So many of us have good ideas, but little time to share. If you have a tip for

classroom and discipline management, please share!

Behavior Ladder (email Laura Miller at laura.miller@montgomery.kyschools.us if you have questions about this behavior system)

Try the following strategy for positive reinforcement. Display on a classroom bulletin board a poster board ladder with six rungs. Provide each student with a clothespin with his or her name on it. Every day, have students clip their clothespins to the third rung of the ladder. (A quick attendance check!) When a student exhibits good behavior, move the clothespin up a rung. When a student does something inappropriate, move his or her clothespin down a rung. At the end of the day, allow students to choose beads corresponding to whatever rung their clothespin is on, for example: top rung, 2 beads; second rung, 1 sparkle bead; third rung, 1 bead; fourth rung, -10 minutes recess; fifth rung, no recess; bottom rung, note in agenda book or phone call to parent. (This behavior system draws attention to good behavior rather than bad, unlike most behavior systems which simply track negative behavior.) Students string their beads onto shoestrings that they keep in their desks or pencil boxes. When the shoestrings reach a predetermined length (ex. 10 beads), they trade them in for a reward (treasure box)and start on a new bracelet. Students try to see how many bracelets they can earn by the end of the year.

This behavior plan has made a tremendous difference in my classroom. Students work extremely hard to move their clip up higher on the ladder; I very rarely ever have a student miss recess. Note: If a student does something extraordinary,then I move his/her individual clip up, but there are also times in the day when every student has the opportunity to move his/her clip up......ex. students who stayed on task during literacy center time get to move their clip up a rung; this helps ensure that all students get treated fairly and have opportunities to move their clip up everyday. If you would like to see a picture of my behavior ladder, click on Files/Ladder.**