Hello everyone! i was wondering if anyone uses "Caught Being Good" in their classroom and if you could tell me exactly how it works. i know many teachers do it differently and i would like to know different versions. does anyone else use any other kind of positive behavior system?
I've used "Caught Being Good" for several years, and I've had much success with it. I use "Caught Being Good" (CBG) clothespins. When I observe my students doing anything appropriate, outstanding, modeling correctly, etc., I give them a clothespin with CBG written on it, and they clip it onto their clothing. Believe it or not, I've never had any problems with them misusing the clothespins. At the end of the day, they get a classroom dollar for each pin. On Fridays, I allow them to spend their money. A piece of candy is 2 "dollars", a special pencil is 5 "dollars", game time on the computer is 10 "dollars", free time is 15 "dollars", and a Homework Pass is 20 "dollars". I teach fifth grade, and sadly one of the only teachers in the building that uses any type of positive reinforcement, the upcoming fifth graders really look forward to the "priviledge" of earning CBG pins!
I've been using Caught you doing something good in third grade for 3 years now. The kids love it! I give them out during the day whenever I spot someone following the rules, helping someone else, etc. I have fish bowls in my room that have fish slips on them that say Caught you doing something good. The kids collect their slips and earn prizes in class- switching desks, candy, pencils, erasers, etc. Oriental Trading also has coins that say Caught you Doing Something Good and they are very reasonably priced.
We do a "Gotcha" throughout the school. The kids get "gotcha's" for doing something positive, they fill out the form and put it in a box (in their house colour) by the office. A name from each colour is drawn on fri. and they receive a prize. Works well even for the intermediates.
I use one that I got off here a year or so back called BUGs (Being unusually good). I bought 50 insect rings at Dollar tree ($5 total). Then I made a capture stick. (A dowel screwed into a round plaque from Hobby Lobby, painted purple with neon green splotches). The bugs are in a goldfish bowl. As I see or get a compliment on the class doing something exceptionally great (lining up w/no talking if that has been a problem, everyone doing homework, etc) they get a bug. It's not for every time they do something, but for when they do it extra good. If they capture all the bugs before the end of the year they get a movie/popcorn/milkshake/etc party. My kids this past year made it, the group before captured 8 bugs. It's all in the kids!
__________________ Be the change you want to see in the world.
We used it schoolwide last year for drawings. I am unsure about this year. Sometimes I found it to be excellent, and at other times I would not remember to fill out the sheets.
I've used "Caught Being Good" for several years, and I've had much success with it. I use "Caught Being Good" (CBG) clothespins. When I observe my students doing anything appropriate, outstanding, modeling correctly, etc., I give them a clothespin with CBG written on it, and they clip it onto their clothing. Believe it or not, I've never had any problems with them misusing the clothespins. At the end of the day, they get a classroom dollar for each pin. On Fridays, I allow them to spend their money. A piece of candy is 2 "dollars", a special pencil is 5 "dollars", game time on the computer is 10 "dollars", free time is 15 "dollars", and a Homework Pass is 20 "dollars". I teach fifth grade, and sadly one of the only teachers in the building that uses any type of positive reinforcement, the upcoming fifth graders really look forward to the "priviledge" of earning CBG pins!
That's neat! I do not know many teachers who use positive reinforcement strategies like those in the intermediate grades.
I'm thinking about how I want to implement Caught Being Good in my future classroom...
I am doing a garden/bee theme, and I found these character building posters from Frog Street Press that say things like Bee Kind, Bee Respectful, Bee Honest, etc. It also came with a reproducible award that says "______ was caught being _____!" that the student could fill out on their own. I was thinking about displaying the posters on a bulletin board, along with bee cut outs that I found at the Dollar Tree and a bug catcher. Student who are "caught being good" can "catch" a bug, write their name on it, and put it in the bug catcher.
I'm not exactly sure how it will work but that's my idea thus far...
That's neat! I do not know many teachers who use positive reinforcement strategies like those in the intermediate grades.
Thanks, I think one of the reasons it works so well with my fifth graders is that very few of the teachers in our school use any type of positive reinforcement. Also, I teach at a high-risk school, so many of our kids never have anyone to focus on the positives in their lives, they enjoy the recognition.
At the end of the day, they get a classroom dollar for each pin. On Fridays, I allow them to spend their money. A piece of candy is 2 "dollars", a special pencil is 5 "dollars", game time on the computer is 10 "dollars", free time is 15 "dollars", and a Homework Pass is 20 "dollars". I teach fifth grade, and sadly one of the only teachers in the building that uses any type of positive reinforcement, the upcoming fifth graders really look forward to the "priviledge" of earning CBG pins! 
Be the change you want to see in the world.
