Talking

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Home : 2004 : September : 17

Talking
By Maggie

I also teach in an urban school (the South Bronx) and had a very similar problem last year. After months of trial and error I found that having a three-tiered system of rewards was most helpful. I had individual, group,
and whole-class rewards. I had a chart on which each child had a library pocket. In each pocket was a green, blue, and red index card. Each child started the day on green. If they misbehaved I gave them a verbal warning then changed their card to blue. If they continued to misbehave their card got changed to red. At the end of the day, each child that was still on green got a raffle

ticket. Those children on red got a phone call or note home. At the end of the week we had a raffle and the winners got to pick from the prize box.

On the group level, I used table points. The first table to be ready to move on got a point, the quietest table got a point, the table that helped each other the most got a point, etc.

For the whole class rewards, I had a marble jar. Each time the whole class got quiet quickly they got a marble, each time they walked through the hallways quietly they got a marble, etc.

These rewards worked well and helped me gain control over my students behavior. I've learned also that being very excited about everything you do (even when you don't feel excited about it) and constantly pointing out positive behavior (Wow! Look at how ___ is sitting quietly ready to learn) really help the students want to behave and learn.

Good luck!