Daily Bus Report Cards

Behavior management. Sometimes I feel like I do more of this than actual speech therapy. Anybody else with me? When I graduated I had no idea that I would be so involved in behavior plans and writing behavior goals. (The thought had never occurred to me because, obviously, all of MY students were going to be perfect little angels. AT. ALL. TIMES. Ha.)

Now, don’t misunderstand, I adore all of my students. And I am the first to take up for them.

Example-

Teacher: “Ms. Young student A will be attending in-school suspension today.”

Me: “Ok. Why is he there?”

Teacher: “He put student B in a head-lock during PE yesterday.”

Me: “Atta boy! So proud he stood up for himself! Student B is always picking on him!”

Teacher: Gives me a quizzical look. Pretty sure she also is wondering which administrator allowed me to teach a social skills class…

Ok, before you feel the need to invite me to a pragmatics session, I assure you I understand that this is not the best way to stand up for yourself (although it seems to have been effective). My point is that even though my kids do not always have appropriate behavior, they are still MY kids.

If you are still with me, thanks. I really hopped on here to tell you about Daily Bus Report Cards. This is something that has been very effective at my school.

How it works: I give the bus driver a stack of ‘report cards’ at the beginning of each month. Each morning he checks the appropriate boxes (and sometimes writes notes about the previous afternoon) and gives the paper to the student. The student delivers the paper to me (or classroom teacher) on the way to class each morning. If the student has met his goal at the end of the week, he receives a reward. Simple, effective and easy documentation.

I love that it is very concrete and my students know exactly what is expected of them.

To grab a FREE Daily Bus Report Card for yourself click HERE. Hope it helps, or sparks an idea for you!

What has been an effective tool for your behavior management?