One idea that has been effective for me in the music room is this clip system. At a former school of mine, all teachers had a laminated poster like this one. (But even if other teachers don’t have one, you could use it.) In the students’ home room classrooms, students had clips with their names on them. However, in the music class, mine were blank.
At the beginning of each class, all clips start on “Go” – and if a student misbehaves, they or I move a clip to “Caution.” That just means “warning.” If a student has to move to “Stop,” that means “time out.” Since only a couple or few students have to move their clips in a given class period, it’s not difficult to remember who had to move the clips. (I would also mark it on the seating chart to help me grade their effort.)
Here are the signs you can use to make your own chart.
Since you can’t have names on the clips, how do you keep track of which student is which? Do they have class numbers that they know? I can’t imagine my Kindergarteners would know their numbers very quickly and be able to identify them by sight for a few months. Just curious how you use this with the younger ones?
Good question! I have the student go move a clip (any clip), and believe me, they will remember (as will everyone else in class). In each class period I might only have 1 to 3 students who need to move a clip. And, we all remember who those students were. I also make a mark on my seating chart, which helps me grade their participation.
If a student is required to go to time out, what does that look like?
I have done it differently over the years. You could have the student sit apart from the other students for a few minutes. You could tell them when to join the class, or they could set a timer, or they could rejoin when they feel like they are ready.