which will be done by email or phone call, or if the student receives a reward for exceptional behavior.
This behavior program is very thought out and has been proven to work time and time again by numerous teachers. One teacher that headlined this behavior program is Ron Clark who was the Disney National Teacher of the Year. If you have any questions or concerns about behavior, please feel free to contact me by email.