Wayback Wednesday…A Behavior Management Idea!

Today I decided to take a little trip down memory lane.  It’s time to go WAY back.  And when I say way back I mean 2 years ago 😉  Hahahahaha.  Seriously though.  It seems like this summer was WAY back when.  Dang time goes fast!

I know how important behavior management is…especially at the beginning of the year.  I really believe strongly in hitting expectations hard at the beginning of the year.  No matter how you do it…whether you have rules or not….whether you incorporate a color system or not…whatever works for you!  Setting expectations is IMPORTANT.  I always feel that if I do NOTHING ELSE during those first few weeks of school, I need to set expectations.  I need to be consistent.  But I also need to give grace.  After all, kids are kids and they (inevitably) will make mistakes.  Grace is OH so important.  But so are my expectations 🙂

All that to be said, I was going through some old posts and I found this one that I thought I’d share again in case you haven’t seen it.  This was such a fun little behavior management idea to incorporate and my kids really ate it up.  Whenever I introduce a new behavior management idea to the class, it only stays around for a few weeks because the novelty wears off.  This one lasted for a while and then it was retired.  It made a reappearance that spring and was just as fun as it was the first time around.  The kids LOVED it and frankly, so did I!

Now let’s go WAY back.

Back to September 20, 2012.

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In any given (school) day, my kids probably hear my say, “You’re knockin’ my socks off!” no less than 25+ times 🙂  I usually say this when somebody has a bright idea that really blows me away, but more often you’re likely to hear me utter this phrase when I see kids that are on task and working responsibly.  At the beginning of the year, it can be challenging to get Kindergarteners to realize they can do *hard* things, so lots of praise and positive reinforcement are a must…for me, anyway. 

To keep my kids on track and encouraged to do their best, I decided I needed a visual to go with my whole, “You’re knockin’ my socks off!” phrase.  Last year I used my Bravo Board…which I ADORED….but I wanted to try something a little different this year.  And I’m SO glad I did!  So far, it works like a charm 🙂

My visual is displayed at the front of my classroom on my white board.  I just took a strand of jute and wrapped it around 3 magnets.  I have 5 tables in my classroom, so I clipped 5 clothespins to the strand.  Each clothespin is labeled with my classroom table numbers.  Then I made some little reward coupons, tucked one into the sock, and when I catch my friends “knockin’ my socks off”, I move the coupon filled sock to that table’s clothespin.

I’m moving the clothespin many times throughout the day so that my kids can see who’s makin’ my heart smile.  At the end of the day…whichever table has the sock…wins and gets the prize inside.  The reward coupons are super simple, easy, and for the most part, free.  Since the reward changes every day, the kids are always excited to see what they will *win*….extra computer time, free choice, writing with markers, warm fuzzies, sweet treat, etc.  I can honestly say…for the most part…they really are on their best behavior!!! 

You can grab my little reward coupons by clicking on the pic below!  These are nothing fancy, but they get the job done 😉  You’ll see some rewards in there that may not be applicable to you or your kids, but I *tried* to include rewards I’ve used in the past.  I’m sure I won’t use all of these rewards this year, but I know that my kids LOVE the ones I’ve used so far!

I’m linking up with Natalie & Rachelle over at What the Teacher Wants!  Head on over for more amazing behavior management ideas!!!!