The behavior goal for each of the students in our classroom is to be a "Green Card Kid." This means that a child's green behavior card is showing, telling him/her (and the entire world!) that he/she is making great behavioral choices.
Being a "Green Card Kid" in our classroom is desirable to most of our students because it enables them to:
be eligible for our classroom's weekly drawing for Good Kid at Hawthorn School.
be eligible for our classroom's monthly drawing for Terrific Kid.
help our class earn an end-of-the-month party by having a minimum of 15 green card days in the month. Every child must have a minimum of 15 green card days for one month in order for the class to qualify for a party.
Our Classroom
RulesListen carefully.
Follow directions.
Talk when it is your turn.
Stay in your seat.
Keep your hands to yourself.
Be a
good friend to others!Ideally, all children would always happily come to school with a cooperative attitude that would make "going to school" a delight for both students and teachers. Fortunately, there are some students who do come through the door "ready to learn" almost every day. Realistically, we are all human and being cooperative at all times is a challenging task for many. Our Classroom Rules and Discipline Plan work together to create a classroom environment that is safe, happy, and encourages optimal learning.
1-2-3 Magic1-2-3 Magic is an effectively proven discipline plan that can be utilized by both educators and parents. Developed by Dr. Thomas Phelan, 1-2-3 Magic approaches discipline from a no nonsense "no talking" and "no emotion" stand point. It utilizes simple, precise, and effective ways to manage children without involving arguing and anger on the part of the one who is being disciplined and the one who is disciplining! To lay the groundwork for a successful year, I will be spending a lot of time during the first few weeks of the school year familiarizing our class with classroom rules, procedures, and resulting consequences for choosing not to follow them. I will also be emphasizing throughout the year personal characteristics that will help students successfully work with other inside and out of our classroom.... Citizenship, Compassion, Fairness, Honesty, Respect, Responsibility, and Self-Discipline.
Children who have difficulty following classroom rules and procedures (with which they are familiar!) will be "counted." For instance, in an example scenario I have asked a student to stop talking when it is not her turn. Despite knowing the rule "Talk when it is your turn." she continues talking at an inappropriate time.
Teacher: "Your are talking when it is my turn. that's one." (The student moves her green card to the back so the yellow card is now showing. However, she continues talking.)
Teacher: "That's two." (The student moves her card to the back so the orange card is now showing. She, unfortunately chooses to continue talking out of turn.)
Teacher: "That's three. Take seven." At this point in the example scenario, the following things would then happen:
The student would move her orange card to the back so the red card is now showing.
The student would move herself and whatever materials she needs to a designated time-out desk,
she would be expected to continue working while sitting at the time-out desk for seven minutes. She would not however, be allowed to interact with me or anyone else in the classroom. Do so would result in more minutes added to the time-out.
At the end of the seven minutes, the students would then rejoin the class by returning to her seat.
Children can be "counted" more than once a day, if necessary. Counted numbers within a 1-2-3 set can also be used to redirect different unacceptable behaviors.
There will be many children in our classroom for whom it will not be necessary for me to "count." Others will need to be "counted" infrequently. There may be some students for whom "being counted" may occur more frequently than I would like!
A student who experiences one or more time-outs a day will:
for a first time-out, lose his/her end of the day mark for being a "Green Card Kid."
for a second time-out, have a more sent home or a phone call made to home by me.
for a third time-out, have a Parent/Teacher Conference scheduled ASAP.
Behavior CardsEach child in our room will have a small envelope which is labeled with his/her name. In the envelope will be four behavior cards colored green, yellow, orange, and red. The color that is showing indicates what kind of behavioral choices a student is making for that day.
GREEN- A student is making great behavioral choices!
YELLOW- A student is having trouble following a classroom rule or procedure and has heard "That's one."
ORANGE- A student is continuing to have trouble following a rule or procedure and has heard "That's two."
RED- A student is choosing to continue to break the classroom rules or procedure and has heard "That's three. Take seven."
