Paw System
Our Paw System is similar to the one used by the 3rd grade teachers at
our school. Each day, all students start out with three paws. If a
student does not meet the expectations (see document below), then that student will lose one paw.
If the student continues to not meet expectations, then that student
will lose another paw and so on. For most behaviors, the student will
receive a warning before a paw is taken. Sometimes a paw will be taken
without a warning. There is a program called Love and Logic for both
teaching and parenting. Love and Logic states that when students clearly
know an expectation but a warning is given before a consequence, it is
saying to the student, "I acknowledge that you are doing something
wrong, but I am not going to do anything about it." We follow their recommendations and for some behaviors we will take a paw without giving a warning first.
This will usually only occur for school-wide behaviors that have been
expected since Baldwin opened such as staying quiet in the hallways.The
consequences for paws being taken away are as follows:
1 paw lost = 5 minute time-out at recess
2 paws lost = 10 minute time-out at recess
3 paws lost = 10 minute time-out at recess and parents contacted (with a note, e-mail, phone call, etc...)
**Note: No student will lose their full recess time. All students will have at least half their recess everyday.**
Sometimes a teacher might determine that there is a more logical consequence for a behavior than sitting the student out at recess. An example might be if a student writes something unkind about another student, then they might need to write something kind to that student. These exceptions will be determined on a case by case basis. This behavior system will be recorded in your student's agenda so that you have access to it on a daily basis.
1 paw lost = 5 minute time-out at recess
2 paws lost = 10 minute time-out at recess
3 paws lost = 10 minute time-out at recess and parents contacted (with a note, e-mail, phone call, etc...)
**Note: No student will lose their full recess time. All students will have at least half their recess everyday.**
Sometimes a teacher might determine that there is a more logical consequence for a behavior than sitting the student out at recess. An example might be if a student writes something unkind about another student, then they might need to write something kind to that student. These exceptions will be determined on a case by case basis. This behavior system will be recorded in your student's agenda so that you have access to it on a daily basis.
Rewards
Fun Friday
Every Friday, students will have the opportunity to participate in Fun Friday which essentially is 30 extra minutes of recess. Students will lose Fun Friday if they owe any assignments or if they have lost 3 or more paws in one week. If this is the case, the students will be in a teacher-supervised Study Hall. During this time, students will either complete their owed work, or write their teacher a letter explaining why they lost stars that week and how they will change their behavior for the next week. All students, even those in study hall, will still get their regular 20 minutes of recess.
Brilliant Bobcat Day
For students who are savers, they can save up their stickers for a reward day at the end of the nine weeks. Four times this year, students will participate in Brilliant Bobcat Day. Brilliant Bobcat Day is when we take two hours out of our normal school day to reward students for all of their hard work over the nine weeks. All students get to participate in Brilliant Bobcat Day (unless they owe an extensive amount of work), but not all students get their first choice of activities. Students with the most stickers get their first choice of activity. Students who have spent many of their stickers throughout the nine weeks still get to participate, but might only get their 3rd or 4th choice of activity. Activities that students can participate in include: movie, electronics, lego building, board games, etc...
Every Friday, students will have the opportunity to participate in Fun Friday which essentially is 30 extra minutes of recess. Students will lose Fun Friday if they owe any assignments or if they have lost 3 or more paws in one week. If this is the case, the students will be in a teacher-supervised Study Hall. During this time, students will either complete their owed work, or write their teacher a letter explaining why they lost stars that week and how they will change their behavior for the next week. All students, even those in study hall, will still get their regular 20 minutes of recess.
Brilliant Bobcat Day
For students who are savers, they can save up their stickers for a reward day at the end of the nine weeks. Four times this year, students will participate in Brilliant Bobcat Day. Brilliant Bobcat Day is when we take two hours out of our normal school day to reward students for all of their hard work over the nine weeks. All students get to participate in Brilliant Bobcat Day (unless they owe an extensive amount of work), but not all students get their first choice of activities. Students with the most stickers get their first choice of activity. Students who have spent many of their stickers throughout the nine weeks still get to participate, but might only get their 3rd or 4th choice of activity. Activities that students can participate in include: movie, electronics, lego building, board games, etc...
Cafeteria Expectations
Students are expected to stay seated, eat their own food, and talk quietly with their friends in the cafeteria. The expectations are very high because there are typically only 3-4 cafeteria monitors supervising 8-10 classes (over 200 students) eating. Because I am not in the cafeteria and have to trust what the monitors tell me, I have very high expectations for my students while they are in the cafeteria. Students are given feedback about their behavior with an apple on the table. If students become too loud or misbehave, then their apple turns to yellow and then possibly to red. Students can earn a paw for their excellent cafeteria behavior. When students meet expectations, they will earn a reward. When students do not meet these expectations, they will receive a consequence. On some instances, I am able to isolate a few individuals who may be responsible for the whole class losing their paw. If this is the case, the individual students may receive a consequence, but the whole class will not. Most of the time, though, students receive rewards as a class and receive consequences as a class. I asked the students what they felt would be fair consequences and fair rewards. This is what the students came up with:
Earn paw at lunch = letter for our classroom phrase
Earn paw at lunch every day in a school week = lay down and take shoes off during Friday afternoon read aloud
Earn 10 paws = name in the drawing to sit at the fancy table
The fancy table is a nicely decorated table that is seated on the stage. This table becomes the example to the rest of the cafeteria for how to behave at lunch
One lost paw in a school week = no letter for our classroom phrase and sit out from recess for 2 minutes
Two lost paws in a school week = no letter for phrase, sit out for 2 minutes, warning that assigned seats are close
Three or more lost paws in a school week = no letter, 2 minutes out, assigned seats for the next 5 days.
One lost paw while in assigned seats = two extra days of assigned seats
Two lost paws while in assigned seats = no extra days, but silent lunch for up to two days while in assigned seats
We have already been in assigned seats once this year, but I do not expect it to happen again. I think we have all figured out the expectations and I know they will do just fine for the rest of this year.
Earn paw at lunch = letter for our classroom phrase
Earn paw at lunch every day in a school week = lay down and take shoes off during Friday afternoon read aloud
Earn 10 paws = name in the drawing to sit at the fancy table
The fancy table is a nicely decorated table that is seated on the stage. This table becomes the example to the rest of the cafeteria for how to behave at lunch
One lost paw in a school week = no letter for our classroom phrase and sit out from recess for 2 minutes
Two lost paws in a school week = no letter for phrase, sit out for 2 minutes, warning that assigned seats are close
Three or more lost paws in a school week = no letter, 2 minutes out, assigned seats for the next 5 days.
One lost paw while in assigned seats = two extra days of assigned seats
Two lost paws while in assigned seats = no extra days, but silent lunch for up to two days while in assigned seats
We have already been in assigned seats once this year, but I do not expect it to happen again. I think we have all figured out the expectations and I know they will do just fine for the rest of this year.