R-E-S-P-E-C-T

♫ Find out what it means to me!♫

I want to start by saying that I have not mastered the art of behavior management. By nature, I am non-confrontational. I give way too many chances because I hate having to lay down the law. I have been a a parent for 7 years and a teacher for less than 2. It's a learning process. What I am about to share with you is not an original idea that I came up with because I am some sort of expert. It is a combination of ideas and information I have gathered from other teachers and put together to fit the needs of my music classes. My hope is that this will give you another tool to put in your teacher toolbox as you craft a behavior management plan for your classroom.

This is my Reward Board. 

Respect God. Respect Others. Respect the Classroom.

These are our 3 "respect rules". We spent the first few classes expanding on these and coming up with concrete ways we can show respect. Each class wrote down their ideas (except pre-k/kindergarten) and I posted them on the board under the appropriate "rule". I already had a list in mind that we were working towards, but children take more ownership when it's their ideas and not just what Mrs. Korecki told them. Once I had gathered ideas from all the classes, I combined similar ideas and put them into wording that all grades would understand. Here is what we came up with:

Respect God:
♫ Always do your best.
♫ Have a positive attitude.
♫ Be thankful for music!

Respect Others:
♫ Use whole body listening when someone is talking or performing.
♫ Don't interrupt! Raise your hand and wait to be called on.
♫ Follow directions the first time.

Respect the Classroom:
♫ Move in a safe way and stay in the zone.
*The zone is a marked off area of the classroom since I share a room with the art teacher. This helps keep the kids out of art supplies during music class.*
♫ Treat materials with care.
♫ Put things back in their place.

The expectation is that children will show respect in these ways during our time together, and when they do they get rewarded. Each class has a clothespin that clips on to the musical rainbow. Every class starts on the treble clef with the goal of trying to make it to the last note by the end of term. If they get to the last note, there will be a class party! Each term is a reset, and we start again. This is very motivating for kids! We have 3 terms a year, so the possibility of THREE parties is super exciting! They also love seeing how far across the rainbow they are compared to other classes. (I think a little competitiveness can be a good thing!)

To monitor how they are doing in the area of respect, I start each class with the word MUSIC written somewhere on my whiteboard. If they stop showing respect, letters start to get erased. The more letters erased, the greater the consequence. Here is the breakdown:

MUSIC 

Class moves two notes along the rainbow.

MUSI or MUS 

Class moves one note along the rainbow.

MU 

Class doesn't get to move any notes that day. :(

M 

It was a really rough day, and we didn't get much accomplished. 10 minutes of recess will be spent making up for our lost time. :(

no letters remaining 

This is as bad as it can get. Music class will be made up on their time (aka recess) and a letter will go home to parents. Thankfully, this has never happened and I pray it never will!

♫

I want to point out that this is a team effort. They get rewarded (or not) as a whole class. If there is just 1 or 2 students who are struggling, I chat with them individually and give logical consequences as needed. The class doesn't get "punished" because one child is having a hard time.

Unfortunately, the opposite is also true. There my be 1 or 2 students who consistently do their job, but still have to "suffer the consequence" because the class as a whole wasn't doing well. For now, I am not rewarding these star students. Instead, I let them know that I see them working hard to do their job. I thank them for being respectful. I tell them that I am impressed with their integrity- they did the right thing, even when their friends were not. I think that genuine encouragement is far more treasured than a sticker. (Although, who doesn't love a sticker?!) ⭐👍

So, that's my system! So far, it's been working really well. Most of my classes are well on their way to earning a party this term! 

I want to thank Dollar Tree for the awesome musical rainbow cut-outs. I would have spent way too much time trying to make something beautiful, and it probably wouldn't have looked half as nice. If you want more info about behavior management, Pinterest has a ton of ideas! But my favorite and most referenced one comes from Organized Chaos. Check out her behavior management posts HERE. 

Until the next time...
♫ ♥ Ashley