The 12 Days of Christmas - A Behavior Incentive

Hey y'all!  Here are some ideas for a Christmas behavior incentive! 

This was my view as I worked after school before Thanksgiving break.  Don't get overwhelmed if you aren't in the Christmas spirit before Thanksgiving, but that's when it's time to start planning! 

December in Kindergarten is one of my favorite months! It's full of crafts, learning, excitement, and fun!  My kinders always get a little rambunctious during this time, so years ago we came up with a behavior incentive called the 12 Days of Christmas!

I send a note home asking parents if they are able to donate a class set of presents.  Parents respond and I send them a confirmation letting them know what present to send in.  We're talking cheap presents here...yo-yos, bubbles, pencils, play-doh, erasers, silly straws, bouncy balls...the list goes on!   The parents shop and then they send in their presents ALREADY WRAPPED!  This shouldn't cause you any extra stress, because let's face it - who has time to wrap 12 class sets of presents?  Then, you place them under your tree.  Usually I have more than 12 parents respond and I say yes to everyone!  If we have more than 12 presents..sometimes we have double present days!

Each day we choose a present to work for.  Remember - they are prewrapped and just alike, so we are all working for the Santa presents today or the Snowman presents today etc.  I have a clip chart in my room..students must end the day on green or better in order to get a present in their bag. You can adjust this to fit any behavior management system, though!

I get the bags from Michael's.  They are $6.99 or $7.99 for 13.  I usually use a coupon on one set and my teacher discount on the other.  Last year they only had plain ones, so I added a die cut Christmas tree with scrapbook paper.

Check out the cutie bags they have this year!

These bags are the sturdiest and will hold their presents and not tear on the day they take them home.

When the 12 days is over, it's time for our party and we sit in a huge circle and open our presents.  It's basically insanity.  The kids get so excited over their presents!  This is also a great reflection time for students.  If they had a day they missed a present, they will see that they are missing something and reflect about that.  Rarely do students miss a present because all it takes is a simple reminder that they are working for something.

Interested in trying this incentive with your class?  I have an editable freebie for you!  Get busy editing and sending home so your parents can get busy shopping and you can get started!   You only need a few presents to start, so if it seems overwhelming to get started now, think of a few dependable parents and see if they can get you a few presents quick to get started.  Pencils, candy canes, and erasers are super easy to get started with.  The kids will have no idea what they are working for anyway!  That will give other parents time to shop and turn things in.

Good luck!  If you have any questions, feel free to ask! :)  I hope this brings some extra good behavior to your classroom during these crazy busy months! 

Behavior Management

Hey friends! More on the Back 2 School front - I told you you couldn't hide from it! I'm linking up with Mrs. D's Corner and Ms. V's Busy Bees for some topics that will help you get ready for the school year.

I hesitated a little to link up for this one because I read a few posts lately about people who ditched their clip charts and how terrible they are, but let me just say those posts haven't converted me and if you are a clip chart hater, this one isn't going to convert you.  I believe in the clip chart, so I am going to explain how I use it and how it has successfully worked in my classroom for the past 2 years.

Here's the clip chart: (Or part of it anyway, it is Summer after all and I'm searching through pictures and this is as good as it gets for now!)

Basically, you take this: (Freebie!)

And attach it with ribbon.  Then, each child gets a clip. (A cheap wooden clothespin.) You can write their name on them with a marker...I am crazy so I print them on labels, cut them,  and Mod Podge them on.  Do your thing - whatever you like! 

So how does it work?  You have rules...you explain the rules...when a student is breaking a rule, I give them a verbal warning.  If they break it again, they move their clip down.  This is supposed to make them think - "Hey I need to get myself back together!" and most of the time it does! The student needs to move the clip.  This gives them accountability.  Can they move their clip back up? YES!!! That is the MOST IMPORTANT part of this system.  If they make a mistake at 8:00am they are not still being punished for that mistake at the end of the day! This system is very fluid, kids move up and down ALL.DAY.LONG. 

It's super important they know the rules and what is expected of them. Spend lots of time going over the rules and making sure they know what all of them mean, whatever your rules are.  These are the ones I use.

So how do they move up? You catch them being good.  When they do something you ask them the very first time, help a friend, do something without asking, are the quietest student in line, you are making an example because their behavior is so good, they are improving a behavior you have previously had to get on them before...you know how to make it positive...it's so easy to help them move that clip up!

Now - how do the parents know about their behavior? With a calendar of course!  Every day at the end of the day, we pass out our homework folders.  The students take out their behavior charts and we color them in. In the beginning of the year, this is time consuming, but by the end of the year its like a well oiled machine.  My assistant or I call out the colors and the other circulates to make sure they are coloring in their charts or help anyone who needs it.

This is what the chart looks like.  At the beginning of the month, you get the students to color in their chart on the right hand side.  You have them color in the square each day and their parent signs each night.  This is an important communication between home and school! 

We keep them in a plastic three prong folder in a page protector.  I usually reduce them and copy them 2 to a page on 8 1/2 x 14 paper...but remember it's Summer and I'm working with what I've got here :)  The smaller size makes it easier to get them in and out of the page protector.

So what do I do with these? At the end of the week, if you've been on green or better ALL week - you go to the treasure box! The treasure box has Dollar Tree type items in it donated from parents.  I also keep them as a record just in case I need them for parent meetings.

I also use these notes as a positive form of reinforcement.  I don't send them all the time, but I copy them on colored copy paper and write on them with fancy Sharpie markers.  The kids love it :) 

Other things I use for positive reinforcement?

I put them in a jar and call them Smart Skittles! My students will work hard for a Smart Skittle! 

I also use stickers, extra recess, iPad time, LOTS and LOTS of positive praise.  Did you know you are supposed to say 5 positive things for every negative thing? Yep - it's true! 

I hope this post has helped explain how I use the clip chart just a little!  Would love to hear your comments as to what you use for Behavior Management! 

If you want to read other Behavior Management posts, just click below to get to them :) 

Elf on the Shelf and a Behavior Incentive!

How exciting! It's December!  This is one of my favorite times of year in Kindergarten because of all the fun activities for Christmas.  We get to learn about Christmas all over the world and every activity and subject can be linked back to Christmas.  Remember the Christmas tree picture I posted the other day? It's just a mildly exciting time of year as well.  So, every now and again we need a little something extra to work for.  Intro my 2 behavior management techniques for December!

We received a special delivery from the North Pole today!  It was ice cold (out of the freezer shhhh!) and the students were beyond excited! Mailing Label can be found here!

What was inside you ask?

Meet Jolly Striped Socks aka Jolly :) 

We rolled dice from Jennifer Drake's elf unit to name our elf!  Note from Santa can be found here.

We got several choices and then we voted.

While we were at lunch, she escaped her box and perched at the top of our Christmas tree.  The kids were beyond excited when we returned!  Jolly and I had a heart to heart today when my friends weren't listening...they straightened right up.  No one wants Jolly to report them to Santa.  I'm loving this diva already!

The next thing we use as a behavior incentive is called the 12 Days of Christmas.  Basically, I send a note home asking parents to send in a class set of presents.  We're talking cheap here...bouncy balls, pencils, candy canes, small books, yo-yo's etc.  The parents send in the items pre-wrapped and we put them under the tree.

Each day we choose a present to work for.  If students keep their clip on green or better, at the end of the day they place a present in their bag.

These bags are from Michael's and they are $6.99 for a baker's dozen. I used a coupon plus they have a teacher discount.  I used scrapbook paper to diecut Christmas trees and added a label with their name at the bottom.  I have done this for 8 years and these bag seem to hold up the best and not tear on the day to take them home.

By the time 12 days is up, we have our party and we sit in a circle and open our presents. This is a great reflection time for students if they are missing a specific present.  Rarely do students miss a present because all it takes is once simple reminder that we are working for something specific. 

Because I love you guys so, I made a little editable pack for you!

Grab the pack and edit the letters and send them on home!  You could adjust this to use this year or save it for next.  Enjoy!

Don't forget, today is the last day of the Cyber Sale on Teachers Pay Teachers. 

You have 5 hours to grab everything at 28% off.  I hope you find something you can use!