Behavior Log--Color Explanation

Hi families!

We are off to a great start to the school year!  The kids seem to love school and are learning our routines quickly.  It's great to see how much they have grown in such a short period of time!

Today I wanted to provide a description of our color behavior system.  Many of you already know that we have 7 colors:

Red--Parent contact
Orange--Consequence
Yellow--Stop and think
Green--Ready to learn
Blue--Great choice
Pink--Excellent Effort
Purple--Outstanding Day

Every student starts the day on green.  This means that they are ready to learn and each day is a fresh start.  Most children will stay on green all day.  If your child is on green, it means they made great choices--I always tell them that green means great!  If your child comes home on green, please reinforce this by positive praise...I want them to feel like green shows that they ended the day on a great note.

If your child is making a negative choice, such as talking in the pod, playing during learning time, fighting, etc. they may have to move down a color.  This is usually a warning to get their behavior back on track.  When they choose to make smart choices again, they are asked to move back to green.  If negative behaviors continue through the day, even after the warning, your child may move down to orange or red, depending on the number and severity of the behaviors.

Some people ask about the higher colors--blue, pink, and purple.  I use these colors as positive reinforcement for good behaviors--but especially as a motivator for other students.  For example...let's say your child is the first one sitting quietly on the carpet for learning time.  They may get to move up a color because they are setting a good example for the other students.  Sitting quietly on the carpet is a behavior that is expected in our classroom, and while it normally wouldn't warrant a positive color move, if the rest of the class is talking and one student is sitting quietly, ready, the positive reinforcement for that child will get the rest of the students' attention and usually help motivate the rest of the class to be quiet as well.  These positive color moves could count for anything--perhaps helping a student clean up their art box, being the first one quiet in line, helping a partner during a game, solving a conflict with words instead of yelling, etc.  Please know that these positive color moves are very subjective, and not the same each day.  They change and adapt to give reminders to the rest of the class.

Please know that this management system, while perhaps confusing, can be very motivating to students and helpful to our classroom environment.  Your support at home (even a simple "Great job for being on green!") can really help our classroom behaviors!

If you have any further questions regarding our color system, please feel free to email or call!

Thanks,

Melissa Wright