Friday, September 13, 2013

Brownie Points and Smart Cookies: Encouraging Sweet Behavior

Everyone always seems to be looking for that perfect recipe for behavior management in their classroom.  Every classroom, teacher, and student is unique and always requires some sort of modification.  However, I am pleased so far with my current management system and thought I'd share.  These ideas are not my original thoughts...I got by with a little help from my friends out in the bloggy world, in my real world, and Pinterest- duh!


First up is my Clip Chart courtesy of the gorgeous Teri at A Cupcake for the Teacher...I feel like we are kindred spirits with our love of cupcakes in the classroom! :) 
**Please excuse the sleeves of our art smocks hanging out of the chevron bin....and the heinous black trash bin & blue recycle bin.  Not everything has to match and be cute in my classroom...right!? Right.


This is my One Smart Cookie Jar.  As a personal incentive for my students, they can earn "Smart Cookies".  At the beginning of the year I pass these things out like crazy, focusing on positive behavior.  It may seem silly to reward and praise students for pushing in their chairs or walking quietly to their desks...but it works folks! Students can also earn Smart Cookies for actively participating in lessons, working well with others, keeping their desk neat and clean, and it also connects to our Clip Chart. If by the end of the day a student has remained on green, they receive one smart cookie, if they've made it to blue, they've earned two...and so on. 


So, you might be wondering what happens with these cookies.  Well, students collect them in these nifty little Cookie Collectors (another great idea from Teri). The collectors are new to me this year also, I scooped them up in the Dollar Spot at Target this summer.  Last year my students collected their cookies in plastic baggies, which worked fine...but I like how these collectors have pockets to also hold my students Reward Coupons by Mel D. at Seusstastic Classroom Inspirations.  On Fridays I open up the Sweet Shoppe, where students can purchase prizes with their Smart Cookies.  My prizes range from some Oriental Trading finds, pencils, stickers, but the real favorites are Mel's awesome Reward Coupons.  The kids eat them up and I do too because most of them are free! Yea buddy!



As a class incentive we work on earning Brownie Points on this pan...I found this idea on Pinterest two years ago and fell in love with it.  If you know who it belongs to, please tell me and I will gladly give credit!


My students can earn a Brownie Point when everyone in the class has turned in their homework, when their caught being great, AND when they receive a compliment from a teacher (that's my secret to being fabulous in the hallway) :)

If the pan is filled up by the end of the day on Friday, my students earn Fun Friday with is an extra 10 minutes of recess before they go home. 

I love focusing on the positive behavior within my classroom and have found that it works for me.  What sort of things do you use in your classroom?

3 comments:

  1. I love all of your ideas! As a school, we give our students tickets each day (1 for clipping up once, etc). They can cash them in at our school store or use for classroom/cafeteria rewards. For example, 10 tickets = pick a lunch buddy. They love it!

    Love the brownie points!

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  2. Thank you for the love!!! I love the Smart Cookies tickets... super cute! :D
    ❤Teri
    A Cupcake for the Teacher

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  3. Adorbs! I used to do a treasure box and would have the kids clean out their toy boxes at home for little things they no longer wanted. They loved buying their friends old stuff.
    Alison
    Rockin' and Lovin' Learnin'

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