Beanie Baby Behavior Management

It's been a busy start to the school year.  Still getting adjusted to first grade behaviors and expectations.  I have a wonderful class and look forward to the next ten months!

I wanted to share a management idea that I will try this year.  It is a positive behavior plan that my students are enjoying.  I found many Beanie Babies at a thrift store and ran with it! 

Each student chooses a "pet" to have at their desk, in centers, and the guided work table.  They "work with" or "read to" them.  It took the first few days to work out the over-interest in playing with their pet, but nearly all of the students are using them appropriately now.  The tub (pet's home) is the group's color.

After a student has been warned to stop playing with the pet or as one of the Teacher Choice consequences on the class behavior chart, the student's pet is put into the Time Out area - a toy stuffed animal carrier.  It truly works - the students are eager to get their pet back to their desk. 

I choose one student with exceptional behavior for the week to take their pet home for the weekend in the Take Home Carrier. 

My class is really responding to this and it is providing a tactile resource for the more active students and a self-esteem resource for those not so confident in their academic abilities.  The students read to their pet and work math problems with them.  They love it!  We will switch pets at each progress report and report card (roughly every four to five weeks) so they can select other pets they'd like to take care of.  This was the students' preference.  Beanie Babies also have names - the rooster's name is Strut!  The students even use the names when talking about them in morning meeting, to their parents, or in their writing.  I love it!