Every teacher has their own special way to manage behavior or "keep the peace" in their room. As music teachers, we usually service most, if not all of the school, so coming up with something that works universally for every class is quite the challenge. In my room, I've created two different kinds of incentives for my students: individual and whole-class.
INDIVIDUAL - I created a set of grade-level specific music flash cards that are color-coded for each of the grades I teach (1st - 5th). They are in the front of the room and separated into individual bins labeled 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th. When a student answers a question correctly or assists me or another student with a lesson, they can go select a card. At the end of class, they hand the card back to me for a skittle or a sticker. If there is time at the end of class, I'll ask those students who have cards to come up to the front and share the musical term/definition on their card with the rest of the class.
WHOLE-CLASS - I have a clip chart in the front of the room with every classroom teacher's name on it. The chart is color-coded as follows:
Blue - Standing Ovation
Light Blue - Bravo
Green - Round of Applause
Yellow - 2 thumbs up
Orange - 1 thumb up / 1 thumb down
Red - 2 thumbs down
Purple - Award Winning
All classes start the year out on "Yellow - 2 thumbs up". During each class period, depending on class-wide behavior, their clip moves up or down. At the end of each quarter (9 weeks), the classes whose clips are on "Purple - Award Winning", get a prize or game day. All clips move back to yellow at the beginning of the next quarter.
INDIVIDUAL - I created a set of grade-level specific music flash cards that are color-coded for each of the grades I teach (1st - 5th). They are in the front of the room and separated into individual bins labeled 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th. When a student answers a question correctly or assists me or another student with a lesson, they can go select a card. At the end of class, they hand the card back to me for a skittle or a sticker. If there is time at the end of class, I'll ask those students who have cards to come up to the front and share the musical term/definition on their card with the rest of the class.
WHOLE-CLASS - I have a clip chart in the front of the room with every classroom teacher's name on it. The chart is color-coded as follows:
Blue - Standing Ovation
Light Blue - Bravo
Green - Round of Applause
Yellow - 2 thumbs up
Orange - 1 thumb up / 1 thumb down
Red - 2 thumbs down
Purple - Award Winning
All classes start the year out on "Yellow - 2 thumbs up". During each class period, depending on class-wide behavior, their clip moves up or down. At the end of each quarter (9 weeks), the classes whose clips are on "Purple - Award Winning", get a prize or game day. All clips move back to yellow at the beginning of the next quarter.
What do you use in your classroom that works? Comment below.
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