Friday, May 25, 2012

Behavior and Consequences

We are a PBIS school (Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports)  We give out "rockets" to kids making safe, responsible, and respectful choices.  We try and re-teach when misbehavior occurs rather than going to straight to a punishment.  Anyway this week I confiscated a note that had been passed back and forth between two girls.  It was a horrible note, that started out with one of my favorite questions (said sarcastically), "Why aren't you being my friend?"  From there the note got worse and worse and included fu....yes fu!  They didn't write out the word, just fu back and forth, back and forth.  (Do they even know what fu even means?)  One of the girls is a stinker, most of the time.  The other one is so sweet, that I was shocked to find her involved.  Anyway we talked, I wrote them "minor alerts" (These are like mini-referrals) And we worked out a consequence.





I am a huge believer in trying to make consequences match actions, so we decided that each girl needed to write five kind and positive notes to five people in the class, including each other.  Once they were finished, what they had to write was so sweet.  They delivered their new notes and all kinds hugging ensued!

Here are some of the note contents:
Dear McKenzie, 
You are funny and good at a lot of things.   I really want to be your friend for a long time and I am sorry about the mean things I wrote to you.  I hope we are in class together next year.


Dear Bailey,
You are really nice to everyone.  I am glad you are nice to me.  When you grow up I think you will be nice still.  Thank you for letting me cut you, in line.  You are a good friend and you are cute.
Love,
Grace
P.S You are funny and fun to play with.


Dear Emily,
You are nice and kind.  Thank you for playing with me and being my friend.  You make me happy when I am sad.  I like you a lot.

So now we are all happy and friendly again...13 more days to go!  I am in no way ready for this year to be over.  1)  I LOVE my group of chickadees (even the ones mentioned above) and 2)  I have a LOT to do in the next two weeks!

Happy Friday, 
 

6 comments:

  1. Such cute notes that they wrote! This time of year just seems to bring out the not so nice side sometimes!
    Lori
    Conversations in Literacy

    ReplyDelete
  2. Aww. Those notes are so cute!! We are also PBIS school. We have a million steps before referrals, but we also have a very "tough" crowd at my school. I'm always trying to match consequences to actions, sometimes it is very hard! I took a chair away from a student once because he wouldn't stop sitting on it like a frog or leaning back. He looked at me like I was crazy because I made him stand while I finished my lesson. He has never tried to fall out of his chair since that day though :) WIN! lol

    Katie
    Dirty Hands and Lesson Plans

    ReplyDelete
  3. Those notes were so sweet. Like Lori said, this time of year definitely doesn't bring out the best in the kiddies! Great idea!

    Lisa
    Learning Is Something to Treasure

    ReplyDelete
  4. Those notes are precious! I think girls can be pretty mean sometimes and it starts out so young!! I think this time of year is stressful for owlets and chickadees. Even though summer is a wonderful time, they anticipate separation from teachers and friends. If we do our job right they are sad to leave us! One of my owlets has intentionally been failing his spelling tests so he can repeat first grade!
    Have a great weekend...Jenny
    Owl Things First

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That is adorable! My chickadees just tell me I should get smarter and move up a grade with them:-)

      Delete