My favorite form of classroom management is to have my lessons be so engaging that the students are too enthralled to misbehave! Of course, it’s helpful to have a more palpable behavior management system in place, just in case.

Since developing responsibility is such an essential skill, every week, students are given a different job. As seen in the picture, there are basic jobs such as Paper Passer, and Line Leader, but I've also incorporated a few unique jobs, such as Story Teller, Exercise Leader,  Comedian, and VIP. 

Class Calendar and Jobs

Current Class Pet Kit!

These are jobs that require more than just turning off/on the lights (Deluminator) or being at the end of the line so we know everyone is present (Caboose). The Story Teller, is given a rubric and asked to prepare a story to share with the class (see picture below). My Exercise leaders are in charge of preparing a dance routine to appropriate music that they have created to teach to the class, or to teach an aerobic activity that we have not done yet. Comedian's are in charge of telling a joke they have either made up or found for every morning that week, and the VIP is in charge of taking care of our current class pet/stuffed animal (school mascot), and writing about their adventures together. 

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Class Job: Story Teller

Teamwork and learning to work together at an early age is so important, so each table group has a marble jar. When a table group works together to complete a task, or cleaning up, they receive a marble. If a table group is not working together or is misbehaving, a marble is taken. At the end of the week, the table group with the most marbles gets to choose a class coupon. Table groups usually consist of 4-5 students. Each week a different student of the table group gets to be the team leader, and they are in charge of the marble jar. After everyone in the group has had a chance at being Team Leader (about a month), seats are changed.

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Marble Jar

Make-a-Fort Reading Party

I feel it’s also important to reward whole-class behavior, so I implement the 100 points system. A point is given when the whole class corporates together, 2 points when another teacher compliments them, 3 points when doing a great job during a fire or earthquake drill, and up to 5 points when showing excellent behavior towards a substitute teacher. When the class has reached 100 points, they get to choose a party. Some examples of themes classes can choose from are; make-your-reading-fort party, healthy breakfast party, picnic party, make-your-own-pizza party, an iPad party, or a book themed party. ​

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I'm also a fan of formative assessments, and find that those popsicle sticks you can use become handy in multiple ways. They are great for times I need extra wonderful behavior! I make a big deal about secretly choosing a stick, and memorizing the name. Then I tell the students that I will be secretly keeping my eyes on this person and if they demonstrate good behavior during the assembly, line, field trip, special guest speaker, etc., then the whole class will get __ minutes of extra choice time at the end of the day. 

​These are a few of my favorite and well-used behavior systems. Having taught in multiple countries around the world however, I know that none of these systems are fool proof. I am always looking for new systems and styles that I feel best reflect and work for my current class. I love to learn from other teachers, and I endeavor to adapt my classroom management to match the culture and area.

Name Sticks