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Another take on not rewarding expected behavior

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Recently, I had a chance to visit a classroom management training for new teachers.

The trainer was an expert in a program that has gained popularity in recent years.

I won't mention the program by name, but at its core, it's a token economy, whereby students are rewarded in exchange for "good" (i.e. expected) behavior.

I've written about this strategy before, but because we've received so many questions about it since, I decided to revisit the topic.

If you've been a reader of SCM long enough, then you know how strongly we feel about token economies.

They send the message that expected behavior-that which is minimally required for success in school-is worthy of special recognition, turning what is inherently rewarding into work students deserve to be paid for.

They also encourage unethical behavior like cheating and stealing. They weaken the student-teacher relationship, making it coldhearted, transactional, and even hurtful.

They make creating a happy and productive classroom harder, not easier.

Worst of all, though, token economies snuff out intrinsic motivation. You can read more about this topic, including what the research really says about external rewards, in The Happy Teacher Habits.

But on this day, as I stood in the back of the room, the trainer was demonstrating how to handle misbehaving students using a form of praise called "caught being good."

The way it works is that if you notice a student misbehaving and off-task, instead of holding them accountable using a predetermined set of rules and consequences, you would praise the students around them.

In other words, you would ignore the misbehaving student, but effusively inform those in proximity how wonderful they are for doing what they're supposed to do.

The idea, in theory, is that the student in question would also want to receive praise, and thus would be compelled to stop their unwanted behavior.

So what's the problem?

Well, besides being dishonest, it communicates that fulfilling the barest minimum is somehow special and on par with what is truly exceptional-lowering the bar of excellence down around the shoe tops.

It's also cruel and demeaning and, in this case, uses well-behaved students as pawns to elicit compliant behavior from the misbehaving student.

Furthermore, it offers no genuine feedback they can use to improve their behavior in the future.

That this method is endorsed, taught, and even promoted in school districts around the country is tragic and shameful.

It takes the high calling of being a teacher and tosses it into the gutter of trickery and manipulation, ripping apart both its heart and its soul.

Teaching isn't about just getting through the day. It isn't about curbing misbehavior momentarily or deceiving students into doing what you want.

It's about inspiring real change in students and making an impact that lasts a lifetime.

So what's the alternative?

Be straight with your students. Establish a boundary line of behavior that protects their right to learn and enjoy school and then defend it to the hilt.

Do what you say you're going to do. Hold them accountable fairly and respectfully and give them the opportunity to learn from their mistakes.

Praise only what is praiseworthy. Look for legitimate improvement, new learning, or greater effort than they've given before, and then let them know you notice.

Smile and make eye contact from across the room. Leave a note folded over and attached to their desk. Tell them they did well.

Shine a light on concrete evidence of their progress.

Treat every student with dignity, eschewing all forms of false praise, bribery, and disingenuousness-which only set them up for future failure and disappointment.

Be the same dependable, consistent teacher every day. Build relationships based on love and forgiveness, kindness and honesty, humor and humility.

Look your students in the eye and tell them the truth about their successes and mistakes, as well as their failures and triumphs. Give them feedback they can use.

Prepare them for life beyond the classroom by being a leader worthy of their respect and admiration.

This way, your words of praise will mean something to them, firing their intrinsic motivational engines deep within their heart.

They'll know that if you said it, it must be true.

And the truth will set them free.

If you haven't done so already, please join us. It's free! Click here and begin receiving new-article updates in your email box every week.

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One Of The Worst Classroom Management Strategies I've Ever Seen - Smart Classroom Management

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Recently, I had a chance to visit a classroom management training for new teachers. The trainer was an expert in a program that has gained popularity in recent years. I won't mention the program by name, but at its core, it's a token economy, whereby students are rewarded in exchange for "good" (i.e.

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27 ideas about how to manage a classroom

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27 ideas about how to manage a classroom

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If we are truly honest, a great deal of our time is spent on classroom management. I recently went into a classroom to do a faculty evaluation. I usually try to blend in and act like a student. I s...

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12 Tips to start a successful kindergarten year

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12 Tips to start a successful kindergarten year

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I like #2 on this list: "Be prepared to explain the why behind procedures and choices in short, concise terms." I also like #4 "Plan for both the positive and the negative."

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How to start kindergarten on the right foot with 12 tips to start a successful kindergarten year. These tips to start kindergarten successfully will cover setting procedures, using the alphabet and names in addition to connecting with parents.

Starting kindergarten successfully is a planned event and these 12 tips can be applied whether you are a new teacher or have been teaching for years.

Setting the foundation for strong readers and writers can begin the first week of kindergarten! I've got a few ideas and resources to point to that helped me get my year off to a great start.

Looking back to what worked well, I hope these tips and resources can help you gather for next year or remind you of just how far you've already come from the beginning of the year with your class!

Set up Classroom Management & Procedures

1. Have a kindergarten classroom management plan in place. Even if you think you may want to tweak it later on.

Get it down in writing for yourself!

Come up with short phrases you think you can use to refer to often and decide what language you want to use so that when the time comes day one, you'll feel prepared and won't be searching for the right words.

For example:

"Make a better choice."

"You chose to..."

"This is your warning for..."

2. Be prepared to explain the why behind procedures and choices in short, concise terms.

My favorite is explaining why we will follow directions the first time, and explaining what a {fun} teacher I am if I have to explain things 23 times, 23 times, 23 times, 23 times.

Think Cards from Behavior Plan and Parent Notes

3. Consider how updating a color card or clip chart system can work for you to help keep track with students, but best communicate to kinders and parents about their choices.

Often these systems put emphasis on colors to help track choices, but it'd be best if the colors can be used in connection with your classroom system as a way of reporting choices. That way the colors are not the focus.

For example, I used " think cards " in my classroom. These are cards a student has to reflect upon if they have chosen not to follow a classroom rule or procedure. They speak a positive confession like "I will {insert good choice}."

They do use colors like the typical color card system to then report home the number of think cards or the number of great choices they made. They are much more likely to remember their choice if that is the focus during the day as opposed to a color.

4. Plan for both the positive and negative.

Of course we want to focus on the positive! Something new I am trying this year and love the flexibility with is using reward coupons for students who have made excellent choices. These are free once you have them in place and they love the choices.
Reward Coupons
But you've got to make a plan you're willing to follow through with for both the positive and the negative. I didn't want anything elaborate - that's not my style.

5. To incentivize in the moment, if you have a great-smelling chapstick in hand - you're good to go!

I fondly call them "smelly spots" and these are treasured, invisible marks used in our classroom to reward little moments to recognize great behavior, citizenship or responsibility.

Students love recalling their excellent choice each time they get a whiff of the back of their hand.

Alphabet

Learning the alphabet is what we do! And learning it as fast as possible seems to be our goal with the new Common Core Standards.

Why not practice letter sounds right along side identifying letters so you also meet the needs of those who are ready?

The (affiliate) Letter Factory Video is a great way to promote the sounds the first couple weeks of school. You can shorten it to a half hour after watching the entire thing once.

By just reviewing the alphabet portions you may find that students can connect a physical and kinesthetic motion to each letter of the alphabet which you can easily incorporate into any alphabet chart or chant!

This video is a great example of how easily you can use the /a/ as a "frightened" motion to always refer to for your kinesthetic learners.

Use Student Names

Starting with student names is a classic way to begin working on letter recognition, sight words and sound production. So, how can you effectively use names?

1. Create class books the first weeks of school that feature their names. These quickly become the most read books, since they learn quickly to read their friend's names and feel successful at "reading!"

This year, I was inspired by April from Chalk Talk to create a class book based off of the classic coconut tree story of Chicka Chicka Boom Boom.

Chicka Class Book {Free Download}

We started with abc all on one page to kick it off, and then it left us with 23 letters left. Yes, done on purpose since there are 23 of us in the room!

This helped us order the pages when it came time to binding the story. We each got an alphabet stamp to go in the box, and some students felt lucky to have the beginning letter of their name. We glued in our picture {taken on the first day} and colored the border around after writing our names.

2. Actually plan which names you can use right away in your interactive writing and which names you can use later on as you grow in phonics so that you always have a "go to" list.

I write down who will be our anchor names for bits like "er" or "br" since these will help us become effective word detectives (later on in the school year).

Don't forget to go to last names if you're in need of trickier sounds eventually, but usually you'll be amazed to find exactly what you need in your class roster.

3. Put their names everywhere and in mobile places so they can always carry a model to wherever they are working in the classroom. Pencil boxes are a great solution to making this work!

Hit the Basics

I'd be at great fault if I didn't say that kinders need to practice the basics. Oh boy, do they ever.

This year I am thankful that we included secret gluing techniques into our first weeks of school and edified great lunch procedures {an activity that gave us great cutting and gluing practice}.

The best tip I have to getting down the basics of whatever multi-step process you have going on is to create a social story for it.

Create an actual book with simple text and photos of you following each step. Not only will this help students with special needs, but it will help all students live through the experience before they ever do it.

The power of literature.
Yep - even literature written by moi.
Social stories to consider creating:
Why feature yourself?
Because on the first day, you are the superstar and the only one they'll know. Make yourself the main character and they will love it.

Plus, you'll love the opportunity to sit {phew!} read a short story that is teaching exactly what you want them to know in preparation for the next 10-15 minutes of your day.

Connect with Parents

Making a connection with parents is part of our job, and as uncomfortable it can sometimes be to calm parent fears at the same time as kinder ones, it comes with the territory.

What can help?

1. Have an open house or informal meeting night where students can meet you, drop off supplies and you can get materials needed for the first day into parent hands. They'll feel better knowing what to expect.

2. Have a parent-friendly class procedures letter ready to go home day one. Make every topic short, relevant and include clipart. Make it attractive so parents will want to read it.

Keep it brief.

Mention hot topic things that most first-time school parents will want to know like: gym shoes on which days, library books due what day, birthday treat policy, homework policy, book logs for at home reading, sending money to school {your preference} and student daily folders.

Include your preferred method of contact and also send it by email once school has started, so they can always have a reference copy.

3. Call them. Yep. Just do it. It does take your time. Its not comfortable. Do it anyway.

I always "knew" that it was a good thing to do and that it would be appreciated by parents. This year was the first year I actually did it. I called after the first week just to let them know their child had a good first week {no matter what} and wanted to see if they had any questions. A little time on the front end can have a huge pay off over the entire year.

It's a great way to start that phone documentation log you always knew you should have going.

I hope you find these 12 tips of value to you as you start your kindergarten year successfully!

If you like what I do here on KindergartenWorks, then be sure to subscribe today. I look forward to sharing ideas with you weekly.

Feeling a little overwhelmed at the idea of starting out in kindergarten? Get my best stuff on starting kindergarten sent directly to your email over the next 2 weeks with my free Back to School Bootcamp course and be on your way to feeling more prepared than ever!

More Back to School

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12 Tips to Start a Successful Kindergarten Year | KindergartenWorks

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How to start kindergarten on the right foot with 12 tips to start a successful kindergarten year. These tips to start kindergarten successfully will cover setting procedures, using the alphabet and names in addition to connecting with parents.

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Instead, reward "bravery and smart thinking."
An interesting take on the jar system. I will have to go back to these examples to find what best fits my class dynamic.

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Let me start by stating that this post is not putting down ANY forms of classroom management! I write this assuming that EVERY teacher does what works best for them and their students. We come to this profession because we want to ignite a love of learning and help children discover their potential. When you have that as your primary goal (and I know you do!), the rest is... well, the REST!

I simply want to share my perspective that has come from my years of teaching in an inclusion classroom, and my personal experiences as a struggling student (a whole different blog post- or series!)

Now, let's get to talking about this marble jar! Isn't it pretty? My kids think so too!

Call me old fashioned, but I do not reward students for expected behavior.

If the direction is to "Line Up Quietly," you are expected to do it.

If you remain focused during math centers and finish your work, that's great! That's what you were expected to do!

You explained the directions to your friend who was absent yesterday? Thank you for being a kind friend. That's what's expected of students in this community!

That's not to say that I don't acknowledge their efforts and hard work! Oh no! Specific praise is a good friend of mine, and I enjoy pointing out what students are doing well. I know some behavior experts will say that's a reward, and positive reinforcement. Yes it is, but it's not done publicly, and does not involve anything other than those honest words. This is where I am trying to draw the distinction.

Please don't get me wrong! I do not have a magical classroom where every child does everything right all the time! WE ARE TALKING ABOUT HUMANS, NOT ROBOTS! (and little humans no less!) Things go wrong all day, just like every classroom. It's just that I choose to not reward my students for doing the right thing. It's what's expected.That doesn't mean that I'm a bland, dreary teacher who is opposed to celebrating! On the contrary! I feel that by not celebrating when we meet expectations, we can place our focus on when students exceed expectations, and encourage them to do it often!

If you look closely at my marble jar label, it says "BRAVERY and SMART THINKING!"

These are the two things in my classroom that will earn students an external reward (in our case, a marble in the marble jar.) You may be asking yourself, 'Bravery and smart thinking? What does that look like in a classroom?' My favorite part about this is that it looks different for EVERY child!

What requires bravery for one child, may not for another. Here are some examples to help you get the gist of my meaning:

A student who rarely speaks during whole group lessons shared a lengthy account of their weekend

A struggling reader made it through an entire reading group session without saying "I can't"

A student reached out and made a new friend

A student accepted a challenge and persevered

A student performed at a school concert even though they were "too nervous!"

The whole class made it through state testing!

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Our Marble Jar: Why I Don't Reward Expected Behavior - The Starr Spangled Planner

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Let me start by stating that this post is not putting down ANY forms of classroom management! I write this assuming that EVERY teacher does what works best for them and their students. We come to this profession because we want to ignite a love of learning and help children discover their potential.

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There are more videos in this series--very helpful!

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There is a time an place for both methods of classroom management, but in early childhood it is better to be more understanding and patient with students, especially if this is their first experience in a classroom (pre-k/kindergarten).

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10 Easy Classroom Management Hacks | That Teacher Life Ep 47

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Kindergarten Classroom Management Tips for Positive Consequences : Early Education

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Subscribe Now: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=ehoweducation Watch More: http://www.youtube.com/ehoweducation Kindergarten classroom management tips for positive consequences can help curb things like selfish behavior in kids. Find out about great kindergarten classroom management tips for positive consequences with help from an experienced educator in this free video clip.

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Making procedures clear is so important. Stay consistent in order to avoid constantly repeating yourself.

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Do you feel like a "talking head" during the first couple days of school? We know that explicitly teaching procedures and expectations is a MUST for the beginning of the school year. However, it's a lot of information for a teacher to disseminate and for students to absorb. I have this simple little trick to help you cover all of this important information without losing your mind and while keeping your student engaged!

When it comes to discussing behavioral expectations, I begin by writing several questions (preferably one for each student). These are common questions that I know will be asked repeatedly by students.

I also ask questions that will direct our discussion to procedures that are important to my classroom management system.

I number these questions and give each student one at the beginning of the day. I tell them that before the day is over, each student will get a chance to read his/her question aloud, and then we will discuss it. I call on the numbers in order ("Who has number 1? Could you please read your question?"), so I make sure to have the most important questions at the "top of the deck." We interject these questions throughout the day so that we are not spending a solid block of time going over procedures. I alternate 5-6 questions between the common first-day activities (introductions, ice-breakers, collecting supplies, assemblies, etc.). Breaking this task up over the day not only gives you a respite from talking, it also gives the students a break so they don't glaze over in boredom.

Having these prepared for the first day of school kept me on track for covering these important "rules" and gave me one less thing to think about during the back-to-school chaos. I hope you will give this little trick a try. You can download a FREE and editable version of this resource HERE!

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Teaching classroom procedures and expectations.

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Do you feel like a "talking head" during the first couple days of school? We know that explicitly teaching procedures and expectations is a MUST for the beginning of the school year. However, it's a lot of information for a teacher to disseminate and for students to absorb.

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Visible and clear classroom expectations

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Visible and clear classroom expectations

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I like that this example says "expectations" and not "rules." This example is a bit busier (visually) than I would use, but I like that it has pictures to go along with each expectation for students who are not yet able to read.

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This works great in younger grades, especially kindergarten.

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To get a little more physical activity into our days, I made this exercise cube for my kids! A great way to help kids exercise and get out some wiggles!

Using white card stock, cut out 6 squares. (Mine are about 6"x6" squares.)

Write the activities on each square.

Tape the squares together using clear packing tape.

Before you tape the last square on, stuff in a few pieces of crumpled newspaper to give it more stability.

Spin in a circle.

Jump 5 times.

Flap your arms like a bird.

Hop on one foot.

Dance!

Run from the front door to the back door.

Do you like this idea?

Looking for more activities for your little BOY?

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To get a little more physical activity into our days, I made this exercise cube for my kids! A great way to help kids exercise and get out some wiggles! Using white card stock, cut out 6 squares. (Mine are about 6"x6" squares.) Write the activities on each square.

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I have seen a similar tactic using pom poms in a fourth grade class--it worked great!

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If you teach in an elementary classroom, chances are, you have a Marble Jar. The Marble Jar is one of my favorite classroom management tools because it is so easy and there are so many ways to use it! Just in case you have never heard of the Marble Jar, the basic idea is that you start with an empty jar, and you add marbles to reward good behavior. When the jar is full, your class gets a treat of some sort. Here are some suggestions for getting the most from your jar:

Before you implement the Marble Jar consider how often you want to reward your students. Choose a big jar if you want them to work a long time to earn their reward. Keep in mind that a big jar also merits a big reward, such as a class party. Your students will not be very motivated to fill the jar if the reward is an extra five minutes of recess. If you have a particularly challenging class, consider a smaller jar with small, but more frequent rewards. Otherwise, the goal may seem so far away that it is virtually unattainable.

Some teachers use puff balls instead of marbles, often to go along with the idea of giving Warm Fuzzies. As it happens, I am a big fan of warm fuzzies-love the concept, love the book -but I don't like them in place of marbles mainly because when you add one to the jar, there is no "plunk." The plunk is super valuable because it speaks for itself. When you drop marbles in the jar, you don't have to say a word (though sometimes you will want to if it is not clear why marbles are being added).

Sometimes, the plunk is enough. If everyone is working quietly, and you drop a few marbles in the jar, then you really don't have to tell them why. But often you will want your students to know why you are rewarding them, so saying something along the lines of, "Thanks for being ready to start math, Table Three" or "Wow, you were all so quiet in line on the way back from music that I think we need to add some marbles to the jar" will let them know exactly why you are adding marbles. You can also add a small bonus by asking students to add marbles: "Thanks for being so helpful during math today, Julia. Why don't you add five marbles to the jar?"

One nice thing about a big jar is that you can be generous with your rewards. Dropping marbles in the jar often does several good things: It reminds them that you are always watching, it reinforces good behavior, and it allows you to reward many different kinds of behaviors. What should you reward? Here are some ideas:

Working quietly

Being good for a sub

Learning a new routine

Individual good behavior, such as helping another student

Lining up quietly

Doing a good job with clean up

Being on task

Being ready to begin

Solving a class problem

Just because they are such a great group of kids

While you don't want to be stingy, you also don't want to reward every single good behavior. One of the powers of the Marble Jar is that it uses Random Reward to reinforce the behaviors you want to see, which is much more powerful than rewarding consistently (think of slot machines).

Yes, you can take marbles out for bad behavior, but try to avoid it. The Marble Jar should be a beacon of positivity, not a reminder of less than admirable behavior. If you do decide to take marbles out of the jar, make a really, really big deal about it. Make sure they understand that desperate times call for desperate measures.

Bonus marbles are marbles that you put in a little dish beside the marble jar at the start of the day. At the end of the day, you decide if your students have earned all, or any, of the bonus marbles. This can lead to some great discussions if you ask them if they think they deserve the bonus marbles. Just lay some ground rules, such as not naming individuals. Often they will be harder on themselves than you would have been. Another interesting thing to try is to give each student a marble at the start of the day. On the way out the door at the end of the day, each student must consider his or her own behavior and deposit his or her marble into either the Marble Jar or back into the container where you keep the not-yet-added marbles.

The best rewards are something each student in your class will enjoy, are free or cheap, don't take up too much time, and are easy to implement. Depending on your class, a reward can be as simple as 15 minutes of free time on a Friday, but in most cases, you will need to go a little bigger than that. Class parties are popular. One idea for choosing the reward is to have the students brainstorm a bunch of ideas, narrow down to three or four, and then allow students to rank them individually by preference. This will give you a good idea about what is most motivating for your class.
Do you have a Marble Jar in your class? How is it going for you? Any ideas to add? Please comment.

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Make the Most of Your Class Marble Jar - Minds in Bloom

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If you teach in an elementary classroom, chances are, you have a Marble Jar. The Marble Jar is one of my favorite classroom management tools because it is so easy and there are so many ways to use it!