Oftentimes over the past few months, my second year in kindergarten, I have thought back on last year and the lessons in classroom management that I learned.
Last year I had some students who had LOTS of trouble sitting still. (I called them "The Three Musketeers") Among other pastimes, including wandering around to centers during instruction, they enjoyed running. Everywhere. Since I did not have an aide, I quickly grew frustrated having to get up from teaching and follow them around the room constantly asking them to come work, listen, stay on the carpet, line up with the rest of the class, etc. The time I was taking to redirect them was not fair to my other students. I realized that my normal classroom behavior plan was not going to work as well for these students, and that it was time for a tier 2 plan.
I searched for a while for a good, editable, age appropriate behavior plan and was about ready to give up and create my own. I FINALLY found a great one here on TpT: Editable Behavior Plan Easy to use, edit for our daily schedule, and age-appropriate. Perfect. My three enjoyed seeing how many green smileys they could earn, and even started to compete amongst themselves.
Along with this, a brilliant teacher next door to me suggested focusing on getting them to make more positive choices. She very kindly made me three "superhero" charts. Every time a student makes a positive choice (in this case, we are focused on staying in an appropriate spot), they get to move their superheros up the chart. Since I had *just* started the behavior plans, I linked it to the superheros. Every time they earned a green smiley, they got to move their superhero up the chart (which was simply a laminated sentence strip with Velcro dots.) Unfortunately, I left them at my old school. You can sort of see them at the bottom of my Dr. Seuss bulletin board here:
When they successfully moved their superhero up the chart, they got to take a break in the "busy spot." This was a spot in the back of the classroom that had play doh, trucks, and books that they liked (one of my students was obsessed with panda bears!). This helped so much, and I was so proud of the way the rest of my class handled the changes. I explained the first day of implementing all this that some students need help following directions, and that we were going to try and help them do that. No one complained about not getting to use "the spot," and they were very generous with their praises when someone choose to come sit with the rest of the class for instruction. In the meantime, I ramped up the positive incentives for the rest of the class. We used punch cards, table gems, and a clip chart. My mom also offered to donate some hot chocolate, so we earned the letters in "hot chocolate" to work our way to a class hot chocolate party. (Thanks to A Teachable Teacher for this great idea and free printable!) We earned our hot chocolate party on the 100th day of school. That may have been slightly rigged by the teacher. ;)
I also like the idea of "break cards." I can't remember where I saw this, but one blogger suggested giving the student a predetermined number of "I need a break" cards, as a pass to get up and take a break from instruction. I didn't try this yet, but it sounds easy to keep track of.
Anyway, ever since my classroom management "boot camp" of last year, as I like to call it, I've been interested in researching different ways to manage behavior. To me it almost seems like a puzzle to figure out. Behavior is purposeful, and what works for one kid won't work for another. For example, once again this year, I am using my behavior chart with another student, and his needs are even different than my three students last year. Fidget toys are working with him, which didn't work last year. Positive reinforcement actually doesn't seem to have as much affect on him as it did last year.
Kindergartners are 5 and 6. I get that. They can't sit still. I don't expect any of my students to sit for longer than fifteen to twenty minutes by mid-year, and even during that time we are getting up doing hand motions, singing, talking to partners, chanting, coming up to work on the board, etc. I strive to incorporate developmentally-appropriate movement activities into my lessons every day. But we also need to be willing to work with those who need an alternative arrangement. Some teachers complain about behavior interventions taking up too much time and attention, but I'd rather try to actively problem solve, than spend my day frustrated and simply repeating a student's name over and over. And, I think most students feel safer and calmer knowing a system is in place, rather than knowing their teacher is frustrated.
I've had many conversations with staff and fellow teachers about the best ways to implement a tier 2 type of behavior management. If students need to leave the rest of the group for a time-out, do they choose when they are ready to rejoin the class? Or does the teacher? Is it appropriate to give more incentives for seemingly expected behavior? Should there be a balance of negative and positive consequences? What are some of the best practices to keep in mind, especially for little ones? I'd love to hear your thoughts on more intensive behavior management and continue the conversation!
