Upper Elementary Teachers: What is your behavior system? What do you use for prizes?

Hello,

I am moving from 1st grade. What do you do for prizes? How does it work? My partner and I discussed using tickets/economy system. Thoughts? Ideas?

Re: Upper Elementary Teachers: What is your behavior system? What do you use for prizes?

I am in 3rd and do not use a rewards system. Honestly, I don't think kids need a reward for doing what they should do. I realize that can be tough however, kids today are so accustomed to getting something for EVERYTHING they do. They expect it.

The ONLY reward my kids receive are "Compliment Marbles." If our class is complimented for good behavior by another teacher or adult in the hallways or when they come to visit our class, they are given a marble. If they fill the jar they get a bagel breakfast at the end of the year. The kids love compliments.

As far as behavior, I have a chart on the wall that says "Today I Am..." Then I have library pockets with each child's name and 4 index cards. Green = On target, Blue = Warning, Purple = Note Home, Red = Phone Call Home. When a child misbehaves, they are told to "flip their card." I do not flip their card (they take ownership of the behavior and consequences).
Again, I may seem harsh to have a behavior chart posted but it promotes self monitoring and it really works! We have a conversation at the beginning of the year that the chart is not to make anyone feel bad or to make fun of them. The kids are NOT allowed to discuss the behavior chart with other children outside our classroom. And, they are told only to talk to their parents about their card being flipped, no other classmates.
A friend of mine taught 1st grade and did "Can you SPOT good behavior?" Then she made a ladybug for each student with velcro spots. Similar to my chart, when a child misbehaved, a spot was removed. At the end of the day, the kids would color in a ladybug with how many spots they had left to keep parents informed.

Re: Upper Elementary Teachers: What is your behavior system? What do you use for prizes?

So my first year teaching, I had pizza as reward every month. That got to be very EXPENSIVE and they lost track of the whole good behavior- if it as if they were expecting things for doing something good... so I quickly stopped that whole reward system. I did teach in a extremely tough neighborhood so stickers and checks, just didnt cut it, but I tried to get involved with meeting with parents- and requesting conferences if their child was misbehaving... Now that I transfered out, I had a red, yellow, green system. The kids know, if they get to red- a letter was sent home and a meeting would be scheduled. Yellow was a warning and green was that they were doing the right thing. It worked though, you just have to remember to keep it up all year around. Also btw, I found the duplicated copies for parent letters are a must because parents often say they never received a letter even though you require a signature, and if you have the copy of it its proof right there that you wrote it with the date and all.... you can find those at any teaching stores... best thing everrrrr!

Re: Upper Elementary Teachers: What is your behavior system? What do you use for prizes?

I use different shape carabiner clips for rewards. I have ones shapes like ducks, fish, shoes, lips, guitars and cars. I use the Motto We are Reaching New Heights and the poster is of a person rockclimbing. I also use them as clips for Table Points. I bought 5 Huge different color Carabiner clips from Sears hardware for $4 a piece. I have a small bulletin board I use as my Behavior Mod. I attached the clips to the board, a big clip for each table. When the table earns points I add the little clips to the big one. They LOVED it. We also use it to show that we support eachother as a class because that is what the clip does for a rockclimber.

ETA: I got the little clips at Dollar Tree, they come in packs of 3 and 5 depending on the shape.

Message edited 8/4/2010 10:42:51 AM.

Re: Upper Elementary Teachers: What is your behavior system? What do you use for prizes?

Re: Upper Elementary Teachers: What is your behavior system? What do you use for prizes?

I use a ticket system. I give tickets for going above and beyond, for extraordinary behavior, and I also give tickets if the whole class has their homework done.

I have a box for small prizes (candy, pencils, stamps, whatever I can find in the Target dollar spot ). I also let them trade in tickets for non-tangibles, such as: a no homework pass, eat lunch with a friend, sit next to a friend in the class for a day, sit at the teacher's desk for a day, a free Scholastic book of their choice, etc. etc.

I also give them tallies for the week. If they earn a certain number of tallies, they can get extra recess. I know this doesn't work at all schools, though...we take our own kids out for recess and don't have recess on gym day, so if they earn enough tallies, they can have recess on gym day. They earn them, and they can also get them taken away.

Re: Upper Elementary Teachers: What is your behavior system? What do you use for prizes?

I'm special area, so I don't deal with it as much, but I do use mechanical pencils and scholastic books for rewards (good work, working well, contests, etc)

Most teachers in my school use extra recess as reward as well.

Re: Upper Elementary Teachers: What is your behavior system? What do you use for prizes?

One reward system I see used across grade levels is "race to 100". Basically it is a chart upon which 100 points can be put up for the behaviors your wish to reward. of course, you discuss classroom rules and expectations and relate it to the chart. I also give points as a way for compliments. I have found even with third graders in a gen ed setting and for kids in a self-contained settting, all you need to do is give lots of points in the beginning of the year for expected behaviors. Over the course of the year I don't have to give the points as often because the kids internalize classroom expectations. I still give the points, but with less frequency. The kids never know what the reward will be and this is also motivating to them. Very easy positive reward system.