Red light / green light behavior charts in Kindergarten - common?
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Anonymous
I hope you're not a teacher. I am, and I cringe when I hear a younger teacher say, in response to my criticism of some ill thought out or poorly researched idea, what else am I supposed to do? Well, there is an enormous body of research available to answer just that question, and if the teacher bothered to ever pick up of any of it and practice her own reading skills, she'd know. Even just a quick Google would help keep teachers informed of the latest research on best practices, but most just never bother. In my last school you'd have been hard pressed to find a teacher who could actually support her behavior management practices with even piece of actual evidence (most don't even understand that just thinking it sounds good is not evidence). |
Anonymous
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In my son's kindergarten, everyone had personal points, the table had table points, and then there were class points. My son didn't mind any of these, and there was a prize bin for getting a certain number of points. All the kids were excited when the class got enough class points that they could have an ice cream party.
However, my son was particularly active, and they started a red/yellow/green chart just for him that came home. I don't think the other kids saw it. That one stressed him out so much that we told the school to stop - for major infractions (which he rarely got), they should e-mail us, but for anything else they should handle it at school. I think he wanted to get greens, but he was fidgety so he saw himself failing over and over so he was under great stress when he'd come home with some yellows most days. Given they had lots of other point options, it really was overkill. Interestingly that first year K teacher was not back a second year. |
Anonymous
| I hate the red/yellow/green chart- it was used in my DD NW private school and I has hoped a school I was paying my hard earned money for wouldn't use such draconian measures. |
Anonymous
What do you teach? |
Anonymous
| Interesting that the people who dislike this system have kids that can't behave themselves. I have 3 kids ranging from 12 - 9 who all had this system and never had a yellow. They were all proud of staying on green all day and all week. If this system keeps some peace so my kids can learn more then I am all for it. |
Anonymous
Nope, not Hunt Valley -- it must be a pretty common tactic. |
Anonymous
My child had this in k & first and he never had red or yellow, but he hated it because it stressed him out. Like he didn't know what was expected out of him. He was so worried about it even though he never had the "bad colors" as he called them. So I am not a fan of this system either, and my child still has yet to be in trouble at school and he's a third grader now. He's a very well behaved boy and always has been. Having worked in an elementary school that used this system, I noticed that the ones who got reds and yellows were repeat offenders. It was the same kids EVERY DAY. So I don't think this worked as a way to help them manage their behavior either. So my overall opinion of this system is that it's not a very good one. |
Anonymous
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It is so inappropriate. Our school and many in FCPS use Responsive Classroom. Kids get logical consequences. No green yellow red charts.
Www.responsiveclassroom.org |
Anonymous
| We attend a local school in Latin America and they use this system for PreK/K. |
Anonymous
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Here is a great blog post from a teacher who stopped using behavior charts:
http://teachinginprogress.blogspot.com/2012/10/why-i-will-never-use-behavior-chart.html |
Anonymous
| They use this in the PG county schools I am familiar with, too. I decided on alternative school options partly because I wanted to avoid it. DS is at a school now that uses the Responsive Classroom methodology, as mentioned above, and it seems to work well and it is a respectful environment. My child would probably never or rarely have gotten yellows or reds, because he adores rules. But he is also a perfectionist, and the THOUGHT of getting onto yellow would have obsessed him, getting in the way of learning. And, like another poster said, kids have a hard time thinking their behavior might be yellow and bad, but THEY are fine as a person. They see us label their bad behavior and feel they are bad people. Describing the behavior and how it impacts them and other people is helpful; slapping a yellow or red label on a kid is not. |
Anonymous
Then you don't get it because you've never walked a mile in their shoes. Their kids do not have be shamed, humiliated, and stressed out in order for your kids to learn. There are better ways. |
Anonymous
| I just read that blog post by the teacher that the PP posted - it really is very good. Encourage people to read it! |
Anonymous
Agree. Teachers need to teach kids how to cope with the classroom and challenges of a learning environment. Labeling kids red every day just convinces them that they were born bad. Without actual in-the-moment-behavior strategies, they will give up. |
Anonymous
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Our school uses this but also has a color above green and emphasizes that it is difficult to get (really go above and beyond to help out a friend or someone in need). My kindergartener is obsessed with finding a way to earn it. In our experience, it's very motivating. Then again, my kid is a definite rule follower.
The teacher described the yellow and red in very P.C., non-shaming terms. I think this is all in the implementation. |