Positive behaviour>Celebration
It is important within this programme to celebrate achievement. This achievement may be based around always being good and well-behaved, or it may be about moving forwards, from a less successful position.
It is essential to look for movement in the right direction, as well as conformity to the appropriate model.
One of the ways of doing this is to have a tally chart for Green sheets prominently placed in each classroom. This way, students can easily see what their class or team have been achieving during the week or term and where the gaps are. They can also see how other classes are achieving.
Another way of doing this is to have a celebration picture board. This board is usually put in a prominent position in the classroom, preferably visible from the door, with photographs of all of the children -- normally nine pictures to one A4 page is sufficient size. If pictures are a problem, as they can sometimes be, use clipart or caricatures submitted by the students
In order to mount these on a board, simply slice up the plastic folders that are used in ring binders. Staple to the board and you can get 3 photos to a strip.
All of the students' photos are clearly displayed on the board at all times. There are number of categories that the students' pictures can be moved to when they have achieved certain standards. These can be decided by the children, the teacher or a combination of both.
That some of the categories I have used include:
- most green sheets
- hardest working
- most helpful
- best homework
- most improved behaviour
- most cheerful
- most thoughtful
Or you may wish to align the areas with BLP (Building Learning Power) principles espoused by Guy Claxton of:
- reciprocity
- reflectiveness
- resilience
- resourcefulness
and clearly there are many more categories one could use. The goal of this programme is to give all students an opportunity to achieve one of the categories. In doing this, students feel a sense of achievement, recognition and peer approval.
How to make a celebration board
- take photographs of all the students
- prepare a space into in the classroom which is visible from the door
- decide with the students what the category should be
- using plastic folder wallets, cut into the appropriate size pockets and staple onto the board
- allow room for at least three, and up to five students for each category
- make up labels for the categories
- have a class time once a week to discuss where each student should be placed
- make sure you have a clear personal view of appropriate outcomes and steer the students towards that where necessary
- Try to give all students an opportunity to achieve each week, where possible
- Avoid having strict rules that disallow students from achieving - eg if they have a "blip" on Monday, they may still achieve during the week
After choosing the student of the week, duplicate photos for each class could be shown near the entrance hall or by the headteacher's office in a prominent position.
This part of the programme is designed to reinforce the good performance and positive choices - even if some mistakes are made
Certificates also add into the value of the green sheets or records - perhaps each term a new total is started. This allows for those students who have had challenges - exclusion, illness etc, to make a fresh start each term.
Inter-class competition for the weekly totals is also a useful method of ensuring some levelling of the issuing of sheets.
