I am curious as to how you handle discipline in your first grade classrooms. I have a behavior chart where the students move their "bees" according to the behavior. During the morning their behavior is good because they are focused on not missing any of their recess time. However, in the afternoon I do not have recess for them to earn like we do in the morning, so I am looking for some good incentive for them to earn for afternoon behavior. I am not one to carry behavior problems over to the next day, so any suggestions for something that can be earned on a daily basis for the second half of the day?
I do 1, 2, 3 Magic! its where the students move up. 1 being the best place to be. They earn classroom money for being on 1 all day.... After 1 I give them a warning and then they have tomove their magnet to 2 and then 3 which is very bad. I have a visual set up for them to remind them about their behavior and I also give many, many, many rewards.
Maybe you can give them a sticker or pencils for having great behavior during the second aprt of the day, or a note home as a consequence.
Thanks for your reply! I do something similar to what you are talking about. I have a chart where they move up and down according to behavior. They have a warning, then begin to miss minutes of recess (which is a HUGE deal to them), then a "break" from the class, then phone call home. The problem I have is that I cannot find anything that "compares" to missing recess. In the morning they try so hard to be sure they do not miss recess.... in the afternoon I need something that can be as important to them as that. I already have a system with giving stamps and stickers in order to earn a trip to the prize box after earning so many....but that is just not as important to them as their play time. So I guess what I really need is something that they really CARE about for the afternoon....something really exciting to them that they can work for daily. I have a rather difficult class this year, and they are not your typical sweet and easy to please bunch!
I had this same problem this year with a 5th grade student. Behavior was fine for the morning because he didn't want to miss lunch recess (my kids went out for recess before lunch) but the afternoon was an issue. His mom and I decided that if he had trouble controlling his behavior in the afternoon that he would miss recess time with his friends when he got off the bus in the am. This only had to happen once or twice. Kids don't want to miss ANY recess time but especially when they first arrive at school. I know you didn't want to do a carry over but it sounds like recess is a motivator for your little ones. Good luck!
I was having the same problem last year, until I started giving a Jolly Rancher to each student who had maintained an A or B throughout the school day. It was cheap, but effective motivation for most (though sadly not all) of my VERY low-income, urban students!
I also utilize Jolly Ranchers and gummy bears for caught being good moments. Sometimes the quietest working table (especially in the afternoon) would earn the treat and lots of compliments.
