How to Use Behavior Charts in the Classroom

Even the most experienced teacher sometimes struggles with student behavior or compliance. While the use of behavior charts is typically more common in the elementary classroom, you can use variations of such charts even in the older grades to manage a classroom community or modify the behavior of a single student. It takes some work, a lot of patience and perseverance, but your investment should pay off in terms of increased learning.

Difficulty:

Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Marble jar (optional)
• Colored clothespins (optional)

1. Decide whether you want (or need) to use a classroom-wide behavior chart or an individualized plan for a single student. Many teachers use classroom charts as a proactive measure as well as a way to use peer modeling. Students who consistently follow the rules and routines are able to show less-compliant peers what types of behavior are acceptable in the classroom.

2. Devise a method for keeping track of classroom behavior. Some common methods are marble jars and "traffic light" charts. With a marble jar, students place marbles into it for meeting target behaviors and when the jar is full, the whole class gets a reward. A "traffic light" chart is slightly more individualized in that students have labeled clothespins that they place on green, yellow or red, as directed by the teacher. Green stands for acceptable behavior, yellow is a warning signal and red represents a consequence or loss of privileges.

3. Limit the target behaviors for individual students, but let them have a wide base that takes into encompasses many possibilities. For example, if you have a student who interrupts or gets distracted, you may want to have "listens to instructions" as a target behavior. That would cover both behaviors.

4. Block out the behavior chart into increments of time that are both manageable for you and your student. Not only does the student need to have a period of time in which he can be successful, but you also need to have the time to check in with him. It may not be reasonable to expect a student to stay on target for two hours at a time, but it's also not reasonable to expect you to check in with him every 10 minutes.

5. Create, with your students, a menu of rewards to use. The items don't need to be tangible or complicated. They can be as simple as having five minutes of free time, the ability to choose a friend with whom to sit at lunchtime or a free homework pass.

6. Stick with the plan for a few weeks before modifying it. It's likely that you will see an initial spurt of compliance and then a period when students test the behavior plan. You can't judge the success of a behavior chart if you haven't given it a fair run.

Tips & Warnings

• Always verbalize the target behaviors clearly to the students and phrase them in terms of the behavior you want to see as opposed to the behavior you don't want to see. That way your student are clear about your expectation.

• Document the success and failure of a behavior chart. Take notes on how a classroom plan is working well (or not) and always keep copies of individual student plans. They will be helpful to refer to in meetings.

References

• Super Teacher Worksheets: Teachers Describe the Behavior Management Systems They Use in Their Classrooms