Archive for the ‘Behavior Management’ Category

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Student Certificates

Thursday, June 11th, 2009

Teachers are often too busy throughout the day to remember to hand out little rewards or certificates to those students who have done something worthy. Usually positive words are the sole way to reinforce positive behavior. However, it is nice for a student to receive something more concrete so they are able to present it to family members with pride. If the teacher cannot hand certificates out regularly, make a point to do so each quarter. On report card day before the teacher hands out the report cards, have a number of certificates to hand out. The teacher can have two or three standard certificates every quarter, but then add new ones and different ones each quarter, as well to keep the surprise. Don’t feel every student must get a certificate every quarter. If all students earn certificates, it eliminates the feeling of a reward.

Some ideas to use for certificates include the following:

  • students who have done the most extra credit
  • students who had no late work all quarter
  • students who had only one late assignment all quarter
  • students who reached their reading goals
  • students who performed their class job well and regularly
  • students with consistently clean desks
  • students who are the most improved in a certain area

Every class will most likely be different depending on the activities the teacher has set up in the classroom. Some of the certificates can be followed with an extra reward. For example, the students with no late assignments may get a “no homework” coupon with their certificate. Students with one late assignment will get just the certificate. The teacher can also include a bookmark with the reading goal certificate.

Tips: Do not announce to the students what efforts during the quarter will earn certificates. The teacher may want the reward to be given for honest effort and work, not simply to receive a certificate. That’s why changing the certificates each quarter, except for a select few, will promote honest efforts.

If the teacher wants to give certificates out more often than once per quarter, a neat trick is to have some generic ones ready. (See below to download award certificates.) Fill in the student’s name and your signature ahead of time. Put two in the plan book each week. This will remind the teacher to find something that student did particularly well that week. The certificate is then ready for the teacher anytime. He or she just needs to fill in what the certificate was for.

End-of-the-Year Certificates
In addition to the quarterly certificates, try doing end-of-the-year certificates in which every student receives one. These are fun, personal certificates that reflect something that student may be known for in the classroom. Some of these can be funny as well. Some examples include the following: the most artistic, the trivia guru, or the most improved in a certain area. (Note: These categories will change each year depending on the dynamics of the class. This is a fun, positive way to end the school year.)

Handy certificates to download and hand out:

Award Certificate
Grade Advancement Certificate
Farewell Certificate

In addition to handing out end-of-the-year certificates, download and hand out the form below to students so they can assess the year for themselves. Keep a copy for yourself — it will prove very enlightening for you!

What I Have Learned This Year

For more sample student award certificates, check out these teacher resource books:

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Need Your Students Quiet and On-Task? Try Secret Workers.

Monday, April 13th, 2009

Need a new strategy to get your students to stay quiet and focus on their work? Try Secret Workers. Secretly pick two people and write their names down. Announce to the class that the teacher has picked two Secret Workers. If the two Secret Workers are quiet, follow the directions, and stay on task, they will earn a reward for the entire class. If the two do not behave properly, the class will not receive the reward. Since no one knows who the Secret Workers are, everyone is forced to behave as the teacher has asked. This behavior system works well for shorter lengths of time—about half-hour to 40-minute time frames.

Rewards can be anything the teacher chooses, such as five extra minutes of recess, free time, stickers, etc. Extra recess is a logical reward. The teacher can always say, “Since you used the class time so well and stayed on task, we will have extra time to get in more recess.” Or the teacher might say, “Since you have worked so hard, you have earned an extra five minutes of break time.”

There can be variations to the Secret Workers. One variation is to tell the class that the teacher will be picking one boy and one girl. Another variation is to divide the class in half, and tell the class that one person will be picked from the left side of the room and one from the right side. After using this technique several times, the teacher can then have a competition between the two groups.

Tips: If the Secret Workers are successful, be sure to announce their names and have the class thank them. If the Secret Workers are unsuccessful, talk to them personally and do not reveal the names to the class.

It is a good idea to announce aloud how the Secret Workers are doing. For example, a teacher might say, “Wow, the Secret Workers are doing really well” or “Uh-oh, our Secret Workers need to be careful.”

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Students Forgetting Their Homework? Try This Behavior Reflection Approach

Thursday, April 9th, 2009

If a student forgets his or her homework, a teacher may have the student stay in at recess or during study hall, do the missing work, and fill out a behavior reflection form. This form is designed to have students think about what they did, why it was inappropriate, and how to avoid this behavior next time. They need to answer in complete sentences and thoughtfully. This form is then taken home that evening, signed by the student’s parents, and brought back to school the next day. It is a great way to keep parents informed of late work and a great way to keep the student on track of his or her responsibilities.

This form is only effective for those students who forget occasionally. For the repeat offender, other measures will have to be taken to better help him or her remember. Also, the reflection form is general enough that it can also be used for other situations, such as a social problem that occurred that day in school. Filling out a sample reflection form together, as a whole class, would be a good way to model what is expected of the students.

If the teacher does not have a study hall, consider getting some teachers in the same grade level to give up one lunch period to sit for study hall. Study hall duty would be on a rotating basis. The more teachers involved, the fewer lunches missed per teacher. If this is not possible, the student should stay in from recess to fill out the reflection form and do the missing work.

Tip: The teacher may want to have a spot on a bulletin board or whiteboard for those students who are to go to study hall that day. This will also serve as a reminder to the teacher and the students that they have a reflection form that needs to be signed. It is recommended that student numbers rather than names are used on this board to avoid embarrassment.

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Incentives for Good Behavior and Staying On Task for Middle School Students

Friday, April 3rd, 2009

As children grow older, we often assume that small rewards won’t suffice, especially during the middle school years. Contrary to that belief, however, middle school-aged kids sill love being rewarded for their ability to behave and stay on task—although the type of rewards change just a bit. What follows is a list of some incentives that middle school teachers can use to encourage these behavioral expectations.

Board Games

Using some down time after instruction and assignments have been completed can be a wonderful incentive to keep students behaving and on task. Whether you choose to use educational board games linked to your curriculum or other strategic games, the skills used and educational value are quite beneficial to students’ cognitive and reasoning abilities. Playing quality games to develop skills is a great use of time for students of all ages.

Structured Computer Time

Computer time is something students will always work for, regardless of what they are allowed to do once they log on. Put together a list of appropriate sites that are relevant to your particular content area that includes informational sites as well as sites that feature curriculum-based games. This is one treat they will certainly look forward to if they have been on their best behavior and completed all of their work.

Library Passes

Once the work is done, allow students to visit the school library. When they are allowed to change the scenery for even a few minutes to get a new book to read, students will appreciate the respite. Encouraging them to read or browse the library is beneficial to students in many ways and keeps them going back outside of structured class library visits. Make sure this reward is okay with your school librarian and work out the details ahead of time.

Alternate Seating Choices

Middle schoolers like to be able to move about from time to time, as any middle school teacher will tell you. That said, allow well-behaved students to find their own place to sit during silent reading time or journaling. Whether it’s on the floor, a special couch in your classroom, or a simple area rug, your students will appreciate being able to change things up from time to time. As long as they stay on task, it doesn’t really matter where or how they sit as long as it’s safe.

This post was contributed by Courtney Phillips, who writes about the online BA degree. She welcomes your feedback at CourtneyPhillips80 at gmail.com.

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