New Classroom Procedure - Squares

This week we began a new prodecure to help us target a few specific behaviors/habits that we need to avoid. We have gone over the guidelines in class and will continue to be reminded of them this week, which is a practice week. Here is an explanation of how it works; if you have any further questions please don't hesitate to ask!

The four things I am looking to improve are:

• Talking at inappropriate times - blurting out answers instead of raising a hand and waiting to be called on; or talking during a designated quiet time such as journal time, silent reading, or when taking a test
• Not being responsible for homework
• Sharpening pencils at inappropriate times - designated pencil sharpening times are first thing in the morning (8:30-8:35), during morning break (10:05), right after lunch (12:20), and during the 2:00 restroom break. Students know that they should always start the day with THREE sharpened, yellow, #2 pencils. When a student gets up to sharpen a pencil during class it is distracting and a waste of time for the rest of the class, who has to wait for that student.
• Using the bathroom at inappropriate times - designated bathroom breaks are the same as pencil times - 8:30-8:45, 10:05, anytime during recess/lunch, and at 2:00. Again, this is a matter of taking time away from class to do something that should have been done during one of the breaks. There are less than two hours between each bathroom break and I think that at this age students should not need to go more frequently. However, PLEASE send me a note if your child has a health concern or is not able to "hold it" - I don't want to cause injury or embarassment, I just want to get students thinking responsibly and using their break time wisely.

These four things are represented by four different colors:

• Talking - red
• Missing homework - orange
• Pencil sharpening - yellow
• Bathroom use - blue

Through the week if a student is found doing one of these things, he or she will receive a colored paper square corresponding to the behavior. He will write his name and the date, and the specifics of his "offense" if it involves talking or homework. The paper square will then be placed in a designated bin in the classroom. At the end of the week I will sort through the bin and attach any squares to a note for parents/guardians. The note will include the color code and you will be able to see right away how your child has behaved that week.

Now lest you think I just am out looking for offenders...students also have an opportunity to earn a green square. Green represents "caught being good" and may be earned for any number of things. Obviously I can't give out a green square every single time a student raises his hand, but if I know that a student is having a particularly hard time remembering to raise her hand and then I catch her raising her hand and waiting to be called on, she will earn a green square for improvement. Green squares may also be earned for things like random acts of kindness or doing exceptionally well on a test.

Any student who has not collected any squares during the week will take home a green square, showing you that his/her behavior during the week was outstanding.

In order to motivate students not to earn squares, there are some rewards attached to their totals at the end of the week. Currently the rewards are a homework pass, a computer pass, or a free reading pass. As I said, students will no squares will take home a green square but they will also receive their choice of one of the rewards. The goal is to receive less than five squares (not counting green). Any student having less than five squares at the end of the week will receive a reward. When tallying up the squares, any green squares will cancel out one other colored square. You will still see the square in the note home, but it will not count in the total. For example, a student earns five colored squares but also has a green square. The total would be four, because the green cancelled out one of the five, and the student would earn a reward. About once a month I will drop the number down so that students will try to get less than four squares a week, less than three squares a week, etc. I guess that will be the true test as to whether their behaviors improve!

I hope that wasn't too confusing of an explanation, and like I said please contact me with any questions or concerns you have about anything.