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Each student in our class is responsible for his or her own behavior. Our class behavior policy is based upon a stoplight and its colors: green, yellow, and red. Posted in our classroom is a stoplight. Your child has a stick with his or her name on it, which is displayed next to the green light at the beginning of each day. If your child’s name remains on the green light all day, he or she had a great day!
We will have learning discussions about schoolwide and classroom behavior expectations during the first month of school. These expectations are laid out for you to observe in the school and classroom behavior matrices. We believe that if students are shown the behavior that is expected of them, and rewarded for having good behavior, positive behavior increases and the overall school climate is consistent and ‘fair’. In Kindergarten, the children are getting used to school, all of its procedures, and how to behave in a classroom. The stoplight is a visual and tactile reminder of behavior, and young children respond well to it.
If your child is having a rough day, and is not following the expectations, he or she will be given one verbal warning. If the inappropriate behavior continues, I will then tell your child that he or she needs to change their light from green to yellow, as a warning to ‘slow down’. This action makes the child aware that they are in charge of their learning and behavior. If a child refuses to change his or her light to yellow, I will change it directly to red for them. Playground and lunchroom situations will be handled by paraprofessionals, and if I feel it is warranted, I will follow up with action on the child’s light color and/or communication with home. Re-teaching of expectations in these areas will occur if the child seems unaware of how they are supposed to act.
On the rare occasion that the negative behavior continues, even after a child has received a yellow light, they must change their light to red. The red light symbolizes that the child must stop what they are doing because their behavior is disrespectful and/or harmful. If a child intentionally hurts or threatens another person, they must immediately turn their light from green to red and appropriate actions will be taken. Bullying will not be tolerated at Southview, or in my class.
I will record at the end of each day (on your child’s Communication sheet) if their light was green, yellow or red for that day. I will include a note to explain the reason for any yellow or red lights. This will enable you, your child, and myself to monitor the behavior. Each child will have a positive behavior chart in our room. At the end of each day, if your child’s light is green, they will receive a sticker to put on their chart. When their chart is full, they will be allowed to choose a small prize from the “Green Light Goodies” jar, and a new chart will be started. Allowing all children to be working toward a positive reward, no matter if they mess up and have a bad day, is important to their self-esteem.
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