Using My Clip Chart
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I hang my clip chart on the end of a bookcase. It can be hung on a wall, as long as there's enough space for the students to readily move their clips up and down the chart.
When I introduce the chart to my students, I go over the different categories on the chart and we read the names of the categories together. I let them know that they will clip up, if I see them making good choices. And that if they have a really good day and make it on superstar, they will get a small reward at the end of the day. This is to help me remind them to make the same good choices tomorrow.
Then we talk about clipping down.* "What do you think happens if I see you're making a wrong choice?" The students will answer "we have to clip down." I tell that is correct and then I introduce the better choice paper. [When I have students clip down, they automatically stop and fill out a better choice paper and place it on my desk. They just have to write their name and the better choice to correct their behavior.]
At this point, I have the students help me fill out a paper. I will give them an example such as, "Let's say Mrs. Guy is talking to too loud in class and is told to clip down. What would be a better choice I can make?" Students should come up with "talk quieter" or something similar. "Good, so now I'll write my name... Mrs. Guy and I will talk quieter."
Then we go over "Contact Parents," at the bottom of the chart. I explain that, if you get down to the bottom of the chart, you are indeed having a rough day. I will need to let Mom or Dad know about this, so they can help the student plan to make better choices the next day.
I then ask each student clip themselves on ready to learn, one at a time. So I will simply say "Kayla, will you please place your clip on ready to learn?" And then repeat the process. For the younger students, this gives them the chance to try out placing their clip. For older students (2nd and 3rd grade,) I wold have the students write their own name on the clips. As I taught first grade, I opted to write the names myself (the clips are.small so writing legibly can be a challenge.)
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*Note to teacher- when implementing the chart, a student should only clip down once for each misbehavior.
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Source: Morris, R. (2009). Clip chart: a simple discipline strategy for promoting positive behavior. San Diego: New Management.
This Clipchart is very similar to the one I utilize in my classroom. It is available for purchase.
Filling out this simple better choices form has multiple benefits. It forces the student to pause from the behavior and decide on what better behavior to implement. But the main reason I started this was because of documentation. After working all day with a full class of students, I couldn't necessarily remember what behaviors caused Brandon to get all the way down to "contact parents." These little documents serve as a reminder for me in case I need to write a parent note. It also helps me gain insight in to the thought process of my students. I will sometimes find the student will need to ask me what they did or need help coming up with a the replacement behavior. This is something I might not have known if they just had to clip down with no added reflection.