An effective way to redirect your students when they choose to make poor decisions during instruction time:
A colleague shared a strategy that she learned in a
professional development workshop that allowed teachers to redirect students without having to say a word. The
strategy involved using a stop sign card that instructed the student to do just
that, STOP, and advise them to make a better choice. Being that I am big on
not placing focus solely on students who make bad choices and display poor
behavior I created a card that praises those students who initially choose
positive behavior. I have included a
picture of the cards I use in my classroom.
This has proven to be a great asset.
Students value receiving a green card from me, and seem disappointed when
they get a red one. When I give them a
red card students do seem to redirect themselves more. They are also advised
they have to keep the card on their desk; students immediately redirect
themselves to have the card removed by me and to hopefully receive a green card. This also eliminates having to interrupt instructional
time to redirect or discipline a student.
I simply place the card on their desk and continue the flow of my
lesson. Hope this can help someone out there in the universe!
