Classroom Management

So this is about the time of year when I begin waking up in the middle of the night (usually around 3:00 am)thinking about what I want to do in my classroom next year.  I've heard a lot of people talking about classroom management lately, so I thought I would share my behavior board.
   I like the idea of a fluid behavior management system, so that if kids make poor choices, they still have the opportunity to correct their mistakes and make their behavior better.  I know a lot of people use the colored squares and clips, but when I have a classroom theme, I like everything to center around that theme.  Here's how to create a great themed behavior board:

  First, find a great bulletin board set to match your classroom theme.  If you are doing a camping theme, for example, you might use this one:
   (this is the one I used in my classroom last year).
Most of these sets come with 5- 10 large pieces and 20-30 small pieces for kids' names.  This one has s'mores for the kids.

Next, you need to choose which pieces you want to go with each section of your behavior board.  When I used this set, each student had a s'more with their name on it. The students began on the yellow sign which I had labeled, "Happy Campers Have Great Behavior".  When they made good choices, they would move their s'more to the tree, then to the tent, then to the fire (where all good s'more want to be!).  If they chose to make poor choices, they would move to the skunk (5 min. time out), then to the dock (10 min.) then to the lodge (parent call and 15 min.) and finally, to the moose (referral).

The important thing is to look at the pieces you're using for the kids' names and plan your board around those.  For example, if you're using ships, you might want to get to an island and stay away from a shark.   

You can also mix and match sets to create your behavior board. This happened with my garden theme.  I had this set:

It was a large bulletin board set that came in different pieces to be put together.  I simply took each of the flowers and that was the "good behavior" side of my board.  I used these small bugs for the kids' names:

For the "poor choices" side of the board, I knew that I wanted to include some things that bugs would want to stay away from, so I used clip art to create a net and a bug jar.  Then, I used a two sided frog decoration for my referral step (what bug would want to be eaten by a frog?!). 

I wish I had pictures of the sets in use, but I must have deleted them in my end of the year cleaning frenzy!
My kids really enjoy these boards and they are a great way to incorporate your classroom theme!