Behavior Folders
This plastic folder is now your child’s “Behavior Folder.” Please put the paper-clipped packet in the prongs. Doing this for us saves a lot of wear and tear on our fingertips (thank you). Many important dates are recorded throughout the behavior calendar to help organize your time. Other dates will hopefully make it into the newsletters.
With this folder I can communicate with you daily about your child’s behavior. Please initial and return it every day. Great days are going to be marked with a big star, smiley face, sticker, or stamp. I have numbers on the behavior form in the folder telling you how your child’s behavior is affecting her/him and others in the classroom.
Before I mark or write anything in the behavior folder, the children start with a clip attached to the bottom of their shirt. This clip stands for a free warning. I tell the children that everyone makes mistakes and you have an opportunity to learn from your mistake. Let’s face it, even adults need a warning every once in awhile. Raise your hand if you have been at a business meeting and someone keeps talking and talking when the presenter wants to begin. The clip is taken for the day if their behavior needs to be redirected to get back on track.
Any warnings after that are as follows:
1 redirect = move behavior person to green on the traffic light. There is no consequence, but it does get written in their folder.
2 redirects = ½ of recess will be lost (Children will be encouraged to walk around the playground so they still get physical activity.)
3 redirects = no recess (Children will be encouraged to walk around the playground so they still get physical activity.)
4 redirects = sit by yourself away from your team table or possibly a visit to the office (depending on what the problem is or if it is a behavior that is repeating itself.)
I will take the liberty to skip a step in the plan depending on the severity of the misbehavior.
It might be helpful for us if you had an action plan at home too if you are not seeing a positive change in behavior. It shows your child that we are on the same team. Hopefully s/he will get the message that you take his/her behavior at school seriously.
If you do choose to have consequences at home you might want to sit down and think of a consequence for the number earned (no TV for the evening, no Play Station, going to bed early, bedtime snack taken away, writing an apology, etc). Something that is consistent so that s/he will know that when such and such happens, then this is going to happen at home. Sometimes it takes awhile to figure out what will make an impact on behavior.
Same thing goes for when s/he is making an improvement in behavior. Celebrate it, have a plan to do something fun if s/he gets stars all week (go to the movies, have a family game night, s/he can invite a friend over to play, go get ice-cream, go to the park, etc.). I would encourage fun family/social things over toys if possible.
For a good day, the children also receive a sticker to put on a chart. If your child had an excellent day and kept his/her clip, s/he will get 2 stickers for his/her chart. When their chart is full, they get to pick out of the “treasure drawer.” If you have been longing to get rid of fast food toys (like when they fall asleep at night) feel free to sneak a bag into me and I will gladly recycle them. You can try the honest approach, but I have found that does not go over very well unless it is a duplicate toy.
If you have any questions, please get in touch with me.
Educationally yours,
Mrs. Leising
Bright Elementary provides opportunities for quality education. Staff and parents cooperate to maintain a secure learning environment and instill the desire to become kind, responsible lifelong learners.
Bucket Fillers and Warm Fuzzies
Has your child come home saying s/he is a bucket filler or that someone helped fill his/her bucket today? Are you wondering what it means? Let me explain . . .
It is with great pleasure that I am introducing this to my classroom environment. I have this awesome book called Have You Filled a Bucket Today? A Guide to Daily Happiness for Kids. Basically, it says that we all carry an invisible bucket that contains our feelings. When our bucket is full, we feel great. When our bucket is empty, we feel sad. A bucket filler is someone who says or does nice things for other people. By doing this, they are filling other people’s buckets and filling their own bucket at the same time. On the other hand, a bucket dipper says or does things to cause people to feel bad. A bucket dipper empties their own bucket when they say and do mean things.
It teaches children the concept of giving back in a light-hearted but appropriate way. Examples are given so that children can learn ways to help others at home and school. The best message of all is the affirmation that giving not only helps the receiver but the mere act of giving also benefits the giver.
In our classroom, each student has a bucket. Everyone is encouraged to fill buckets by saying or doing nice things. Someone other than themselves has to report their act of kindness or Mrs. Bass and I have to catch them in the act. Kind actions will earn them a warm fuzzy (little pom-pom) for their bucket. When the bucket is full, they will take home a “real” warm fuzzy as a reward for their thoughtfulness and kindness.
If you would like to learn more about “bucket filling”, visit the Bucket Fillers website, www.bucketfillers101.com. Bucket Fillers offer a free weekly e-newsletter for parents and teachers.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Leising
Have you filled a bucket today?