Does your elementary school use the "stoplight"/shame system

[Anonymous]

PP- By October of 3rd grade, a student should be able to fill in his agenda book b/c it is part of a routine. Do you really think kids should be rewarded for that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP- By October of 3rd grade, a student should be able to fill in his agenda book b/c it is part of a routine. Do you really think kids should be rewarded for that?

Read up on positive reinforcement and punishment. There is a reason why the agenda KEEPS not getting filled out. Hmmmm. Perhaps instead of doing the easy thing of punishing and NOT teaching the behavior of filling it out, something new could be tried that is actually in keeping with best practice eithe THE guiding principals of behavior. Genius idea! OR just keep giving an orange or red and never help the kid. You don't need a teaching degree for that....

[Anonymous]

I don't think there is anything wrong with using it as a punishment system if used appropriately - the things that get reds in my son's class are things that need to be punished - stealing things from other K students, hitting, blatant bullying, cursing at a teacher. No one gets a red for having problems sitting still, not being on task etc. That's a yellow, which is not associated with any consequence, and you can move up from it.


Yeah, well at our school, a kid gets dropped a color for not filling in his agenda book in 3rd grade with the day's homework assignment. Mind you there is no creative positive reinforcement in place FOR filling in the agenda book. It doesn't take much to drop a kid a color but it does take a caring person who understands best practices in behavior management to encourage and I Jan for the RIGHT behavior.

Well, then it sounds like your issue is the way that the system is being implemented in your school than the system per se. Again, there are some behaviors (certainly not including agenda book filling out) that need a negative consequence. The color system is one way to do it. I have no problem with a kid getting a "red" and call home because he hits a class mate or calls another child ugly or fat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So tired of parents of young children berating a system whether it be testing, curriculum, stoplight, or whatever when they've had so little experience with it and often are just upset their child isn't doing well with a particular teacher. A good teacher will make any system work well and a bad teacher will make even the best thought out program miserable because they won't know how to implement it well.

Oh really? What about the teachers who hate this system? What about the parents of students who stay on the "good colors" every day who hate this system? I work at a school who does not use this system, have worked in a school that DID use this system, have a child who has never been in trouble at school and I think this system sucks.

[Anonymous]

I'm the PP who has the ADHD kid who was on red every day until medication. All the "system" taught her was that she was a "bad" kid. My oldest was on green every day no matter what. My oldest went to an AAP center and the school as a whole only used PBS systems. No red/green light. Oddly, kids were no worse behaved there than at the base school. My kids are now in MS and HS and I still think the system is pointless. At best useless and at worst damaging.

[Anonymous]

This is a thread of "My Little Pony" Parents:

http://www.newsday.com/opinion/columnists/lane-filler/common-core-inspires-the-opposite-of-tiger-parents-lane-filler-1.7502468

Life is going to get a *lot* harder real quick for your kids. A colored binder should not be an existential crisis for them. Kids should respect their teachers almost all of the time. Period. If there is something wrong with the teacher's assignment or structure, the should communicate with you -- the parents -- and you bring it to the teachers.

Foster that communication with your kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is a thread of "My Little Pony" Parents:

http://www.newsday.com/opinion/columnists/lane-filler/common-core-inspires-the-opposite-of-tiger-parents-lane-filler-1.7502468

Life is going to get a *lot* harder real quick for your kids. A colored binder should not be an existential crisis for them. Kids should respect their teachers almost all of the time. Period. If there is something wrong with the teacher's assignment or structure, the should communicate with you -- the parents -- and you bring it to the teachers.

Foster that communication with your kids.

I'm confused about your pulling in the pony article. Are you aware of the national attention the common core PARCC test is getting and the number of states that have either pulled out of their agreement or questioned PARCC? This has nothing to do with this conversation. I don't think anyone here has encouraged that children not respect teachers. Of course students need to respect their teachers and I agree with this. What I don't agree with are punitive, lazy measures that that are in place that threaten and shame children. Teachers and administrators should be demonstrating professionalism, respect and kindness, and put a little effort and work into actually teaching the appropriate behavior that seems to be such an issue. If a behavior does not go away, do SONETHING different than that "red day". Did you go into education to punish i effectively over and over? I believe that at times things can happen in an institution that begin to seem normal to everyone that an outside might raise and eyebrow to. I have seen it happen and that is why parents need to trust their gut and respectfully question practices. Teachers who get an uncomfortable feeling should do the same, including evaluating their own actions. This is not "My Little Pony". This is the JOB of the parent and let's hope the parent is expert enough about their kid to see that something is wrong. What does it hurt to hear a parent out and try to work with them on a situation?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is a thread of "My Little Pony" Parents:

http://www.newsday.com/opinion/columnists/lane-filler/common-core-inspires-the-opposite-of-tiger-parents-lane-filler-1.7502468

Life is going to get a *lot* harder real quick for your kids. A colored binder should not be an existential crisis for them. Kids should respect their teachers almost all of the time. Period. If there is something wrong with the teacher's assignment or structure, the should communicate with you -- the parents -- and you bring it to the teachers.

Foster that communication with your kids.

We get it. You love this system. BLAH, blah, blah. You're still missing the point. And that is that many parents who dislike this system have well behaved, well adjusted kids without any problems.

You know nothing about my kid or his potential future struggles. I'm not in a position to judge yours, so I won't and you are in no position to judge mine or anyone else's on here. I know you think you're clever and that you're some kind of parenting expert, but your ideas aren't the solution for everyone else in the world. Get over yourself.

[Anonymous]

Do the top ES use this system? Nottingham/Jamestown/Tuckahoe/McKinley?

[Anonymous]

Ours does. I wouldn't call it "shaming" though. It's an immediate consequence. It can be effective. Unfortunately, the implementation is not always there as it should be.

For example, I would say that it is rather strict for the younger kids. For, example, when my DD was in K and first, we received a couple of calls from the teacher, and DD marked "yellow" or "red", b/c she had been playing with a clip in her hair during circle time. A call home. Really? I thought that was excessive (esp when other kids were getting the same color punishment for hitting). We talked with her about it and moved on.

[Anonymous]

I think that if you have a good teacher who uses it correctly, the system can be effective. My son is in a K class that is very varied in terms of socioeconomic background, previous schooling experience, ability to sit still. His teacher is just great - at the beginning of the year, many kids did get reds, but she always reminded them that it was a "little deal" and they could move back up if they changed their behavior or try again for a better color the next day. Also, the kids who got good colors and earned rewards always had to pick a classmate who didn't get a good color (as long as it was not a red) to share the extra computer time, lunch with the teacher etc. Now, as the year is coming to an end, most kids get green, with some yellows, but reds are quite rare.

[Anonymous]

When I was a kid, the teachers used the "whack you across the ass or the palm of the hand with a ruler if you misbehave" system. Worked very well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When I was a kid, the teachers used the "whack you across the ass or the palm of the hand with a ruler if you misbehave" system. Worked very well.

I actually grew up in a country that did this and there were a lot of angry, albeit well behaved, kids. I'm not sure if you're kidding, pp, but it did not work very well in the end.

[Anonymous]

God no. We are not Success Academies of NYC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP- By October of 3rd grade, a student should be able to fill in his agenda book b/c it is part of a routine. Do you really think kids should be rewarded for that?

Read up on positive reinforcement and punishment. There is a reason why the agenda KEEPS not getting filled out. Hmmmm. Perhaps instead of doing the easy thing of punishing and NOT teaching the behavior of filling it out, something new could be tried that is actually in keeping with best practice eithe THE guiding principals of behavior. Genius idea! OR just keep giving an orange or red and never help the kid. You don't need a teaching degree for that....

Unless the child has a diagnosed disorder, I would just give him/her a zero if no homework is turned in the next day. Sometimes kids need to learn the hard way. If they choose to talk or not write down their homework assignment, that's on them. There is only so much hand holding that is going to happen in a classroom of 30+ kids.