John: Behavior Management Update

Last semester I wrote about some issues I was having with behavior management. The problem was that I needed a system that gave me options for rewarding positive behavior and punishing negative behavior. The system also needed to be developmentally appropriate for the students in my class—many of whom already think that the occupational classes are “childish.”

Thanks to the input from many of you all, I developed a plan that I felt would be an improvement in all areas. I am sharing the plan I came up with so that it could possibly help some of you. Feel free to take and modify it!

Students are rewarded for following all class rules, participating in class and completing class assignments. If they follow these basic expectations, each student earns $7.50 of classroom money every day. Student can lose money for things like being late, “renting” pens or other supplies from me or not meeting class expectations. The money that the students accrue can be cashed in for a number of rewards. Taking a water break, eating in class, charging a cell phone, listening to music and choosing a seat in class are some of the more frequently purchased rewards.

The system has been a huge success. I am kicking myself for not keeping more accurate data of student behavior before the system, but anecdotal observations would certainly support that the new system has improved student behavior. I can personally add that my happiness and satisfaction in the classroom has increased dramatically. Now, I can focus more on rewarding student behavior, and I have options for punishing behaviors.

For example, to punish a certain behavior I can allow a student to earn money for the day while restricting his ability to purchase rewards for one day. Also, I can restrict a student to earning only a portion or none of his paycheck due to misbehavior in class. Depending on the severity of misbehavior, students can also incur a fine in addition to losing the day’s paycheck. To cut down on the paperwork involved, each student tracks his own “bank account.” I check the accounts weekly to make sure the students are keeping an accurate record.

I had to make a couple of adjustments to my classroom environment in order to make this system work. First, all students have an assigned seat. In the past, I had given students an assigned seat for the first week of school until I learned names, and then they were allowed to sit anywhere. Since choosing a seat is now a reward, assigned seats are always in effect.

I also had to change the ways students look at certain assumed privileges. Instead of being allowed to get water from the fountain whenever they wanted, students now have to earn that privilege. In general, just think of anything that your students enjoy doing and set the system up so that students can earn these privileges. I would also recommend starting a system like this at the beginning of a semester or beginning of the year if possible. If you suddenly take away all of the things students are used to having, the system will be more punitive than positive.

Feel free to use this system or modify it for your classroom. I hope to keep adding to the rewards list to keep it fresh and the students continually motivated to earn new things. I would love to hear any creative ideas for reinforcers that students can earn. Have your found any activity or privilege to be especially reinforcing in your class?

Comments

[Yolanda]

I find this to be a great model in managing student behavior. My daughter's teacher implemented a reward system similar to this one but she issues the students paychecks. The students cash the checks in to pick and choose from the prize box. It is amazing to see the students come full circle for the rewards.

[April Johnson]

John, Thank you for sharing your experience with using a token economy in your class. I think have witnessed other teachers taking away all privileges (getting up for a drink of water, sitting by a friend) and having them earn them through behavior leveling system. It seems to work wonders. I also like that your system helps to teach students about managing their income.

[John Arthur]

Hi John,
I am currently student teaching in an elementary classroom where students can earn "behavior bucks" for good behavior and completing their work. The money the students earn can be traded in for a wide variety of things: snacks and candy, minutes on the iPad, prizes from the prize box, a chair while the other students sit on the rug, etc. While I wish sugary treats weren't on the menu, the system has proven to be an effective and streamlined means of positively reinforcing appropriate behaviors. The reason I believe it is so effective, however, is that it operates in tandem with a color-changing system that responds to the students' inappropriate behaviors. The use of both of these management systems in the same classroom reminds of the old good cop/bad cop relationship: the token economy says to the young troublemaker, "Just do as we ask and we'll make it worth your while," while the color chart screams, "Sit down, shut up, or else!" Simply put, both systems are critical and neither is as effective without the other.

[McKenzie]

I have heard a lot of good things about token economies. Three other students from Mizzou and myself gave a presentation at MO-CEC and one student did hers over token economies that had worked well in her room. It sounds very similar with the ability to reward and punish by taking away money. In my elementary room, we have PBIS systems but I give little slips of paper ("Behavin' Ravens") for students doing their job during their time in my room. We open a "store" a few times each year and they can turn in their BR for snacks, prizes, etc. It works really well.

[John]

@Rashed I get what you are saying, but I do disagree. Most of what people do in life is for money. I love my job, I love helping people, I love teaching, but I wouldn't do it for free. As noble as anyone's purposes for their work may be, at the end of the day, we need money to live and our job provides that money. Because I teach Employment Training, I think it is very applicable to have students practice receiving a paycheck, budget money, and spend it wisely. I understand that a token economy should be gradually phased out and paired with other reinforcers, but I don't have any problem using a token or fake money as a reinforcer.

[Rashed Alqahtani]

Hi John,
I really enjoyed reading your post. It seams that the token economy system is working well for you. However, I have an ethical consideration that it is not right to teach children to do what they have to do for the purpose of receiving money. I agree that, the token economy system relays on the idea of doing what it is expected in order to receive the reinforce, but I do not agree with connecting students to the idea that money is the only tool to get what you want. I think if we may use something else side by side with the money, so we can eliminate this negative impact.

[Hollie Mason]

Token economies are great as long as you have a lot of ideas for basically "free" incentives, and it seems that you definitely do. It's very difficult sometimes to think of things that could be a reward that are not going to set you back financially or "train" students to do things for food (the most common incentive I've seen). They're not dogs. They shouldn't have to sit and speak on command to earn a treat. In the alternative school that I used to work at, we had a token economy. The problem with it was that the majority of the incentives were snack items. And not healthy snack items, either. The higher your "level," the bigger the treat. So, if you were on level one, you could have a BlowPop. If you were on level four, you could have a huge Texas Honey Bun. Not a great message. Worse, at snack time, if you had earned all of your points, you could pick your snack from a variety of chips and cookies. But, if you had lost a point, you had to have apple sauce, the healthiest option on the snack cart.

I say all of that to say, kudos to you for finding non-food and free incentives that work for your class!

[Jane Idell M.S. NYS Certified School Psychologist]

Hi John,
I don't remember what age group you are working with but if you are working with teens or pre-teens (age 10 or above) - there is a system that I developed while working with teens in residential treatment that may be helpful to you.

You can check it out by browsing the workshop information at www.counselingessentials.com. I teach the lessons for free - it's become a hobby for me. You might find the information in the workshop helpful even if your students are younger.

I presented a mini workshop at last years CEC convention in Denver.
Jane

[Pat Hensley]

I'm so glad you found a system that works for you! A token economy system worked well for me too and I think the students really enjoyed it.