Have you ever walked by a classroom and peaked in to see what they were doing? What did you see? Chaos? Silence? Students working with partners? What do you expect? Now throw three early grades into one room and the challenge of meeting their needs and ensure success is challenged.
My first year teaching in the classroom was tough. I didn't get it figured out until January. There were thirteen children in the class. My teacher friends look at me with envy-- only thirteen children. Wow! You have it easy they told me. Um, no I don't. While I only had 13, I taught an age range from 4 to 8 that year. Not only did I have HUGE academic range but socially and emotionally my students were all over the board. I stressed. Things worked great for the first month but then they figured out I had a lack of consequences.
Soon they were back to old behaviors from the previous year, before me. Running, crying, hiding under tables, refusing to do their work. I had the chaos and I was stressed. I needed a solution.
All my training, my years of education had prepared me. I knew that my problem was a lack of consequences. Sure we had rules. But why did they have to follow them? How could I make them do it? In reality, I couldn't. They had to make themselves.
The students had to take ownership of their behavior, just like they had to take ownership of their learning. A bit of love and logic if you will. I blend a lot of things into my class- like every good teacher- take a bit of this and a bit of that to make it work for you. So I take the fact that children own their behavior. I also take the bit that children have a goal for their behavior--but I will get back that to that. I teach a two hour workshop on the topic of behavior).
Okay, ownership. Children like to have their stuff. Their behavior is all them.
Sure, I affect it. I may set it off by something I say and do--that is on me. I have to take ownership of what I do-- and fix it. Haven't you ever had a moment where you think "oh if I say that this child will react." I have. So you change what you are going to say, or how you say it. Ownership of my behavior.
Children need to do the same. Since I had thirteen, six of them displaying extreme negative behaviors I started daily goals. And since only seven wouldn't have them I decided to do goals with everyone. No one singled out, no one seen as being bad because they had to talk to the teacher. Since I needed to pinpoint the catalyst for the behaviors with each child I designed the goals for each subject or section of our day--morning, math, reading, science, Spanish, specialist, social studies, and p.e. I then chose behaviors that should be demonstrated-- respect, focus, participation, following directions. All the things I wasn't seeing in the classroom. To ensure my students who were always on point received recognition, I gave them all the goal of 10 smilies. A smilie is earned by have a good day. A good day is a positive check in with me and all happy faces on the goal sheets.
Yes, I know the argument against a reward system. Rewards must be intrinsic. Yet, sometimes rewards need to be tangible. My group needed the tangible. So I set up a treasure box, with simple items. I never pay more than fifty cents for something that goes in my box. My treasures are simple. Just something to say "you did great." My 10 smilie rule has the added benefit of students being able to add and subtract to 10. They know how many smilies they have and how many more they need. And they work hard to earn them. My students also have to keep track of them. All I do is pass them out at the end of the day. If they lose them, oops. If they don't earn one for the day, that's okay there is always tomorrow.
Back goals. Twice a day I check in with each child. They come over to my desk, away from everyone else and talk. We discuss each part of the schedule that has happened up to that point. The child tells me how they did. If they are too hard on themselves I encourage them. If they are overly positive we discuss events that happened. In the end we both agree and I write the score- smile, straight face, or sad face. At the end of the day I pass them back to the children with smilies that were earn folded inside. In that way no one knows what their friend's day was.
I planned to eventually fade these goal sheets out--once the behaviors were modified. The children had different ideas. They beg to continue meeting with me. Several children told me the best part of the day was checking in. They thrived on the one on one attention I was able to give them. They loved telling me the best part of their day. Their communication skills blossomed, their smiles radiated when I called them over. I love having a chance to hear from them what is going on.
This school year marks the third year I have used this system. It still works. New students can easily join the group and know what the expectations are. If my class ever gets over 13, I may have to rethink how I do it. I know it would be impossible to check in with 30 children. Yet, I know that the ownership of behavior works in a public school classroom, I have done it before. I just need to figure out how I could get that personal relationship with each of my students that I have now.
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