Our Choices Clip Chart

"You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose!"

~Dr. Seuss~

 

It is never too early to learn the importance of making responsible and respectful choices in school and in life. So, we start on day one! Without a well-managed classroom environment, students cannot and will not flourish. I believe that in order for students to flourish and succeed in any classroom environment, they must first feel safe, respected, and valued. So, building our classroom community is extremely important to me.

Everyone in our classroom has a voice and I want my students to know that their voice will always be respected and appreciated.

One way we build our classroom community is by allowing the students to help create the classroom rules, consequences, and procedures. By doing this, students have more ownership and they will more likely respect the rules and follow our procedures.

In our classroom, we keep track of our behavior on our choices clip chart. Students move UP on the chart for making responsible choices and move DOWN on the chart for making inappropriate choices. The very best part about this sytem is that it gives students an opportunity to IMPROVE their behavior. As we encourage students to make better choices throughout the day, by doing so, students move back up on the chart.

Students with exceptional behavior in school make it "OFF THE CHART" and onto Mrs. Vensko's shirt! These clips get adorned with sparkly gemstones or "blue bling". Any student who earns 10 gemstones on a clip will have that clip retired to the "Wall of Fame" and s/he earns a sparkly new clip.

 

   

This idea comes from Rick Morris and I have adapted this idea to meet the needs of my own classroom. If you would like to learn more about this clip chart behavior management system, please click on the underlined link above.

Our Classroom Rules:

1. Be respectful to yourself, others, and school property.

2. Be responsible and make good choices.

3. Be ready to learn!

(Please note that a friendly reminder will be given to your child BEFORE following with these consequences.)

 

 

Outstanding Choices	Students who make outstanding choices in school receive a small treat and a "blue note" to go home. Special sparkly gemstones ("blue bling") will be added to the clips' of students who get "OFF THE CHART" and onto Mrs. Vensko's shirt! Students who earn 10 gemstones on their clip will get their clip retired to the "WALL of FAME" and earn a special sparkly new clip. **Exceeding behavior expectations**
Great Choices	Students on pink made GREAT choices in school today!  **Exceeding behavior expectations**
Good Choices	Students on purple made GOOD choices in school today! **Meeting behavior expectations**
Ready to Learn	All students start each day on green. Clips are moved up and down on the chart according to choices made in school. **Meeting behavior expectations**
Think About It	Students on yellow are asked to reflect about behavior, the choices made, and how they effected others. This is a friendly reminder to follow the classroom rules. **Not meeting behavior expectations**
Teacher's Choice	Teacher's Choice consists of flexible consequences made by the teacher and students. Consequences can be different depending on the student and the offense. Some examples of consequences include: silent lunch, sad note home, phone call home, loss of Friday fun time, loss of a classroom privledge, etc. **Not meeting behavior expectations/Behavior needs to improve**
Office Referral	Students on red will be sent to the office to discuss the behavior problems with administration. Please note that all efforts have been made to improve behavior of the student. This is the last resort to correct the inappropriate behavior. Please note that serious offenses such as fighting, hitting, blatant disrespect to a teacher, use of inappropriate language, etc. will warrant an automatic office referral.** **Not meeting behavior expectations/Behavior needs to improve**

Please be sure to check your child's binder for the monthly behavior recording sheet. Your child should color his/her behavior each day. If your child does not bring home a colored chart, please inform me immediately. If there is a problem in school, I will mark the appropriate behavior codes on your child's behavior sheet and/or write a short note to let you know about the problem. Please initial the sheet at the end of the week and feel free to make comments as necessary. Contact me if you have any questions or concerns about your child's behavior in school. Thank you for your continued support and help in this matter.

The following are rewards that I use in my classroom for students who display respectful and responsible behavior. I reward students individually, in small groups, and as a whole class.

Class Gumball Machine - A gumball is added to our gumball machine display when the class as a whole is complimented on excellent behavior or work habits inside and outside of the classroom. When the machine is full (31 gumballs total), a class treat is rewarded such as popcorn party & movie, ice cream floats, extra recess, etc.

Table Teamwork - Students sit in cooperative groups of 4-5 students. Groups will earn points on their gameboard for working together as a team. The group that gets 20 points on their gameboard first earns a special treat! After a team wins, the fun starts all over again!