Re: Tough 3rd and 4th crowd...oops! one more thing!

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I completely forgot! The points ideas that the other poster gave you
are great! It's always good for them to have something to work towards.

That said, you might also ask their classroom teachers and see if you
can piggy-back off of their behavior plans as well. I have a second
grade teacher who uses marbles as rewards for her kids. They can
earn marbles for just about anything and everything -- and they can
earn them in my class too! Her marble jar and how she uses it is
genius, so I'm always glad to contribute. In fact, it's so
successful that there are two other classes who are earning marbles
in their classrooms and when they come to me and to the other
specials teachers. Since those teachers have started using those --
my behavior problems have pretty much disappeared.

One thing I do, I put the agenda on the board because those classes
earn a marble for every activity we finish (keeps the talking down --
and keeps their focus), and they earn a bonus marble (at least one)
for really good behavior and self-control. Putting the agenda on the
board really helps my students follow what we're doing and know what
is coming next. I don't make it complicated -- it takes me two
minutes to tell them what we're doing.

That's just a suggestion. It might help some of your worst offenders
keep focus -- or at least know when the activity that they hate is
getting over with. :)

Also, keep your activities fairly short. Remember, kids are used to
sitting in front of the TV -- and we get commercials every 8-10
minutes. So, keep activities about that long for those 3rd and 4th
graders -- changing activities quickly -- getting them up and moving,
and give them fun songs to sing will really make a difference! I
promise! :)

Good luck!

kitmusic/OK

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