Lovin' the Clip Chart

During the last twelve years of teaching I have tried many things for classroom management--flipping cards, name on board, tickets, beads, cubes, sticker charts, etc. I haven't been too happy or successful until this past year. While searching online last summer, I came across Rick Morris' New Management site and his clip chart. He has a great e-book that explains the clip chart and how it is used. Being that it is a tool for positive reinforcement/behavior, I decided to give it a try.

I made my own chart from construction paper and laminated it. I made an "Our WONDERFUL Class" sign and had each of the students sign their name to it, after I explained how we'd be using it in our classroom for the year. Every student had a clothespin with his/her name on it, which started on the clip chart at "Ready to Learn" each day. During the day students had opportunities to move up the clip chart for demonstrating good behavior choices. If a student was off task, he/she was given a verbal reminder. The next time I talked to the off task student, he/she moved down on the clip chart. What I like about the clip chart is that students have chances to move back up the clip chart if their behavior improves; their day isn't over if they have to move down. If a student makes it to "Outstanding" during the day, he/she gets to put a jewel on their clothespin at the end of the day and receives an "Outstanding" note home. If a student is already on "Outstanding" and I ask him/her to move up, they bring their clothespin to me and I clip it to my shirt. Being clipped to me was a huge incentive to show positive behavior throughout the school day. In my class I also use "Tompkins Bucks". When a student brings me his/her clothespin to get clipped to me, I give the student 2 Tompkins Bucks. They can earn 2 Tompkins Bucks for the rest of the day if I continue to see outstanding behavior.

Here is our clip chart in use

Here are a few clothespins with jewels on them.

When a student's clothespin is full of jewels, then it is moved to our "Sparkling Behavior" wall and he/she is given another clothespin for the clip chart. We had many students who made it to the "Sparkling Behavior" wall more than once!

This is the note I send home with students at the end of the day. (I got this from Christina Bainbridge.)

For this upcoming school year, I purchased the clip chart from Rick Morris' site. It's made from vinyl, so it should last longer than the one I made.