management techniques

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Home : 2005 : April : 20

management techniques
By bonnie

I am most comfortable in elementary classrooms, and have developed a classroom management technique that works really well there. At the beginning of the day I put 5 stars on the board, my "gift" to them, and tell them that
the class can earn or lose stars as the day goes on (for good or bad behavior). I put slips of paper with each student's name on them into a basket, and set an alarm for random times during the day. Each time the alarm goes off, I draw a name for a prize (sucker they can eat in class, pencil, eraser, etc.), and as long as the person that is drawn does not have his/her name on the

board for bad behavior, they win. At the end of the day, the number of stars on the board is the number of names that will be drawn in the final drawing. It's amazing how those kids will work to earn stars, and will put peer pressure on other kids to keep them from misbehaving and losing stars for the class! I also tell them what the record number of stars earned by other classes is, and they always try to beat that number. This seems to work especially well in 2nd thru 6th, but you can use it with younger ones if you set the alarm for short spans. I like it because it combines positive reinforcement with penalties for negative behavior.
As for 7-12th grade, the magic words "discipline referral" seem to work miracles just by being mentioned, but you can't be afraid to use it if push comes to shove. I've only had to use it twice.....your rep seems to spread quickly and other classes are on their toes not to be the next ones sent to the office! Just carrying the referral forms around in your hand while teaching, without even mentioning them, seems to work wonders!
Bonnie