First off, if you have not read this. . .
. . .click on the picture, download the free e-book, and then come back if you'd like to download the charts I'm going to use for the first part of the year along with how I'm going to use this system in my classroom.
See, I used to use the "green card/yellow card/red card" system in my classroom. But I hated it. Because some kids were so super good during the day, but their cards still only showed green. And some kids weren't necessarily naughty, but they weren't really great either, and their cards also still showed green. It just didn't work for me.
2 days before school started last fall, I read Rick Morris' Clip Chart book. And it changed my thinking. I LOVE having every student start the day on READY. From ready, they can either move up for good behavior, or move down for less than desirable behavior. Students can move up or down at any point of the day based on their behavior. My monkeys LOVED this system last year! There were days when they actually clipped OFF the chart at the top, and I would wear their clip on my shirt. Something so small that they loved so much! Because it was such a last minute idea for me, my charts were just colored construction paper with letters glued on, but they worked just fine.
This year, however, I wanted them to be cuter. :)
So, I did this:
Last year my words were:
Uh-Oh (on red paper)
Careful (on yellow paper)
Ready (on green paper)
Great (on purple paper)
Awesome (on blue paper)
I didn't love the Uh-Oh, and I clearly needed another level above Awesome! So I changed Uh-Oh to Oh, No! And added Out of this World! All images are from Microsoft's Screenbeans emoticons gallery.
These are set to print on regular 8.5x11 paper. I am trying to decide if I want to do the hanging clip chart like I did before (I'll glue these to colored construction paper and use clothespins) or if I want to laminate them, line them up along the bottom of my white board, and use magnets for the kids' names.
I also didn't change the color or style of the clips like he recommends. I wish I would have. So, that's one vote for keeping this as a clip chart. Guess we'll see how I feel in August. ;)
Anyway. . .that's the plan for now. This is a truly great discipline/behavior strategy. It can be as involved or as simple as you need it be. Even if you think that you won't use the clip chart strategy, the book is worth reading.
