Positive Behavior Management System for Kindergarten

One of the things I love to do is have my class work together to achieve goals. It builds our classroom community when we're rooting for each other and encouraging each other! I try to make sure that all of my behavior management focuses on the positive rather than the negative behaviors, and my Spud-Tastic Behavior Management System is a culmination of a lot of different things I've done successfully in the classroom, all packaged together into a cohesive system!

First up, is expectations (or "rules"). These have to be phrased positively, and they have to be simple enough to remember! My Spud-Tastic expectations each have a fun visual and are great to use as a positive reminder.

During the first week of school, when we're talking about procedures and expectations every day, I love for my students to be able to share those with their families. This easy reader repeats the rules, and is simple enough for a beginning of the year literacy activity! Once complete, students take it home to read with their families, helping to reinforce those expectations!

 As an additional reminder AND a fun cut & paste/direction-following assessment (😂), this Spud-Tastic craftivity makes a fun bulletin board display too!

We all know that adding music really helps learning stick, so I also have 3 fun piggy-back songs all about Spud-Tastic behavior! I made multiple songs, because if you sing the same song over and over again, kids tend to start tuning it out. With 3 different versions, the songs stay novel, engaging the children for longer. We sing these at the beginning of the day, or during transitions, as a fun movement break that's also a reminder about our expectations! 

Once everyone knows the expectations, then the really fun part starts! This is where you get your teammates and administration to help out with getting your students EXCITED about following the expectations! You see, any time someone gives your class a compliment - for cafeteria behavior, hallway procedures, behaving in assembly etc - your class earns a piece of their Spud! Make sure you ask your coworkers to keep an eye out to see if they can compliment your class!

Now, you can use a Mr. Potato Head toy, or you can use the bulletin board pieces to create a paper Spud. I keep my cards in a can that I've decorated and labeled - Pringles or Crystal Lite cans work well!

After the class receives a compliment, I choose a student to randomly pull a card from the can. Then they get to add that piece to the Spud! We always start with just the body, and then add on. Once the Spud has two arms, two ears, eyes, a nose, mouth, feet and a hat, then its reward time!

I keep the 16 reward cards in another can - this one I bought at the Dollar Tree and then glued on the Spud-Tastic Reward label! All of the rewards are no- to low-cost (easy on teacher budgets!) and only 3 are food rewards. Choose the ones that work for your classroom, and place them in the can. You can either allow a student to randomly select a reward once the Spud is complete OR you can select the reward in advance so that your students know what they're working towards. My rule was the reward might be earned any day of the week, but the prize would be awarded on Friday, just so that I had time to make sure I had the reward material and/or work the time into my schedule!

Of course, sometimes the whole class might not be following the expectations, but you have a couple of students doing the right thing. That's where these bracelets come in! If I see a student doing the right thing, I award them a bracelet to wear and take home! They love wearing bracelets home to show off to their families - and as soon as one child gets a bracelet, it often encourages the rest of the class to follow suit! I have bracelets for each individual expectation, as well as a general "Spud-Tastic" version!

I print these on Astrobright paper (affiliate link) and cut them out in advance. Then I just keep them handy for a moment when I "catch" someone doing the right thing! A simple piece of tape later, and the proud student is now an inspiration to the rest of the class!

I just posted this complete Behavior Management System in my TPT store - and its on sale for 20% during the Site-Wide BTS Sale August 1st and 2nd! If you use the code BTSFRESH, you'll get an additional 5% off when you check out! Check it out here: Spud-Tastic Behavior Management