Most schools across the country have implemented the Positive Behavior Incentive System to promote a variety of scholarly behaviors such as: respect, responsibility, citizenship, participation and effort. Classroom management can be a struggle, especially as the year goes on and students get a little more comfortable. The key to my classroom management success is having three tiers of behavior management: Individual, Small Group and Whole Group. Here are some easy ways to motivate your students to adopt some of these behaviors for the new year. Be sure to grab the free printables for this lesson here!
In every classroom there are both shy and outspoken students. To encourage students to use their voice, I have used instantaneous reinforcement called Participation Beads. I pass out these fun, Purple Metallic Bead Necklaces to help encourage student participation. You can easily use these in a variety of ways. For example, I pass them out during our class meetings. I honor the students who had something meaningful to say, who worked well in a group, who asked a thoughtful question or spoke kind words. Students wear these all week long and I collect them on Fridays. Another option is to pass them out during the learning day. You can wear three necklaces during your math block and pass them out as you see fit during whole group, mini lessons or when they are working in small groups. Passing them out instantly makes them feel noticed and validated. This simple yet positive reward has definitely encouraged even my most timid students to use their voice! Grab the free tag printable here.
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Teaching students to compliment each other is an amazing skill that will help them their entire life. Creating a spot where they can do this is easy and spreads positivity quickly. Each student has Red & Pink Mini Tinplate Valentine Favor Pails assigned to them and at the end of the day, or during a break, they get a chance to compliment another student in the class based on something that happened during the day. I encourage them to compliment at least one student a day, and to choose a new person each time. At the end of the month the students get to take home a bucket full of compliments. This is a great way to create a solid classroom community. You can grab the bulletin board template here.
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Want to take table points to another level? Instead of boring, old tally marks how about spruce up the table competition using pom-poms? As a great small group incentive, give each table a Paint Bucket Favor Containers. Then, reward tables that are showing scholarly behaviors by passing out Acrylic Glitter Pom-Poms. At the end of the week, or month, have your table captains count the Acrylic Glitter Pom-Poms to see who earned the most and they get a special reward!
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This whole group incentive is a game changer. The class collectively works together to fill up the Love Connect Game. I display the game board at the front of the room and as the day goes on I add the little love tokens to it and say, "Wow I love that all of you were so quiet and respectful in the library!" Once the entire game is filled up they earn a whole class reward like extra PE or additional art time. Having them work together as a whole group builds our classroom community and encourages teamwork.
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In my classroom we are constantly working in small groups and partners all day long and learning to work with all sorts of different people. Throughout the day, I pair the students up in a variety of ways. Sometimes it is with a friend and other times I put them in leveled groups to help me differentiate my instruction. Regardless, my students know that I expect them to work together. To encourage positive partner work, I pass out these highly desirable Valentine's Day Flipping Sequins Plush Hearts to the partners who worked the best together; the partners who solved the problems together, spoke with kind words and who were on task. They get to play with these pillows and have them as a trophy for the rest of the day.
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