Classroom Management

I was excited to go into my classroom the second time because I wanted to see how the students had progressed. The teacher explained that they were going to be able to start a behavior system. She explained that the behavior system would include them getting a sticker if they were good for the whole day and if they got five stickers for the week they would get a piece of candy. If they filled up the whole chart they would get a piece of candy and a pencil.

Since I have learned to try to stay away from giving rewards like that I did not agree with this behavior approach. I also do not think that it will be effective with kindergarteners. I feel that they need something that is more short term. I also feel that they need something that needs to be done at the time the misbehavior occurs. It does not seem right to wait till the end of the day to tell them they have been good. I feel that Kindergarteners need to be explained what they are doing wrong (or right) and why it is not (or is) right to behave that way. They also need to be shown the proper way to act in certain situations.

Even though this is what I will be learning in this class I have an idea about how my management would be different. I feel that kindergarteners need to be taught why certain behaviors are not appropriate. In my classroom I would have something that the students would have to do right when the behavior occurred and then I would try to take a minute to explain to them why they were wrong. I do not feel it is right to take away their recess, which I know a lot of schools do but I do not feel I have learned enough to figure out a classroom behavior management plan.