Behavior Expectations

Our School Rules

Frank J. Smith School has a universal Code of Conduct. No matter where students are - the bus, the lunch room, the playground, the bathroom, any teacher or staff's classroom or office, etc. - the standards are always the same. All adults at FJS help students to follow these three expectations. Notice that they are non-specific and include both academic and social expectations. We refer to the Code of Conduct in our kindergarten class on a daily basis, and we also have school-wide assemblies about it throughout the year. Discuss it at home too!

Classroom Clip Chart

Our behavior clip chart is put into action after the class has had some time to learn and practice following the Frank J.Smith School Code of Conduct. You will notice that each student's clothespin begins every day on the green section, "Ready to Learn." When a student is caught doing something wonderful, including being a role model for our three Code of Conduct statements, they are recognized quietly by a teacher and asked to move their clip up one level. If the opposite occurs, and a student is not meeting our three Code of Conduct expectations, then they are quietly asked to move their clip down a level. The choices a student makes throughout the day effect their clip. For example, a student may have tough morning and be asked to move down two times on the clip chart, first to yellow, "Warning," and then to orange, "Stop and Think." However, that same student has the opportunity to move back up over the course of the rest of that day. Each time they are caught doing the right thing, they can move back up to yellow, back up to green, and even higher! The flexibility of the clip chart allows students to turn their day around and make better choices if it is not going well. If a student has fallen down to the red level however, the consequence would still remain in place even if they move back up. Examples of consequences involve losing a special privilege in the classroom, speaking to the principal, a phone call home, or a written apology. It would be rare that students have moved all the way down to red, "Consequence," and also a rare but celebratory occurrence that students move all the way up to pink, "Super Student."

Rewards

After plenty of time for practicing both the Code of Conduct and the clip chart, we will begin tying in rewards. At the end of each day, students will take note of where they have ended up on the behavior clip chart. If they are on green or above, they will earn points for the day! If they are below green, they will not earn any points. No points would be taken away for being below green. The points are tabulated on a website called Class Dojo. This website allows each child to choose a cute "dojo" character to represent them.

The points each student is awarded each day are weighted to reflect which level of the clip chart you were on. Green, "Ready to Learn," earns one point. Blue, "Good Day," earns two points. Purple, "Great Day," earns three points. Pink, "Super Student," earns four points. These points accumulate each day a student is earning them, until they reach their ultimate goal of 20 points.

When a student has earned 20 points, they get to choose a coupon! At first, we will only have a choice of three coupons, but as the year continues I will introduce more so as to continually keep students interested in earning a new coupon! The following are the coupons we have to offer:

Fuzzy Friend - Bring a small-sized stuffed animal to school for the day!
Show and Tell - Bring in a special item to present to the class!
Brain Break - Choose a brain break for the class!
Special Seating - Sit in the special rainbow chair for the day!
Super Supplies - Use special crayons, markers, pencils for the day!
Story Time - Bring in a favorite book from home that we can read as a class!
Note Home - Have your parents read a note about what a great job you're doing in school!
Prize Box - Visit the prize box and pick out something special!

The coupon will be sent home with my signature so you can be made aware that your kindergartner has earned one at their individualized pace! Then the process begins anew, and the Dojo points are reset to zero. Thank you for your support in encouraging good behavior in school!

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