A new way to manage behavior!

So we have almost finished our first month of school, and things are going pretty great with my kiddos this year. One of the biggest changes to my classroom this year was the way we handle behavior. Thanks to my friend Pam for introducing me to the Clip Chart. Using a color coded system, some spring clothespins, and an occasional sparkle, the behavior in my classroom is all about "clipping up"! Here's what my chart looks like:

You can read more about the Clip Chart at http://www.newmanagement.com/ebooks/clip_chart.html. I wish I had come up with this idea! I could have used something like this last year.

The idea basically is that all the kids start their day on green or "Ready to Learn". They have the opportunity to move their clothespins up for exhibiting desirable behavior or down for exhibiting undesirable behavior. The kids really try to get to clip up. Pink is really hard to get to and they know that! When they do get to pink, they get a sparkle for their clips. When they get five, they get to have lunch in the classroom with me.

I'm really loving using this in my classroom this year. It was cheap, and works wonders! I got the clothespins and sparkles at Michaels. The chart itself was made of construction paper and bulletin board paper behind. The words for my chart are from BainbridgeClass.com. If you have never been to her site, you MUST visit it!

Well, here we go!!

Since being introduced to so many fantastic teaching blogs, I decided (with some encouragement from a friend) to enter into the world of blogging to share ideas and contribute to where I get lots of fantastic ideas from!