Classroom Practices That Aren’t Helping Fix Bad Behavior

I know that based off the our previous posts you are probably thinking, "Wow. She's perfect. What an amazing teacher & overall human being. She never makes mistakes." 

Why, yes, I am. 

Okay, not really. I think we need to be honest as caregivers and teachers about when we fall short. 

A couple of years ago, my Pre-K class went through a period of "misbehaving." They argued with one another, they wouldn't stand in line, or sit still at Circle Time. They seemed to be acting more aggressively towards one another. So my co-teacher and I came up with one of those common ideas, that's really trick and messy business, a behavior chart. 

I thought I was being helpful. We decided that it would not have marks for unwanted (i.e. bad) behavior. It would be rewarding good behavior. Each child's name had several categories next to it, like "Good Listener", "Community Helper", "Stayed in Line." We called it the "Star Chart." How great and progressive were we?* 

The kids got a check at the end of each day for every category they had achieved. At the end of the week, they earned stars for all of their check marks. And with these stars they were allowed to buy a prize from the prize box. That's right, we monetized our classroom. Basically, we paid our kids to act like we wanted. 

Such a bad idea.

The kids began behaving the way we wanted, but they weren't motivated internally. And more than that, we never spent the time trying to figure out what was going on with our kids. What was causing the conflict? I have no idea. Because I didn't try to know. I went for the quick fix. Sure, it made my job a little easier, but it didn't help my students.

I would love to tell you that I took a step back, reflected on the situation, and became aware of my mistakes. Say that I stopped the chart after the first week and revamped how I engaged my students and made conflict a constructive part of our classroom experience. Nope. I kept on trucking with it.

During our break week between the end of the school year and when Summer session starts, my co-teacher and I looked at this chart and realized it had to go. I don't think we had any in depth discussion, we just had some gnawing feeling in our gut that this wasn't right.

Think of it this way. Imagine going to work everyday and there is a large chart on the wall. Everyone you work with can see it. And everyday, your boss puts up a color to tell everyone else how bad or good you are at your job. They may not know that you’re going through a divorce or that you didn’t get a good night’s sleep, but they do know you’re too slow, too loud, or not fast enough. And all your coworkers know too.

Even if your job only focused on the good things. A star for being quiet at your desk or for never needing to stretch and move. You would see that blank space and know you had failed. And so would everyone else.

And if that sounds like an unappealing place to work, then that classroom is probably unappealing to your students as well.

After realizing that, I started creating spaces for conversation and making my classroom a place where we figure out ways to work together or change our room to be helpful. I am always striving to make my class that place even if I still fall short at times.

I guess, if all else fails, I could make myself a Star Chart. I have been eyeing that tiara hair clip for a couple of years now.