Ms. Kat's Expectations: Rewards and Consequences

Hello again! Today's post will be all about my classroom expectations, rewards (already covered in the previous post) and consequences.

My prospective school has a system of consequences in place already. They use a sticker system, and I obviously had to incorporate that into my own system. Personally, I don't think it's effective enough, especially for a brand new teacher who's just finding her discipline groove. I operate on the idea that I should head off inappropriate behavior before it gets to the point of needing a sticker.

Stickers, in our school, are those little folder label stickers. Each subject has their own color (red for math, yellow for science, etc) and this color matches the students' folder color for that subject. Most teachers give 2 warnings, followed by a sticker.When a sticker is earned, the student must write their name, the date, the offense, and sign the sticker. It then goes into the computer so that the AP can review it, and the sticker itself is stuck into a cluster-wide binder. (We have 2 'clusters' in each grade. Students in a cluster all share the same set of teachers. They do not mix with the other cluster in academic subjects.)

When I student taught, my teacher only gave out perhaps 3 or 4 stickers during the entire 3 month period. A lot of little slightly bad behaviors were going unchecked. Nothing serious. but things were happening that interrupted the flow and productivity of the class. These things were not something I would have personally given a sticker for. When students accumulate 3 stickers in a teacher's class, they receive a lunch detention, and an automatic N in conduct. If they receive 5, their conduct moves to a U (and I believe that a parent conference is called for).

So, in making my own discipline system, I decided on an intermediate step. But first, let me explain my Expectations. I made this poster for my classroom using a metallic sharpie pen and some stencil letters.

Other Expectations:
1. Restroom breaks are before or after class (see below)
2. No chewing gum in class
3. Raise your hand for recognition to speak
4. Bring all supplies every day

 My rewards system is located in the previous post, should you want to browse through that. 

As far as consequences, I've borrowed an idea from the internet. If you look up Behavioral Notices on google or pinterest, there are a wide variety of styles and wordings. I've chosen to use something similar to the following:

I found this on TeachersPayTeachers for FREE.
Behavioral Notice

This is going to be my intermediate step. 

My behavioral correction slip system is designed to help students become more aware of their behavior, and enable them to self-regulate. After a verbal warning is given, and a student continues to misbehave, they will be asked to fill out a behavioral correction slip. They will write their name, the date, and check the reason why the received the slip. They will then write what they are going to do to change their behavior on the slip. I will collect the slips and keep them in a folder. If a student receives 2 slips in the same week, I will send the slips home in the students agenda book and require a parent signature. If, after the first two slips come back signed, the student continues to exhibit the behavior, they will not receive more corrections slips. Rather, they will receive a sticker.

To work this slip system into the sticker system, I came up with the following:

Consequences:

1^st offense- Verbal Warning

2^nd offense(same day)- Fill out a behavioral correction slip

3^rd offense(same day)- Sticker

2^nd offense- Sticker

3^rd offense- Parent Conference and N in conduct

4^th offense- Office referral and U in conduct

3 stickers- N in conduct

5 stickers- U in conduct

Each day will start fresh for the student. If they received a warning and a slip on Monday, and they have the same issue on Tuesday, they will get one warning. If they continue in that behavior, they will receive their second slip, and both will go home to the parent. On Wednesday, if the parent has not signed the slips, I will try to get in contact with the parent, and alert them that they should expect a note in their child's agenda book that evening, and it needs to be signed. 

If the note comes back on Wednesday, and the child is still exhibiting the same behavior, then they shall get a sticker. No warning, no beating around the bush. 

The kids are informed of all of this during the first week of school, and they will be aware of each and every consequence. In fact, I developed a mimio presentation to help them understand how the system works. In the mimio, we go through a fake situation like above, and they get to pretend to be the teacher. I ask them "what would you do if you were the teacher? What step would you take at this point?" In theory, they should remember the process much better that way *we shall see*

Also, concerning restrooms...

In 6th grade, the kids are each given a sheet at the beginning of each 6 weeks. Each sheet has 6 columns on it. Should a student need to use the restroom during class, they are required to give the sheet to the teacher. He/She signs the sheet with the date, time, class, and their name (one per column). At the end of the 6 weeks, if students have blank columns, they are allowed to pick one snack item per column during a grade-wide study hall party, held outside if the weather is good. Those who fill their restroom sheets must remain inside and receive no snacks. 

I do not believe 7th or 8th grade does this. They must operate on the idea that once students get used to going in between classes in 6th grade, they will stick to that habit for the next few years. As a sub, I've had endless restroom requests in 7th and 8th, so I don't believe that's necessarily true. It could just be that I'm a sub and they like to take advantage, but many just don't feel like taking time between classes to go. Thus, I have come up with a restroom policy as well.

At the beginning of each 6 weeks, students will be given 3 restroom passes. If at any time during the 6 weeks, they absolutely must go to the restroom during class, they must use a pass. If they run out of passes, and they need to go, they will have to accept a sticker in return. Going to the restroom during class interrupts the lesson, and the student misses out on important information. This system is designed to be strict but fair.

If, at the end of the 6 weeks, the students have not used their passes, they may be traded for 2 tickets each (to be used for rewards). 

I think that about sums up my Expectations and classroom management protocols. I'm certain they will evolve once I get into my classroom, but I think this is a good jumping off point.

Coming up next:
Noise Meter
No Name Papers

Make Up Work

Peace and Love

Ms. Kat

Rewards Binder

Hello again, internet! I just have a quick post today.

I stumbled upon this idea on the internet and decided I wanted to give it a try as it works well with my planned system.

I'll explain my entire consequences/rewards system at a later date, but for now, here's the nifty do-it-yourself rewards idea.

Students earn tickets in my class (more on that soon). When they save up enough tickets, they're able to trade them in for vouchers. In order to facilitate picking and keeping track of all earned vouchers, I made this binder.

I found these nifty little pockets at Joanns (they're like the ones used in library books...back in the day when due dates were stamped on cards). They have adhesive on the back, which is terribly nifty. I bought some Avery printable label sheets and chose a very simple blank design (they have lots of designs for labels on their website...free of charge). My pockets were already pretty so I decided simple labels were best. I put my reward choices on the labels, printed them out, then stuck them to the pockets. The pockets were then attached to a page in a 3 ring binder.

When a student wants to trade in tickets, they let me know and I pull out the ticket binder. They browse, select their prize, and receive a voucher (not shown in pictures as I haven't made them yet). I keep track of the Student, date, and voucher selected. This way no one can sneak in and take one when I'm not looking. You could also make a habit of signing the vouchers, but if they're generic enough, the kids might photocopy them. You never know these days ; )

Anyway here's a picture of one of my pages

My rewards are:
Sit in a beanbag chair (for one class)
Sit in my rolley chair (for one class)
Sit by a friend (for one class)
Pick your partner
Cup of ice (the kids love chewing on ice!)
Paper guard (they get to pick up and pass out papers for 3 classes)
Late work Pass (used to prevent a late paper from being an automatic 70 before grading)
Shining recommendation (I send an e-mail or letter home telling their parents of the students great behavior)
Write a note on the whiteboard (has to be appropriate and stays up for a week)
Write our agenda (student has to come in before school every day to write agenda on board)
Listen to music (they may bring their mp3 player and listen using headphones during independent work or freetime after a test)
Scratch-off (I create these using a tutorial I'll link below. The rewards can be any of the above. Kids love the mystery and surprise)

Here's a tutorial for making your own scratchoffs: http://www.thedaintysquid.com/2012/03/diy-scratch-off-tickets.html

These rewards are geared toward middle school students. If you're in Elementary or High School, there's a wealth of ideas out there to help you devise your own options. You could also wait until school starts and ask your students for what options they'd like to have!

Thanks for reading! I'll be back in a few days with my more details on my rewards/consequences system.

Ms. Kat

Class Scavenger Hunt

Greetings, scientifically-inclined minds! My name is Ms. Kat. I am 26 years old, and a soon-to-be 7th Grade Science teacher at the middle school I once attended (haven't gotten the job yet, but I'm hopeful!) I student taught there in the fall of 13, and substitute taught throughout the Spring semester. I kind of fell into teaching accidentally. I graduated from college with a BS in Biology in December 2010. I decided on a whim to go back to school for teaching, and enrolled with my college post-bac teaching certification program. As of January 2014, I am fully certified to teach Science in grades 4-8 in the state of Texas. I never thought I would become a teacher, but now I can't picture myself doing anything else.

Over the past few weeks, I have been working hard on putting together not only a portfolio of past work, but also of all lessons I've prepared for next year, should I get the job. So far, I have the first 4 weeks of school *almost* fully planned out, and another two prospected and somewhat organized. That's the whole first 6 weeks of lessons taken care of!

When I say *almost* fully planned, I mean I have each day's overview scheduled, mimios (our version of powerpoint) created, Prezi's done, Labs planned, group work outlined, projects thought out, examples of said projects created, and vocab lists selected and carefully worded.

 *whew* are you exhausted just thinking about all that work? Cause I am!

I plan on using this blog as a way of sharing what we do in our class. I'm a very hands-on and project-oriented teacher. I love foldables for vocabulary, poster-creating projects, powerpoint-creating projects, flipbooks, labs, group work, etc. Some of these ideas I have pulled from the internet. Others, I created using nothing but my own imagination.

To start us out, I'll begin with a first-week activity that is good for any class, any subject. I recall what first and second days of school were like. New class, introduction, rules, consequences, repeat 7 times. BORING!! Even as an adult in college, I couldn't stand that monotonous process. Why, then, do we expect our kids to handle it any better?

This activity is intended to break up that hum-drum day filled with rules and introductions. This is a scavenger hunt for commonly-used items in the classroom! Students are broken into groups, and must search the room for the listed items. When they find them, they use the color next to the item to make a circle or X in that color, essentially making a color-coded map of our classroom! This way, I don't have to keep answering questions about where the (map pencils, tissue box, pencil sharpener, etc) are. It gets the kids out of their seats, socializing, and having fun.

I created a diagram of my future classroom using Microsoft paint, then inserted into a word document so I could add the Name and Date spaces at the top. I have the great fortune of knowing the teacher I will *hopefully* be taking over for, and have seen the inside of his classroom. His room is almost exactly like the one I student taught in, so I have a leg-up on many of you who might not have seen your new classrooms yet. Feel free to use mine as a jumping-off point in creating your own!

*NOTE* I realized after creating this that I forgot to add Fire extinguishers. Those are kind of important, especially in a science room. Be sure you add those in when you're customizing yours!

Thanks for reading, y'all! I'm putting my nose back to the grindstone so I can finish off this first 6 weeks. See you all next week!

Ms. Kat