Positive Behavioral Supports

Visual Behavioral Supports

This is my behavioral system I have used in a classroom for years with students with a variety of ability levels. Below you will find a link for the visual cues. I purchased library pockets, wrote the students name on each pocket, then the kids added stickers. Each year we have a theme. This particular year was the ocean so the stickers are all from Finding Nemo. Then I laminated each pocket and made it so the pockets could open again use either an exacto knife or small sharp scissors. Each pocket has 4 pieces of laminated colored construction paper cut to a 3x5 size. The colors are green, yellow, red, and black. 

Everyday the students began their day with a green card. This meant their behavior was good. Then if they broke a rule all I had to say was "go pull a card" this meant they had to place the next color in front which is yellow. Yellow is simply a warning, to help them remember to follow the rules. Now if they changed their behavior and worked hard I would tell them to change their card back to green. However when they continued to misbehave they would pull another card. This would result in a red card and required them to fill out a "cool down card" (explained below). Even from a red card they could earn their way back to green, so there was always something to work towards. The final color in this system is black and this meant that they did not change their behavior and now the cool down card would be sent home and required a parent signature.

For those students who always stay on green I wanted to add an incentive to keep them motivated. I added stars to our behavioral system. When a student shared, played well with others, worked hard, etc. I would say go place a star by your pocket. Then at the end of the school day we would have a small reinforcement for each star the child earned. This ranged from stickers, small treats, extra play time, and more. At the beginning of each year I gave out "star prizes" every day to get the kiddos motivated. As they became motivated I moved to a random reinforcement schedule (at least 1 time per week). Now if a child had earned a star or 2 and then they had to pull a card they lost their stars. This behavior system was powerful. I have taught students with significant behaviors and for the most part, all students stay on a green card all day, and earn stars. I don't consider myself a pushover teacher either. I expect my kids to work hard, play hard, and learn lots. The fact that they can control their behaviors, earn positive rewards is incredible. 

Cool Down Card - Behavior Support

The Cool Down Card gives your students a little time to think about what they have done. I have used this cool down card for students with a variety of ability levels. My students that are lower functioning I have them tell me their answers for each question. If they have the capability to write I write their answers with a yellow highlighter and then they trace the writing. If the student cannot write I write the answers for them. My students that are higher functioning I have them fill the paper out on their own. This process allows the student time to cool down, process what they did wrong, and then rejoin the class.

On a side note my classroom walls are covered in carpet so everything is stuck up with Velcro.

 Cool Down Card
Visual Behavioral Supports