Reflective Behavior Plan: Getting Students Thinking About Their Behavior

"Am I loosing my mind?"

That is the question I ask myself daily as the school year draws to a close.  If you're like me, your desk is littered with a plethora of caffeinated beverages from coffee to diet coke. It's really the only way of keeping your brain functioning from minute to minute.

Our students' behaviors are increasing and effort drops off as they begin to realize that the end is in sight. All of the tricks and tools are coming out of the bag as we strive to keep our students learning and engaged.

One tool that I have found particularly effective to keep students motivated is the balloon countdown. You can read about it in my previous blog here.

However, no matter how awesome the behavior plan, there are always one or two students that won't get on board. Right? You talk with them, call for additional parent-teacher conferences, take away privileges, and the behaviors continue to interrupt and distract.

It is for these special friends that I have created The Reflective Behavior Plan. It's FREE at my TPT store here.

The Reflective Behavior Plan is great because it targets specific student behaviors. For some students it's easy to pick out an infinite amount of behaviors to correct. However, I select only 2-3 of the most interruptive and distracting behaviors. Once students have those behaviors under control you can move onto the next goal. Start with some small victories. A big victory in behavior is the result of a collection of small victories.

Example behaviors that I have been working on with my students include using a level 1 or 0 voice in the classroom, keeping hands to themselves, staying in their space, and using respectful words. Throughout the day, students score a 4, 3, 2, or 1 depending on how well they have met the goal.

Each student reflects on his/her score. This means that in the middle and at the end of the day, our special friends, will write about how their day is going and what they need to do to continue having a great day or to turn their day around.

When students earn a certain amount of 4's in the morning and afternoon they get their reward. In order for the plan to be most effective, the goals that students are working towards need to be things that are highly motivating to them so that they want to reach their goals. Rewards can be as simple as 5-10 minutes on the computer or doing a job for the teacher. I've also found that students love to earn a break to play with shaving cream.

With The Reflective Behavior Plan, I love how my students are keeping themselves accountable, and they are so proud when they see on paper how they are meeting their goals.

Try the Reflective Behavior Plan out in your classroom and let me know how it goes.

What are you using effectively to correct behaviors?

-Carly

I hope you have found this blog post helpful. To stay connected with Carly and Adam's teaching tips and classroom freebies be sure to follow us on Facebook, Pinterest, Teachers Pay Teachers, and subscribe to our blog!