So, I've tried to do this blog thing 13 times over now. But, something happened in my classroom today and I'm thinking I want to start documenting my thoughts on it.
Here's what happened, I recently visited a classroom teacher on a Math visit and she had this rainbow colored chart in room with clothespins all up and down the side of it. Now, being a part of the teaching community I was quickly able to decipher just what was going on. It was a behavior tracking chart, and better yet, a self-monitoring behavior chart.
I did a little bit of sleuth work on Google/Pinterest and found it! Here's the e-book link if you'd like to read more: http://www.newmanagement.com/ebooks/pdf/clip_chart_ebook.pdf
Anyway, I thought about implementing into my daily routine and just decided to start it today. And here's the run-down of what happened:
No one had to be "clipped down" past the "Ready to Learn" section, which is pretty stinking awesome. Now, I realize that it's the first day of our little honeymoon of behavior monitoring, so the glamour of fancy new chart hasn't worn off just yet.
However, there was a moment today when I told a student he had to "clip down" because he didn't follow my directions. He "clipped down" from "Great Job" to "Good Day" and was just devastated that he had to do that. I supposed the physical act of moving down was kind of a bummer for him, but he was still in the positive portion of the chart. Hmmm....this was interesting to me because this particular kiddo has such a hard time getting motivated and getting any work done at all. And granted, it's the first day, but I'm hoping he becomes motivated by this.
Here's a picture of what it looks like:
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I'm hoping I can blog daily about the progress my class is making with this self-monitoring behavior system.
That's all for now. Happy Tuesday!
