Behavior Clip Chart

 I finally created my behavior clip chart for my class. It wasn't difficult, but for a perfectionist like me you can get easily frustrated. But I had to say to myself "this is only the guinea pig and if it doesn't work out I can make a new one". But now that I am finished I hope that I don't have to make a new one because I kind of like this one. I think if I do have to make a new one, I will try to get thicker construction paper.

 Okay so what is a clip chart? The chart has 7 steps and students always begin in the neutral spot which is called Ready to Learn. Now everything before and after Ready to Learn is up to you. But on my chart starting from the  top is: AWESOME! (Purple-6 in. tall), Great Job! (Pink-6 in.), Good Day (Blue-6 in.), Ready to Learn (Green-8in.), Think About It (Yellow-6 in.), Teacher's Choice (Orange-6in.) and Parent Contact (Red-6 in.). Now I have seen so many different versions of this chart but if you want the source, click go to New Management. Of course the one there the colors are in different order. It is entirely up to you but when I think of red, I think of stop can't go anymore. And my measurements for each section will fit a class size of 20, keep adding on 2 inches for classes that are 24 or more. Just check the new management's site for the ebook on how to create your own (it's free!)
 
    When I was working in 2nd grade in 2009, they had a clip chart and at first I didn't really care for it because I felt that it was too many changes and too many chances for students to get frustrated about their clip. And then this year in my own classroom I just had a chart with 3 choices and no room for my good students to move up. Well I have come back to the clip chart and I am willing to try it in my classroom. Plus, I have gathered some great ideas while blogging about incentives for my students. One such idea is from Clutter-Free Classroom/Littlest Learners, that when students reach outstanding (or in my case Awesome!) they get a star sticker on their clothespin. And once they reach 5 star stickers they can trade in their clothespin for a new color clothespin, one they color themselves to put on the chart. So it really isn't focusing on the negative, students have an incentive to look forward to plus I bet the colored ones would look pretty cool compared to the plain ones. I found a behavior report that I liked on Mrs. Smith's classroom page then I created one like it to fit my chart. Go to her page for the original, just scroll down to where it says Behavior Management. Also Keeping It True in K-1-2 added the comment boxes on hers which made since, so I had to add them to mine :)

Here is a picture with the clips on. Sorry for the poor lighting and it's not laminated yet. Here is my behavior report too and the labels for the chart if you want to try it out yourself.
 Phew! I just put most of the good tips I learned this summer to good use... I even uploaded to Google Docs, something I thought I wouldn't get a chance to do, my creative juices are just not flowing.:-/