Good Behavior Game

Positive Peer Pressure. Behavior. Disruption. Aggression. At-Risk. Team. Game.

• Step 1: Choose a Time: Choose a time in the day when children are generally disruptive. Tell them they will be playing a game.

• Step 3: Group 'Em: Place children in 2-3 groups with equal numbers of girls and boys and students with behavior concerns in each group. Let them choose a group name. Write down team names where everyone can see.

• Step 3: Teach Rules: Review rules that the adult will be watching, give examples of appropriate behavior and inappropriate behavior. Role play examples and make sure to role play how teams should respond if they lose the game. Let the groups know how many marks disqualify them from winning. For example, if any team reaches 10 marks, they do not win. Any team with less than 10 marks is a "winner." Explain the reward for winning the game (examples listed in Tips section). Make sure all the children understand the rules and the game.

• Step 4: Game On: Set a period of time for the game to start and end. When the game period starts, mark broken rules next to the team name. As you make a mark use explicit teaching by saying "Terry, that is a talking out rule break." At the end of the game time tally up broken rules for each team.

• Step 5: Winners: Any team that met the criteria for winning. Winning teams should receive their reward. One option for winning teams that can be effective is wearing a "winner" tag. This is like a medal. Use paper and write "winner" on the paper then string it on yarn for the children to wear as a visible sign of their good behavior.

• Step 6: Dosing: Play the Good Behavior Game 3 times a week for 15 minutes. Slowly, increase the amount of time that the game is played by 10 minutes. The Game can be played for up to 3 hours. Eventually, the criterion can be changed to only allow 3 broken rules a day.

• When first using the Good Behavior Game, make sure to give out rewards immediately after finishing the game time.

• Over time, rewards can be given out after longer periods of time. For example, after playing the game for a couple weeks, it might be possible to give out rewards on Fridays only.

• As children become more familiar with the Good Behavior Game, it can be played in different situations.

• Response Cost: Give each team a certain amount of points. Set a criterion for winning based on how may points the groups will have at the end of the Game time.

• Mystery Motivators: Use basic Good Behavior Game rules but for the reward allow winning teams to choose from a Mystery Envelop. This is a manila envelop with a question mark on the front. Inside, slips of paper will have privileges written on them. At the end of the day, the winners can open the envelop to see what is inside.

• With a Better Behavior Booster: Give a large group motivator if all the groups meet a specific criteria. For example, if all the groups stay under 12 broken rules, then the whole group gets 15 minutes of free time.

• Plus Merit: Use basic Good Behavior Game rules except instead of only marking rule breaking, give groups a + if they follow a rule.